Nothing like making universities more 'accessible'
Have you ever considered it was just a phonetic mistake in typing? It happens a lot.
Uni people - Desktop or laptop?
- Thread starter wakayoda
- Start date
Have you ever considered it was just a phonetic mistake in typing? It happens a lot.
Soldato
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Both?
What I have is a 13" MacBook Air for day to day on campus (battery lasts all day, and thanks to the SSD Visual Studio in my Win7 VM isn't too shabby), 15" MacBook Pro for home, and my gaming PC for gaming or anything Windows based that needs some umph.
If you're only gonna have one machine (and being a GD poster you have an irrational hatred of Macs) I'd get a Dell Latitude E6420 with the big battery (that’s the current version of the one Fox had). Use it as a laptop around campus, and shove it on the docking station with your screens/keyboard/mouse at home.
If you're a Mac fanboy and have got the cash for it, the 15" MacBook Pro with the high-res screen. Use it as a laptop around campus and get the 27" thunderbolt display to use with it at home.
What I have is a 13" MacBook Air for day to day on campus (battery lasts all day, and thanks to the SSD Visual Studio in my Win7 VM isn't too shabby), 15" MacBook Pro for home, and my gaming PC for gaming or anything Windows based that needs some umph.
If you're only gonna have one machine (and being a GD poster you have an irrational hatred of Macs) I'd get a Dell Latitude E6420 with the big battery (that’s the current version of the one Fox had). Use it as a laptop around campus, and shove it on the docking station with your screens/keyboard/mouse at home.
If you're a Mac fanboy and have got the cash for it, the 15" MacBook Pro with the high-res screen. Use it as a laptop around campus and get the 27" thunderbolt display to use with it at home.
If you can easily transport your PC, take your PC.
If not, get a cheap laptop.
Seriously, you will hardly ever use your computer when at University, except for Microsoft Word. I was addicted to WoW and gaming before I first went to Uni, and took my gaming PC with me. I never even turned it on unless it was to write an essay on Word, because I was too busy spending time in other people's rooms, drinking, partying or generally doing real life stuff haha.
Now I'm back home and addicted to games again
If not, get a cheap laptop.
Seriously, you will hardly ever use your computer when at University, except for Microsoft Word. I was addicted to WoW and gaming before I first went to Uni, and took my gaming PC with me. I never even turned it on unless it was to write an essay on Word, because I was too busy spending time in other people's rooms, drinking, partying or generally doing real life stuff haha.
Now I'm back home and addicted to games again
I'd go with a desktop. Chances are a laptop would never leave your room anyway, so it's unecessarily compromised and more expensive vs the desktop. Not to mention the chance of someone nicking it when you drunkenly forget to lock your room (halls). It's all money better spent in the SU.
Do be grateful for LCD screens and Matx/SFF PCs though. Lugging an old 19" CRT up several flights of stairs to get to your room in halls is not fun!
Do be grateful for LCD screens and Matx/SFF PCs though. Lugging an old 19" CRT up several flights of stairs to get to your room in halls is not fun!
If I was being honest and was going to do it again, and as much as I dislike this suggestion, I would purchase a Macbook pro with the higher education discount. It would have only come out slightly more expensive than my current and I feel would've lasted much longer. As it is, after 2 years with my Sony I'm looking for an excuse to buy a MBP.
They're smaller, lighter, VERY good battery life comparatively (my VAIO is 2 years old and dies after 5 minutes whereas my mates MBP still lasts hours after the same amount of time) and also easier to use - the touchpad is godly.
Then just bring your own extra screen/mouse and you're set - dual screen is ridiculously helpful for essays - your reading texts on one screen and the essay/draft on another.
Edit: Just to clarify I'd never consider bringing only a desktop. Portability is ridiculously helpful and computers are far from free 100% of the time - dissertation period anyone? Also when visiting places you can just chuck it in a bag and not worry about it. If I'm going to stay at my mates for a couple of days I'll chuck my lappy in just for when he's busy / we're just both chilling.
Oh, and I'm far from a fanboy, I just really believe that MBPs are better due to the touchpad, battery and portability.
They're smaller, lighter, VERY good battery life comparatively (my VAIO is 2 years old and dies after 5 minutes whereas my mates MBP still lasts hours after the same amount of time) and also easier to use - the touchpad is godly.
Then just bring your own extra screen/mouse and you're set - dual screen is ridiculously helpful for essays - your reading texts on one screen and the essay/draft on another.
Edit: Just to clarify I'd never consider bringing only a desktop. Portability is ridiculously helpful and computers are far from free 100% of the time - dissertation period anyone? Also when visiting places you can just chuck it in a bag and not worry about it. If I'm going to stay at my mates for a couple of days I'll chuck my lappy in just for when he's busy / we're just both chilling.
Oh, and I'm far from a fanboy, I just really believe that MBPs are better due to the touchpad, battery and portability.
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Desktop. Most people bought laptops which then ended up doing nothing other than sitting on a desk.
If it'll spend it's life on a desk anyway, why restrict yourself to less power for more cost just to get an advantage that you might use once or twice in the year.
I never regretted not bothering with a laptop at uni, I never had a single cause to need one really.
If it'll spend it's life on a desk anyway, why restrict yourself to less power for more cost just to get an advantage that you might use once or twice in the year.
I never regretted not bothering with a laptop at uni, I never had a single cause to need one really.
I only had a desktop and didn't run into any problems. Lecture notes were all hand written, and most software I needed was far more suited to desktops (either my own or the department workstations). Simulink would have been pure pain on a laptop.
While laptops can be a distraction in lectures, they're also handy for viewing websites mentioned in lectures (or bookmarking for later). You can also retrieve your Dropbox files etc as needed.
My Macbook is invaluable as my course requires access to Windows, Mac and Linux - I have all three installed and can quickly swap between them (yes, I could VM but I prefer a physical install so I can sandbox from the relevant OS)
I found it very useful to have a laptop, so I could take my setup to the library to work without distraction - I have no games on it at all.
I do also have a gaming rig, there's no way I could live without that as well
My Macbook is invaluable as my course requires access to Windows, Mac and Linux - I have all three installed and can quickly swap between them (yes, I could VM but I prefer a physical install so I can sandbox from the relevant OS)
I found it very useful to have a laptop, so I could take my setup to the library to work without distraction - I have no games on it at all.
I do also have a gaming rig, there's no way I could live without that as well
This.
If you have a desktop, take it up aswell and keep it in your room. Get an ultraportable laptop for Uni stuff.
To be fair the point about laptops being more likely to get nicked is a valid one, but desktops are a lot more tricky when it comes to transit. I remember taking one of my old PCs on a train a couple of times and it was a nightmare.
I think students have it easier these days in terms of screens though, TFTs weren't out when I was at uni so had to lug a 19" CRT around...
I think students have it easier these days in terms of screens though, TFTs weren't out when I was at uni so had to lug a 19" CRT around...
I got a 12 inch laptop for university (studying computer science) and absolutley loved the screen size and portability. Think if I was making the choice again I would still stick with that choice, size of an A4 pad basically and allowed me to work anywhere (often went to the library to escape the distractions of housemates). Whenever I was working when I got home though I would hook up an external monitor which made coding a bit nicer but honestly I found coding on a 12 inch screen completely fine.
Soldato
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I was more than happy with just my desktop. Uni had plenty of computers I could use anyway.
And this is why I built myself a desktop last week for my second year. Using CAD on my laptop was a pain. Still taking my laptop as it's useful when working in the library with mates and there's no computers available.