Student laptop recommendations

The Acer Aspire 5715Z on the Tesco site looks good VFM with that spec.

My dad just gave me a new Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo Mobile with 1.8Mhz, 2Gb RAM, 120Gb HDD, I think they sell for about 275 quid new. My only niggle is battery life isn't great but it does everythng I need it to and has taken over from my desktop machine.

Originally Posted by Luckypants

Tesco have a back to school package with a Fujitsu lappy @£280 (or was it £260?) and my lad has just bought one. It is quite fast enough and has 2GB RAM and 160GB HDD so should be big enough. Only downside is no wordprocessing / spreadsheeting software on it, but that can be sorted on a student licence quite cheaply. (or via other means )

Yes and for the 'word processing/spreadsheeting' software you can download Open Office which is an Opensource product - basically Freeware software that is very similar to Microsoft Office.

Here is the link:

http://www.openoffice.org/

If hes doing comp forensics and is intrested in computers, ask him to find one himself within the price range from ebuyer/dabs, etc with any accessories.

Sure, he'll max out the memory, hard disk, etc but its going to last him a while it might be easier than in 6months time him going DAD....I need more memory for my "Video editing" research.

Dan

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Sudoxe

If hes doing comp forensics and is intrested in computers, ask him to find one himself within the price range from ebuyer/dabs, etc with any accessories.

Sure, he'll max out the memory, hard disk, etc but its going to last him a while it might be easier than in 6months time him going DAD....I need more memory for my "Video editing" research.

Dan

Dan may have a point - might be best to refer to the Uni and ask if there is a recommended spec for a laptop.

make sure you get the best processor (wants to be 2 gig core 2 duo, the 2 is important) and vidio card (most nvidia chips are good) Look at the dell website. Donmt buy memory from them but get it off ebay and save yourself a packet.

Originally Posted by rictus01

forensic computing

Cheers Mark.

Hi Mark,

For Forensic computing the limiting factor is usually RAM. The more RAM, the faster it can scan and index images of disk drives (which I imagine a fair whack of his coursework will be based around). Best to make sure it has 2GB of RAM and that it has an adequate number of USB 2.0 slots to accomodate both the external USB drive (this may take 2 ports, depending on how it's powered) and a mouse. Storage space on the drive is unlikely to be too important as at most I imagine they'll be given DVD sized drive images to analyze. Might be worth checking with the uni what software their course is based around to get an idea of the spec. A lot of the serious forensics software like Encase is v. pricey (so much so that you won't be expected to buy a copy yourself), so the practical stuff will probably be mainly taught in the uni's own labs, rather than done on his laptop, so I'd not go overboard on the spec of it.

As others have said, I'd be loathe to pay much for software licences as they can be had so cheaply via the uni at educational rates.

If he has any questions about it or the course in general, PM me, I'd be happy to help (I work in this field and have a masters that encompasses computer forensics).

Edit: He does not need a fancy video card. So long as it can play back video clip in media player, it will be fine for forensic work. Better cards are only really for gaming and he won't be doing advanced computer graphics requiring one as part of the course.

If you scanning data and you have lots of reads from the hard disk then you will also be wanting to think about disk speed and the on-board disc cache, as this will help with the access time. Most new stuff comes with SATA, but if I remember right the laptop SATA drives have different rpm speeds depending on the model and are not always to the same higher spec as the desktop models.

For £300 you can get a good spec PC tower.....just the box though - no screen/keyboard etc.

I would say for £400 you could get those as well. I wouldn't buy a laptop for his course though! The software can be had from uni for free or from other sources You (he) needs something that can be upgraded easily and cheaply and that is a PC defo not a laptop.

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by AndyBrad

make sure you get the best processor (wants to be 2 gig core 2 duo, the 2 is important) and vidio card (most nvidia chips are good) Look at the dell website. Donmt buy memory from them but get it off ebay and save yourself a packet.

Rubbish, and read the original post - this is just really an email/browsing/write up homework kind of machine.

Also it seems that many of the latest nVidia gfx chips for laptops and maybe their desktop cards may suffer from a manufacturing defect that causes them to die.

The CPU you suggest will EAT the battery, making it useless for taking to lectures to make notes on.

Yeah, if it was an Uber Gaming box that never is expected to run on it battery (and I have laptops of that spec) then you might be right.

However to the spec asked for , any £300 from Dell, Toshiba, Acer, Asus, Advent or whoever will do.

I would avoid the SCC ones, like the Acer EEE PC as they are a bit gimmicky and only a small step up from a PDA.

Stick a USB hub, mouse and keyboard into the budget as having these will make the thing more useable when its on his desk in his room.

Yep the on-board Intel chipset video will cope with most things and save on battery life too.