What I Would Consider When Buying a Laptop for my Course

Decisions to make when considering a computer for my course:

1.      Desktop/Laptop

2.      Size & Weight

3.      Price & Warranty

4.      Antivirus Software

5.      Ports & Drives

6.      Hard Drive & Processor

7.      Applications & Programmes

8.      Battery Life

9.      RAM

Desktop/Laptop: The 1st thing I would decide on would be desktop or laptop and personally I would rather a laptop. I spend much of my time either travelling to and from college or in the college library. The library itself is unreliable for getting a desktop because they are in short supply and I would find it very hard lugging a desktop onto the 07.20 train never mind finding a plug socket once I'd gotten a seat. The laptop would allow me to bring it wherever I went so I could do coursework on trains, in college or if need be in my friend's houses. This would make things much easier in regard to getting work & research completed on time as the hours I usually waste travelling could be used efficiently. The laptop also takes up significantly less room and so can easily be stored during the brief time I am at home and not using it.

Size & Weight: As I am considering a Laptop the size and weight is also extremely important. I need something that is large enough for me to easily view the screen without eye strain even when I am not wearing my glasses (as they break on frequent occasion) however I also need something small & light enough that any laptop bag I put it into can easily hold the weight of it and so the strap would not tear and the risk of the laptop being dropped and/or damaged is significantly reduced. Through experience with the laptops of my parents and friends I think a 15” screen would allow for me to see easily with/without glasses. Most 15” laptop would also weigh only 5-6 pounds allowing for easy transport without strain on either my shoulders or the strap of the bag.

Price & Warranty: As most college students aren’t considered extremely wealthy price is always an issue. Thankfully most standard laptops (perfect for a college student) can be bought for 400-600 Euro. Personally I am currently looking a a laptop to the value of 450 Euro which is more than sufficient for what I need from a laptop. Warrantys on the other hand are a lot trickier. Most people would go for the 2 year warranty because it makes them feel safer however depending on what make of laptop you are buying warrantys can become rather pricey. Personally I would recommend either Compaq or Dell as they have a 1 year Warranty included in the price and it’s only 35 Euro for a 2^nd year.

Antivirus Software: There are currently tons of different antivirus programs on the market e.g Avast, AVG, Baracuda, etc. and while some of them may be given out for free personally I would go with Norton Antivirus. It’s more expensive (as it actually costs money unlike a lot of them) but it gives me peace of mind which is more then enough to keep me happy. The fact that it also keeps my computer from crashing is a bonus.

Ports & Drives: A CD/DVD drive is a must for most students as they will want to play DVDs, burn DVDs, copy DVDs to their iPods, play CDs, etc. A number of USB ports are also considered essential so that Memory Sticks, Printers, Scanners etc. can be hooked up to the laptop to aid in coursework

Hard Drive & Processor: A standard and well working laptop should have a Hard Drive that runs at a speed of around 2600rpms. Also many Laptops these days boast Hard Drives of 100+Gb however 50-60Gb is more than enough for most students, including myself, to save their coursework. I would also recommend an Intel processor my personal preference being a Dual Core processor as it has twice the power of most processors as well as running in Gigahertz

Applications & Programmes: The basic Microsoft Office package is practically a must for most students: Microsoft Word is used constantly to write essays as part of CAs, Microsoft PowerPoint is also very usual for making up presentations to be shown in class, Microsoft Excel would be useful for my course as it would help in my calculations for Research Methods & Statistics course work. For my course Adobe Photoshop is also pivotal for the completion of my CAs (Multimedia)

Battery Life: As I travel a lot and would use my laptop on trains and/or buses which are mostly devoid of plug sockets I would need a battery which last a while especially when I’m not entirely sure when I’ll next get to a plug socket so I would need a laptop which is compatible with an AC power cable and has at least 40hrs of battery life in it when fully charged.

RAM: I would only consider a laptop with at least 2Gb of RAM. This allows for good video playback, multitasking and as many students are also part time gamers will run most games without a general lag giving a smoother style of playing.

This is what I personally would look for when buying a computer for my course and these are the decisions I would have to make. If you have any queries, questions or comments please leave them in the comment box below.

Beany Out!!!!