1st year engineering.....laptop??

gant0

Hi,I was just wondering if there is any need for a laptop for 1st year undenominated engineering?Is it a neccesasity or a luxury?I read somewhere that NUIG has some laptop scheme.Anyone know what the story is with that?are they good quality laptops?.....Thanks

RolandIRL

is that the Lenovo scheme? they seem to be shít laptops afaik.

i'd say go with a laptop but buy it yourself. the scheme doesn't seem to be worthwhile. you'll prob need it since you'll be doing CAD drawings and the like, and you don't want to have to spend your time waiting in the comp suites especially if they're packed. way easier to do it at home or in the library in comfort.

gant0

Thanks,guess that's even more money I'm gonna need to save:D

aperture_nuig

whiteman19 wrote: »

is that the Lenovo scheme? they seem to be shít laptops afaik.

i'd say go with a laptop but buy it yourself. the scheme doesn't seem to be worthwhile. you'll prob need it since you'll be doing CAD drawings and the like, and you don't want to have to spend your time waiting in the comp suites especially if they're packed. way easier to do it at home or in the library in comfort.

The lenovo scheme is pretty bad tbh.

I did undenom. engineering 2 years ago, and never "needed" my laptop for anything like CAD, because you have to do CAD supervised in computer labs that have the CAD software anyway.

BUT... Having your own laptop is great for checking emails and such from lecturers from the comfort of home, and also for uploading/completing assignments from home too. The last piece of advice I could give you is to remember:a bigger screen makes watching movies more enjoyable, but makes carrying around the laptop much more difficult!

TheCosmicFrog

It's nice to have a laptop for almost any college course.

Also, stay away from the Lenovo deal, €1300 for an underpowered laptop loaded with free software.

yay

dastardly00

You should survive without a laptop for 1st year. If you are a bit short on cash then the best time to get one would be 2nd year. It'll last 'til the end of the degree that way, whereas it'd be getting knackered if you buy it in 1st year.

And as already mentioned, you'll do most of your CAD work during the dedicated lab times.

crocov

Hi, My friend bought one last year and was very impressed. Lenovo took over IBM so its a sturdy piece of kit It comes with 4 yrs on campus support and insurance and all the software you need. I know from my mate that he would definetely recommend it!:)

mlmcelligott

What ever you get make sure it has good speakers for watching youtube and sidereel lecturers!

Kevo

I think Dell is your best bet. How much have you got to spend?

TheCosmicFrog

crocov wrote: »

Hi, My friend bought one last year and was very impressed. Lenovo took over IBM so its a sturdy piece of kit It comes with 4 yrs on campus support and insurance and all the software you need. I know from my mate that he would definetely recommend it!:)

All that software is available free to students anyway and the minuscule chance of something going wrong with it doesn't warrant spending €1300 for on-campus support.

gant0

Well I'm not sure how much I'll have to spend cause It'll prob be my birthday present but I think I'll hold off for a few months and see how I get without it for a good while.Might get one in the january sales or something.€1300 is very pricey for a laptop though!!

GEasy

€1300 is a hell of a lot of money. I bought one for Undenominated Eng 2 years ago for €750 . Its a hp. Its worth getting one with a graphics card too, depending on what course you'll chose you'll probably end up using some design package which can be graphically intensive.

My advice is to look around the €600 to €800 euro market.

Komplett.ie are good as are Peats.ie

PC world is worth a look too. But have an idea of what kind of specs you want before going in cos they might just try and push a laptop on you that isn't selling well.

Hope this helps and good luck with the engineering! You'll like Semester 1 mathematics if its like what i did.

sonicg

i bought one last year and found it very good.fact that college are endorsing and student union means it trustworthy in my opinion.if your worried about price like i was last year i suggest going online dell.ie and you will see that cheapest workstation that is cad iso certified(ie a standard 1gb graphics card good for gaming isnt cad authorised) and with 5year warranty instead of 4 year as they dont do 4 year is €1843. and thats without the software. as you will soon realise engineering is long hours so having a laptop that i can sit on couch at home in the evening and not in college and do everyhing that entailed is worth every penny