Is this laptop suitable for a 1st year college student?

paulgalway

I have been looking for a laptop for my daughter for college. I have been looking in PC World and Curry's. Spotted this one in PC World. I was thinking of getting it in the North next time I visit my mum. Any comments would be appreciated. €520 here in Galway.

Thanks.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1426126595.1262218385@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccciadejfehfdffcflgceggdhhmdfhk.0&category_oid=-36730&sku=656598&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null

kmick

In a word Yes - probably a good idea to add in the Office package if she is going to college as it will have Word, Excel etc. Make sure you get the disks and not just the install. Also make sure you buy an external usb harddrive where she can backup her projects etc. Better to buy a cheaper laptop + usb harddrive + office disks.

brownbinman

Hi

I actually have the G60 which is a year old. i find this a tonne to carry around all day!!

Personally I think a notebook would be best as they are much smaller and lighter, but they do have their limitations.

The G61 would be a good laptop, its fast, big hard drive and big screen....but its HEAVY!!

The_Conductor

Depends on what he/she wants to use it for. My little sis has just bought this one: ACER TIMELINE 5810T (they have refurb ones for £379 or new ones for £599.99) Battery life of 9 hours in a regular sized laptop- is almost unheard of..... She intends to use it in lectures and needs more than the regular 2-3 hours the regular laptops have.

It boils down to- what does the person see as the determining factor when buying the laptop?

brownbinman

Building on what smccarrick said, the battery life is good on the G60 so im assuming it would be similar to the G61

I normally get 4-5 hours of battery life so perfect for using in lectures

the_syco

paulgalway wrote: »

I have been looking for a laptop for my daughter for college. I have been looking in PC World and Curry's. Spotted this one in PC World.

Maybe. What course is she doing?

paulgalway

Thanks for the replies.

She is doing Arts.

We looked at Netbooks, but she is worried about not having a cd drive. She has a access to a desktop when her younger brother/mother/me are not using it.

Main use would be word/excel/powerpoint/youtube and downloading music.

Thanks.

Stheno

Why not get a netbook with a 6 hour battery and an external cd drive?

That shouldn't cost you any more than the original machine you posted, if anything you'd probably save some money.

Joneser

Just saw this at laptops direct, its got a battery life of up to 9 hours, and its a kg lighter than the one you are looking at, slightly more expensive but i think its worth it :
http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Acer_Aspire_3810TZ_Laptop_LX.PE602.045/version.asp

Seamu$

If you wanted a netbook you could just get something like this also to solve the issue of the cd/dvd burner.

paulgalway

Seamu$ wrote: »

If you wanted a netbook you could just get something like this also to solve the issue of the cd/dvd burner.

Sorry Seamus$,

this link is not working

spurious

I wouldn't go to the expense of Office, get OpenOffice - it's free.

Seamu$

paulgalway wrote: »

Sorry Seamus$,

this link is not working

Sorry, Dabs seems to be offline at the moment since I posted, on their main page they say it's to do with changing the VAT rates tonight. Should be back up tomorrow.

It's a link to an external slim samsung dvd-rw drive.
This is the link to it on Pixmania - http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/3113041/art/samsung/se-s084c-slim-glossy-8x-e.html

If you go for a netbook you could get the above and an external hard drive (for extra storage and/or backups of the netbooks files). External hard drives are quite cheap now also e.g. http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/2997752/art/iomega/select-500-gb-usb-2-0-por.html and http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/4291658/art/western-digital/my-passport-essential-500.html. I have the WD one & it's great.

3 seperate devices but it would give you portability and flexible options.

The_Conductor

One point I would make is- if she has to do assignments etc on the laptop- to make sure that you get a laptop- as oppossed to a netbook. Its fine using a netbook for browsing the internet and very small quantities of typing- but if she is using it for typing on an ongoing basis- I really think something with a full sized keyboard would be better.

the_syco

paulgalway wrote: »

She is doing Arts.

As in Art - painting and stuff, or arts, as in english/history/etc?

Because if she has to write a few long essays, she should get a laptop, or she'll go mad looking at the small screen.