One of my lads will be going to Uni this year to study computing and maths. He will need some sort of computer. He is thinking probably a netbook type to be easy to carry round - and also to be able to plug into a monitor and keyboard and mouse when back at his room...

He says he doesn't want a tablet...

We bought a Sumsung NC10 for the missus a couple of years ago to use when travelling - I assume technology has moved on a bit since...

So any recommendations of what to look at? Or alternative ways of getting what he needs?

Cheers

Mick

 

I,ll Reply to you Mick

the Samsung NC110 is nearly the best of the Bunch, but for the price you can get him a cheap laptop. Or is he weak and doesnt want to carry it ?
personally as he moves into uni and doing work its much better to have a larger screen 13 up to work on, as things become too cluttered.

plus if you pay a bit more he could Game on it when hes bored ****less, think of the pros and cons of each.

I bought my wife one too but all she does is shopping and email , you sons gonna hit a much larger broader remit so a lappy is better.

something like

http://www.ebuyer.com/sonic-generations

Dont forget hell wanna watch movies with women and bigger ie better Music Games Work, soo fill it up.

Id get a Laptop then treat the Lad to an Ipad when your flush the 2 work well together

also tell him from me for Maths tablets are good to scribble on, so dont discount them. But also Computers is hes coding, then big screens all the way, you never wanna be stuck in Visual basic doing .net or C# and cant see all your code, to compare

 

What's your budget I guess?

If he's studying computing he'd probably need a little more grunt than a netbook as he will more than likely be doing some computational work.

You could always ask the course tutor what sort of work he will be doing and what he'd recommend?

Once you have a min spec/budget we can suggest things.

 

For computing, high resolution display is the way forward unless the organisation avoid using modern integrated development environments to teach programming, ask the organisation.

For me, I wouldn't contemplate programming seriously on less than a 1080p screen, 4GB RAM and 7200 RPM hard drive, and laptops like that will have a decent enough CPU. Otherwise compile times just get too long, you're always scrolling, side by side comparisons are a PITA, debugging is a PITA. Everything is a PITA. The only thing I didn't need when doing development work for Cobb was a fast 3d card, but the laptop I bought to get the above had that anyway.

For my wife doing design work, we've not bought another laptop yet as she also could do with a 1080p screen, and the choice and value with 1080p screens are poor.

Check his eyes suit a 15-16" 1080p screen though. Mine do very much, some don't like it.

£750 for a student on a laptop like this is a bit of a theft and damage risk though!

 

Agreed with John all mine are 1080 although the Ps are becoming less so due to them moving to 1080I at 1920 x 1080 Movie mode, rather than my preferred 1900x1200 1080P

seem to pay a premium now for that level.

I couldnt work without it, lowest i,ll go is 1680x1050