First Year Questions

snazzy

Ok sorry for this, lads
I have a specific question but maybe widening the title might save more of these popping up and driving the regular UL-ers mad.

My question is in relation to laptops.
I was going to bang ahead and get one this summer but I have heard that many colleges want you to wait till term begins.
Something to do with matching up to the college connection or such?

Can anyone shed some light on this?
Would be much appreciated.

McGetty

Errr..can't say I've ever heard of anything like that. I had no trouble setting up my laptop when I came in 1st year and that was years ago. Any Windows XP/Vista laptop should be able to connect to the college's network without trouble. I'd say fire ahead and buy one.

kaimera

wot?

Yer type of laptop has nothing to do with the college connection or any such crap

Good luck with the hunt for one

cson

Nah, some lecturers bang on about having a deal or something going, well they did when I was in first year, but in my own opinion get a machine that suits you.

I got a Vostro for 1st and 2nd year and I'm after getting an XPS in the States here so I'm gonna vouch for Dell all the way. The resident computer hounds will be along shortly to better inform you though

Mossin

As the other replies have said/suggested, just fire away and go get a laptop.
Sometimes closer to college returning, the likes of Dell/PC World offer better value on laptops.

croker1

would you guys say its essential to get a labtop?? anyone get on fine without one in college??

Dr. Baltar

croker1 wrote: »

would you guys say its essential to get a labtop?? anyone get on fine without one in college??

Absolutely Essential. Most, if not all of your work will be typed and it's a lot better to do your work on your laptop rather than spend hours queing for a computer in the Library.

Mossin

I would say it is essential, but it is possible to survive without one. There are lots of PC labs around campus other than in the library.

Secoundrow

:eek:What if you cant type for the life of yeah??


Well ok Luckly I can thanks to all this practice on boards:D

anyone advise a macbook ?
kinda pricy I know but is it better to stick with a windows pc?
compatability and less headaches and all that

rowtowin

Im headin to either ul or ucc in september and i got a macbook a few months ago so im hopin it'll be grand! So far its been perfect, i got microsoft word for it and its so easy to use, its just like a windows pc really!

tommiejoie

Umm, I think students might be able to avail of some special offers. Not sure how good they are though. Check here but shop around too!

ImDave

Secoundrow wrote: »

anyone advise a macbook ?
kinda pricy I know but is it better to stick with a windows pc?
compatability and less headaches and all that

I've been using a Dell laptop for my 2.5 years of college. Bought a macbook back around March/April and used it in college a good bit for study. Haven't encountered any compatibility issues yet. They are that bit more expensive, and unless you have the money or have a specific want/need that the macbook satisify's, I would find it hard to justify the extra cash. i.e. you can get a perfectly decent laptop for half the cost of a standard macbook.

munsterdevil

You would get away without getting a laptop for the first few years, but I would strongly advise getting one for your final year. It is not essential, but help heaps, especially for your FYP.

digiking

It all depends on what course you are intending to do really. I know a few people who got burned buying windows laptops at the start of first year and soon realized pretty much everything we do in college was Mac Based.

Although saying that I am in Music, Media & Performance Technology which is a pretty specialized course. If your doing anything outside of the computers/media area i'd fire ahead but otherwise if you can I'd hold off or maybe contact the head of the course to see if its worth your while getting a PC or should you invest in a Mac.

Another reason to get a Mac is they are pretty much Immune to all those virus's and stuff PC's can suffer from. Which can be a real pain sometimes.

Just my opinion

Alan

gnr.rigney

I got my laptop as a gift for my 18th before I went to college, i did have some trouble setting it up, but there's an ITD guy/girl living in every village on campus and just say it to someone in reception and the ITD person will call to your house and sort out an problems you're having !

SmellySockies

Do not buy a dell inspiron 1525! Mine has broken twice they are really not good at all!! Go with an asus laptop they will last you the four years of college

gnr.rigney

yes ! really dont get dell !! mine broke down twice also (inspiron 1520) and after only a year the battery burned out ! arrrrghhhhhhh !!!!!

