Views on this Dell laptop?

Look at the software specification of the first one

"Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook"
Some university courses specifically require the full versions of Microsoft software to teach higher level functionality of these suites.
If the student can get by with Open Office Org or Star Office, well and good, but some higher level manipulations may not be available - I cannot say.
Otherwise the student may need the full versions of the package.

Also some courses in graphics and presentation may need a higher quality screen, a video car or a graphics card.
A course I was looking at recently specified what it terms at "basic" laptop, which blew the one I own out of the water!
If you know the specific course, inquire online or from the course director/secretariat what specification of laptop is appropriate.
 
Agree with onq - you need to get the requirements / recommendations on the course itself... Most laptops "do the job" for what is required for a student... specifics to do with software is when the costs go up...

The second link you sent on does do bundles, you can see the price jumping up...

Basically the laptop should have at least a dual core processor, 4Gigs of RAM, 350Gigs+ of harddisk, 15"+ screen size, wireless enabled, USB ports (at least 2), & a good battery life.. anything additional is a bonus... then add the software that you require on top of that... take a trip into some of the electrical shops, get an idea & spec of the machines & then take the details home to compare & contrast in your own time... if the sales reps get too technical, then tell them so... sometimes they speak a different language to help push the sale, so don't feel pressurized into making a purchase then & there...

It's a big initial cost... just another to add onto the growing costs of kids going to 3rd level education...
 
Hi,

You may be able to upgrade your spec if you use the following voucher codes and maybe get the 5% discount. The current expiry date on that voucher is 28th September but they seem to update them regularly. This thread on boards might be of interest also as you may be able to avail of the Employee Purchase scheme with Dell and get a further discount.

When buying our desktop recently you will see I opted for the OFFICE SOFTWARE English Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2010 ( Word, Excel, Powerpoint, One Note) which I'm finding to be fine. I did check the price out on the net but found it to be cheaper, at that time with the discount, with Dell.

I also opted for the 3 year home repair option because we had horrific problems with son's laptop and learnt our lesson in the past with other laptops also. They take a lot of toing/froing and a lot of people have said, to me, that the average lifespan is only 3 years because of this. Because students are bringing them backwards and forwards this can be even worse than the norm.

You might want to check out if your household insurance can cover it for accidental damage. I was always amazed at the number of students who had their laptop very visible/vulnerable while travelling on the luas and Dublin Bus.

Because the McAfee 3 year option was only €20 I took that rather than the 15 month one.

We got a laptop for my daughter at Christmas in Argos and it is an Acer and she finds it great. It came, at that time, with a free 3 year warranty. They seem to have some and Argos are, in my opinion, good on customer service, if you have a problem.

Feel free to PM me if you want any further advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top