Student Laptop

[darmstadt]

Son has just started Uni studying Informatik (Computer stuff I believe) and as its his birthday shortly I thought a laptop would be the ideal thing to buy. I know what I like but he doesn't need anything quite in that range. Looking through the various websites I think one of the low range Lenovo laptops or the Fujitsu Lifebook LH531 look pretty much up to the job. What I'm looking at is around a 14" screen, 4gb (or more) memory and around 500gb drive, preferably Intel i5 and price between 400 and 600 which the above go for. Open to suggestions...

(I actually have an ASUS one lying around at home but its a wide screen multimedia 3d jobbie which I don't think is the right type of laptop for techie stuff which is why its lying around and I replaced it with a Lenovo W530, but if it comes to the crunch then that will have to do)

 

[SueEllen]

It would be a good idea to actually ask the boy using his mum or another sibling* what kind of laptop he would like.

Simply because Uni students have some damn funny ideas about what they "need".

Some want light little things that you and I would think are useless for their needs, while others want something that is all singing and dancing.

*If they aren't techy get them to get him to indicate things from a well-known computer store.

 

[eek]

Son has just started Uni studying Informatik (Computer stuff I believe) and as its his birthday shortly I thought a laptop would be the ideal thing to buy. I know what I like but he doesn't need anything quite in that range. Looking through the various websites I think one of the low range Lenovo laptops or the Fujitsu Lifebook LH531 look pretty much up to the job. What I'm looking at is around a 14" screen, 4gb (or more) memory and around 500gb drive, preferably Intel i5 and price between 400 and 600 which the above go for. Open to suggestions...

(I actually have an ASUS one lying around at home but its a wide screen multimedia 3d jobbie which I don't think is the right type of laptop for techie stuff which is why its lying around and I replaced it with a Lenovo W530, but if it comes to the crunch then that will have to do)

Do apple do the educational discounts abroad that they do here? A 13" macbook air is £860 with three years applecare warranty.

But check what the course requires as many can have strange requirements.

 

[northernladuk]

It would be a good idea to actually ask the boy using his mum or another sibling* what kind of laptop he would like.

Simply because Uni students have some damn funny ideas about what they "need".

Some want light little things that you and I would think are useless for their needs, while others want something that is all singing and dancing.

*If they aren't techy get them to get him to indicate things from a well-known computer store.

That's only Yorkshire students.....

 

[northernladuk]

Whatever you will buy it will have an incredibly high chance to go missing or break so I would personally be watching the cost. It's a tool not an expensive fashion statement to be handled badly in student land... But them I am from Yorkshire.

 

[chef]

Gf chef also recently needed a new laptop and after looking around the 14" Dell Vostro 3460 at 499€ fit the bill perfectly. I'd recommend that.

 

[darmstadt]

Cheers for the answers. Picked up an Acer 14" Travelmate for just over €500 which I think is all he needs. It seems quite tough: aluminuim body (although I did get a nice little sleeve for ti as well), has a pretty good keyboard and came with Windows Professional (certain software will only run on that version.) If he needs more RAM it can be easily upgraded plus it didn't come with loads of bloatware! I also like the really small power supply compared to my Thinkpad which is the size of a housebrick!

 

[thunderlizard]

There's a lot to be said for this attitude:

Friend Buys Computer Just Like That | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

 

[doodab]

There's a lot to be said for this attitude:

Friend Buys Computer Just Like That | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

 

[d000hg]

When you're spending £500 probably right as long as you don't get done for a 3-year-old model.