Memori

It all depends on what course you are intending to do really. I know a few people who got burned buying windows laptops at the start of first year and soon realized pretty much everything we do in college was Mac Based.

This is the only piece of advice I'd recommend following. Most media courses use mac's, everything else probably uses pc's. I did product design in UL and expected all my computer work to be mac based but I was wrong, luckily I hadn't bought a laptop at the time. But when it did come to buying a laptop the specs we needed were crazy high to run photoshop, illustrator, solidworks, etc. If you can talk to someone who did a course similar to what you hope to do.

Secoundrow

:DOk im going to take a new run at this:D


can anyone here doing electronics/computer systems/electronic engineering in ul or similer

recommend a type of laptop
is there any need for high spec?



off-topic
(and damn I have a bad headache

bloody bank holiday drinking:D)

ninty9er

There's lost of specialised software which you **can** but don't have to have get. If you plan on getting this software I'd recommend getting something with beefed up memory and storage...(e.g 3Gb+ memory and 100Gb+ storage).

I'd say 2Gb memory is the least I'd get now...more than likely plumbing for something with 4Gb expandable.

I went to vast expense in 2005 of buying something with 1Gb memory so it would get me through 4 years and not feel slow. Now it does feel a little slow to be honest, but it's able to keep up a lot better than laptops friend's bought at the time with the standard 512Mb.

rmacm

Secoundrow wrote: »

:DOk im going to take a new run at this:D

can anyone here doing electronics/computer systems/electronic engineering in ul or similer

recommend a type of laptop
is there any need for high spec?

Not going to reccomend a model outright but what I will say is go for the highest spec your budget allows.

ninty9er wrote: »

There's lost of specialised software which you **can** but don't have to have get. If you plan on getting this software I'd recommend getting something with beefed up memory and storage...(e.g 3Gb+ memory and 100Gb+ storage).

I'd say 2Gb memory is the least I'd get now...more than likely plumbing for something with 4Gb expandable.

I'd say 2GB RAM minimum, go for 4 if your budget allows and a decent sized hard disk as well. If you're doing Comp Sys you probably should consider running a dual boot Windows/Linux setup or else running one of them in a VM.

I'd also say wait to pick up a machine until Windows 7 starts shipping rather than going for Vista.

TroyKeenan

it depends on your course. a mac will help greatly with midterms and whatever in certain courses whereas windows might be more appropriate for others. wait and see.

The Lopper

I'm doing Computer Eng, going into third year in September, wait on a bit before you get a laptop if you're doing Comp Eng/Elec Eng/Robotic Eng type courses, because I got a free one with my course.

Not sure about the Electronic boys now, but Computer Eng so far needs very little specs. Also, most of the software you need for compiling code etc can be got free off the servers, so don't bother buying compilers or downloading crap free ones of the internet.

Robo_Mike

The Lopper wrote: »

I'm doing Computer Eng, going into third year in September, wait on a bit before you get a laptop if you're doing Comp Eng/Elec Eng/Robotic Eng type courses, because I got a free one with my course.

Not sure about the Electronic boys now, but Computer Eng so far needs very little specs. Also, most of the software you need for compiling code etc can be got free off the servers, so don't bother buying compilers or downloading crap free ones of the internet.

I'm just finished my first year of Robotic Engineering(love it) and when we were getting our laptops last year they said that we would be the last year getting them....

If you want you can pm me and il give you the email for the guy who was in charge of them last year and hell be probably able to tell you if yere getting them(and suggest the spec you will need too!!)

The Lopper

Reckoned that deal would be finishing up soon, although you'd be best off emailing yer man alright cause no one had a clue whether we were going to get them or not.

cson

I'll just sound a note of caution in that with my work this summer I've been almost exclusively dealing with macbook pro's and the Apple operating system and having come from an MS Windows background its only now 2.5ish months later that I'm getting to grips with the intricacies of it. Give me Windows any day, Apples' OS is not nearly as user friendly imo.