Uni Questions

celliott

celliott

celliott

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I am currently on my second year of a Btec National Diploma IT course at college. My original intentions were to get a job straight after this, but after research it seems that I am not going to be able to progress very far without any higher level of education; since my course is basically completely over-rated and only the equivilent of sixth form.

So now I am basically looking at going to uni so am trying to work things out in terms of finance etc. Unlucky for me, my family income is quite a lot over the limit for getting a grant of any type, so it looks like I will be getting quite a big loan to cover this. Although our household income is quite high, that doesnt mean we have a lot of spare money unfortunatley. What I am gutted about is a mate of mine's parents only earn about 25k combined, and hes getting a £10k grant.

My first main question is, what do you all do for PC's? I definatley need a PC whilst at Uni. I cant decide if I should take my desktop or sell it and get a laptop which I could possibly use at lectures? Problem is I dont know how rugged laptops will be, as its going to be heavily used.

I am looking for a more General/Computing network degree rather than going for something like Computer Science or just Computer Programming. Thats quite lucky because I notice most Computer Science degrees require a B in Maths, and I only achieved C.

I know there are a lot of people on here at Uni, so what courses are you guys on and how are you finding them?

I know I sound a bit noobish, but it's good to hear other people's opinions. At the moment Im a bit undecided on what sort of degree I want to go for.

Chris :)
 
Be realistic with yourself, will you be moving your PC around a lot? A laptop is handy if you are or if you will be taking it into lectures and it takes up less desk space but otherwise you are compromising on power and increasing the risk of it getting nicked*. As Mephisto says you aren't likely to need a laptop for lectures much, most people I know who took one in just played games on theirs.

I had both through uni and I used the desktop most because it is more comfortable to use for extended periods and more powerful. Would you be moving away from home to go to uni?

*nb not usually a huge worry if you are sensible but it would be remiss not to point it out.
 
I'm doing Computer Science, it covers quite a broad selection of topics inlcuding software development, programming, AI, maths, databases, web design, computer law, computer principals, operating systems. It's not just programming like some people assume but it is a core part of it, in my case it's Java which is quite common at the moment as it is an Object Oriented (OO) language.

For a PC I took my desktop into the halls, I did rebuild it into a smaller case and replace my CRT with an LCD to reduce the size. Although quite a lot of people had laptops, not many people took them into lectures as their wasn't a great need for them. I did buy a MacBook for my second year which was quite useful, especially with more group based work.
 
Mephisto said:
Just take your desktop PC, you will rarely need your laptop in lectures tbh.
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Exactly. People who bring laptops to lectures irritate me, god damn geeks. (Not that I can talk, being a Physics student). I know one guy who has a tablet pc and writes everything on that, it seems much more fuss. Good ol' fashion pen and paper does me.
 
You don't really need a laptop, sure there will be people sitting there typing away in a lecture but you only need a notepad and paper. A laptop is most likely just going to become a distraction, I've seen many people sitting playing games and missing important information.

Just bring your desktop and set it up in your room, gives you much more power and a lot more comfortable.

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http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q117/gaverick/DSC00083.jpg
 
I found a laptop really useful on my final year at uni when working in the library or similar areas. It was handy to have a guaranteed machine to work on, not having to rely on one of the uni machines being available.

I never once used it in a lecture though.
 
I agree I bought a laptop for uni and I just leave it at home for the family to use (or break as they now seem to have pushed the power socket into the laptop...). If you are dyslexic you can get a computer given to you (however you do have to take a test first) also you can get a printer and dictophone etc or them all. At most in a lecture theater you will need a dictophone (I've not used one in 3 years but you never know). If you go though your sure to have an amazing time!
 
Nobody on my course uses a laptop in lectures, and im doing computing.
The only reason you would need a laptop really is if you havnt got space on your desk for having a full size pc with space for writing as well.

(and whichever computer you decide to take, remember to bring the biggest speakers you can find!!!)
 
Desktop, more powerful, people who bring laptops to lectures end up on facebook or youtube which defeats the point of going to lectures.
 
From my experience, most people at Uni have laptops but only a tiny proportion of them actually use them outside of their desk. The big advantage (in fact the only real advantage for me) in having a laptop is that it's easier to take home if you need to travel by train. Otherwise there's really not any need that I can see.

On my course there are a few people who take laptops into lectures - but they use them to play games (or sometimes to do unrelated work) rather than actually listen to the lecture. (I'm not necessarily saying that's a bad thing - for some of our lecture courses there's really no point in being there, but doing some work on your laptop means you are there in case something really important is said, or for lecture handouts, etc - on the other hand it can distract other people) We have free Wifi in the lecture theatre (not sure which genius decided to do that) which means that you see the laptop-crowd (which is only a few people) checking Facebook most of the time...

Anyway basically I've never found anyone who really needs a laptop, but most people have them.
 
Same as PinkPig really; the vast majority of my friends have laptops rather than desktops but no one really uses them as such (they just leave them in their room and use them like desktops). I have a desktop myself :cool:
 
never saw anyone with a laptop around uni. there's absolutely no need as far as i can see.

if you want a laptopt for ease of packing and moving to fro home/uni then fair enough, but otherwise, just take your pc.
 
A laptop is nice for lectures. I take mine with me so I can do the work on it rather than the workshop pcs to then save and send home or put on usb stick. Also means I have all the config for my graphics tablet set up.
I've also got my main pc at home as although my laptop has a fair bit of punch with a coreduo and 2gig of Ram it wouldn't cope as well on the 3d rendering.

If your doing a course that is mainly essays and other paper work, just go with what your most comfortable to use.
 
I've got a laptop, doesn't move much from my room to be honest but it's always nice to have the option of taking it to the library or taking it home on the train with me.
 
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