Uni laptop.

[vanthus]

Thinking of getting this for my granddaughters christmas,who's just started uni,and looking for a 15" laptop mainly for uni work.
I don't think she's bothered much about gaming,but might want to try one or two, like the sims 3 or minecraft,or something like that,low settings would suffice,would the Intel® HD Graphics 4000 and the Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-3230M suffice for doing so,or should I go for a dedicated graphics card?
Any advice or alternative spec for around £500 much appreciated,the gaming side isn't essential but would be nice.
Chassis & Display
UltraNote: 15.6" Matte HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1366x768)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-3230M (2.60GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
Intel® HD Graphics 4000 Video Memory Technology up to 1.7GB
Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
UltraNote Series: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Carry Case
Tech Air 15.6" Classic Toploading Case (£18)
Keyboard Language
ULTRANOTE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Quantity
1
Price: £525.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/ultraNote-15/uGqW4P6jqj/

 

[DeadEyeDuk]

Right, no one better lie.

Who didn't read the first sentence and immediately try and work out how old our dear V is?

Granddaughter...Uni...18...

...whirring cogs and gizmos...

...abacus comes out...

...

WOOOOHHHH



Oh, on topic you say?

Uhm..

Yeh, I don't know anything about this stuff

 

[vanthus]

Right, no one better lie.

Who didn't read the first sentence and immediately try and work out how old our dear V is?

Granddaughter...Uni...18...

...whirring cogs and gizmos...

...abacus comes out...

...

WOOOOHHHH



Oh, on topic you say?

Uhm..

Yeh, I don't know anything about this stuff

You're always such a big help Duck,and yeah,compared to most of you guys I'm probably antediluvian.

 

[tom_gr7]

well, I've played the sims3 on my optimus III. I found that it didnt run very well on my dual core I5 hd4000. But it ran reasonable well on a 650m. Edit i was running at 1920x1080

Tough one really, as you dont want a gaming laptop but you also dont want a laptop that can't really handle games.

I'll have a look on the site, see what I can come up with.

 

[tom_gr7]

I had a look mate, but I think you have got the best spec for that price range, anything with a gpu would bump up the price to well over 550-600.

I'd ask her if she is going to do any gaming on it? i'd guess not as at uni there are going to much more interesting and exciting things to do, rather than the sims3 haha. If not, i'd probably whack in a 120gb SSD, will give her a very good speed boost over the mechanical drive. I'd also chuck in 8gig ram for the future proof aspect.

 

[vanthus]

I had a look mate, but I think you have got the best spec for that price range, anything with a gpu would bump up the price to well over 550-600.

I'd ask her if she is going to do any gaming on it? i'd guess not as at uni there are going to much more interesting and exciting things to do, rather than the sims3 haha. If not, i'd probably whack in a 120gb SSD, will give her a very good speed boost over the mechanical drive. I'd also chuck in 8gig ram for the future proof aspect.

Thanks tom,I'll ask her if she's bothered about games,hopefully not.

 

[Paigey]

Had a quick look too and would guess the cheapest step into the "gaming" type of laptop would be this... Not too sure how good the processor would be though...

Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 15.6" Matte HD LED 16:9 Widescreen (1366x768)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-4200M (2.50GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 740M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Cosmos Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
COSMOS SERIES UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Quantity
1

Price: £595.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/cosmosII/ZyDh9kqjfo/

 

[vanthus]

Cheers Paigey,I'll keep that spec in mind.

 

[bigben]

I'll try installing minecraft on my laptop tomorrow.
What is she doing at uni? Does she really need the i5? Saves about £35 to go for the i3.
Might be worth getting dead pixel warranty. (I couldn't see it there)
Like Tom said, may be worth considering an SSD - I have one in my ultranote and for general use it feels just as quick as my desktop.

 

[vanthus]

I'll try installing minecraft on my laptop tomorrow.
What is she doing at uni? Does she really need the i5? Saves about £35 to go for the i3.
Might be worth getting dead pixel warranty. (I couldn't see it there)
Like Tom said, may be worth considering an SSD - I have one in my ultranote and for general use it feels just as quick as my desktop.

Thanks Ben,she's doing a nursing course,just had a chat with her and turns out she's not interested in games any more,but will need Microsoft Word and Powerpoint.
so, now not sure what version of Office would be best choice,not really interested in Open office or Libre office,but as Ben said,an i3 should suffice?

 

[keynes]

Thanks Ben,she's doing a nursing course,just had a chat with her and turns out she's not interested in games any more,but will need Microsoft Word and Powerpoint.
so, now not sure what version of Office would be best choice,not really interested in Open office or Libre office,but as Ben said,an i3 should suffice?

If I remember correctly I didn't have to buy office, I connected to the uni network to use it. She could try asking the course provider if they offer the same facility or subsidised versions.

 

[Corfate]

If it helps at all, my Ultranote is only used for word documents, excel, powerpoint etc - no games at all. It runs them perfectly, no problems at all and thats with an i3 and integrated graphics (Spec in sig)

 

[tom_gr7]

As for the CPU, i would think an I3 would be fine. The i5's are probably marginally faster, offering a slight increase in clock speed.

I'd go for an I3 with a ssd. Will be nice and snappy. The i3 wont be waiting around for a HDD to load, I'd go for this.

Chassis & Display
UltraNote: 15.6" Matte HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1366x768)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i3 Dual Core Mobile Processor i3-3120M (2.50GHz) 3MB should be plenty.
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)i'd totally add in 8gig for future proofing really.
Graphics Card
Intel® HD Graphics 4000 Video Memory Technology up to 1.7GB
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
UltraNote Series: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6235 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH I would guess that her uni will offer very good wireless, so this will probably be a good investment.
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
ULTRANOTE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Quantity
1

Price: £542.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/ultraNote-15/qTcwc8Z5FW/

 

[vanthus]

If I remember correctly I didn't have to buy office, I connected to the uni network to use it. She could try asking the course provider if they offer the same facility or subsidised versions.

She's not resident as it's pretty near hand(cost me a fortune to get her through her driving test though ),but will look into possibility of subsidised version.

 

[vanthus]

If it helps at all, my Ultranote is only used for word documents, excel, powerpoint etc - no games at all. It runs them perfectly, no problems at all and thats with an i3 and integrated graphics (Spec in sig)

Thanks Corfate,that's very helpful.

 

[tom_gr7]

As for MS office, - http://www.software4students.co.uk/

 

[vanthus]

As for the CPU, i would think an I3 would be fine. The i5's are probably marginally faster, offering a slight increase in clock speed.

I'd go for an I3 with a ssd. Will be nice and snappy. The i3 wont be waiting around for a HDD to load, I'd go for this.

Chassis & Display
UltraNote: 15.6" Matte HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1366x768)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i3 Dual Core Mobile Processor i3-3120M (2.50GHz) 3MB should be plenty.
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)i'd totally add in 8gig for future proofing really.
Graphics Card
Intel® HD Graphics 4000 Video Memory Technology up to 1.7GB
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
UltraNote Series: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6235 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH I would guess that her uni will offer very good wireless, so this will probably be a good investment.
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
ULTRANOTE SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Quantity
1

Price: £542.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/ultraNote-15/qTcwc8Z5FW/

Looks good,I was thinking of upgrading the network card so thanks for that,not sure about SSD though,just seems too little space for my liking.

 

[keynes]

Looks good,I was thinking of upgrading the network card so thanks for that,not sure about SSD though,just seems too little space for my liking.

I think an i3 + 4gb should be fine. If she wants an SSD that's something she could add later on. Considering the posts related to intel wireless cards I would look for alternatives.

 

[vanthus]

I think an i3 + 4gb should be fine. If she wants an SSD that's something she could add later on. Considering the posts related to intel wireless cards I would look for alternatives.

Yeah,I'm thinking 4GB ram will be plenty,can't add SSD later,can only replace hard drive and there's no option to select an optical bay caddy,she won't want to be without an optical drive anyway,so reckon I'll be sticking with the Scorpio Black HDD.

 

[Matrix510]

For general usage a HDD won't really hold her back at all. It may have slower boot-up and load times, but really, it's not too bad. The i3 is enough power for the type of thing she's wanting to do, and the 4GB of RAM is plenty for now. Remember, you can add more RAM at a later date if it's needed.

Your granddaughter should be able to pick up a copy of Office 365 University from Microsoft directly for £60, which will be a 4 year subscription that can also be synced between mobile devices and PC's so all of her documents will stay with her through skydrive. If you can get hold of this cheaper elsewhere, definitely do it. Just make sure it's a 4 year subscription before putting down the money. This will last her through University.

I have heard bad things about the intel cards too, so with the money you're saving on going for an i3 over that i5, get a better network card for her is my advice.

And unless she's watching a lot of DVD's on her laptop, I doubt she's even going to use that Optical Drive much. I find I never use my optical drives anymore except for reinstalling windows and watching Blu Rays, the former which can be done through flash drives nowadays anyway.