Stuff to bring?

Hi, my name is Rich and i'm starting at imperial in october. Is it necessary to bring a computer with you, and what is the internet connection like

Reply 1

Will Piovano

http://www.uk-learning.net/t59632.html

155 replies discussing your concerns.

If you want a straight answer, I'm bringing my laptop, and my 5.1 speakers. You should have an internet connection in your Hall, hopefully ADSL.

Imperial College London

London

Reply 2

Mysticmin

Will Piovano

I've heard the imperial internet connection speeds are dubious...

Reply 3

milon

My brother lives in London, so i'll be taking bear minimum on the first day and then transferring stuff from his place when I get a better idea of the size of room etc.

By bare minimum I mean Laptop and associated items, food and clothes. I don't really see there being a need for anything else.

I've heard theres some kind of computer fair with the Uni of London. Any ideas what this entails? Also, is there a computer shop near IC?

Reply 4

Will Piovano

My 5.1 speakers are included in the bare minimum.

As far as shops go, there's a Waterstones in IC, and a software shop where you get discounts for being an IC dude.

Reply 5

RichFaut

Hi, can anyone reccomend a decent laptop to buy that would be suitable for use at IC? I dont want anything too flashy, its not like i want to play Doom 3 in surround sound or anything, although i am partial to a few deathmathes on Operation Flashpoint on LAN.
My price range is about £300-£400

Reply 6

Will Piovano

RichFaut

its not like i want to play Doom 3 in surround sound or anything

You don't know what you're missing. :biggrin:

RichFaut

My price range is about £300-£400

That's pretty low, or should I say very low, for a laptop. If you just want it for Word, fine, but anything that runs any modern 3D games (forget Doom) is far beyond your price range.
There are video cards that cost that much (NVIDIA 6800 Ultra is almost $500). :eek:

Check Dell.com to get an idea of prices. You can customize to fit your needs.

Reply 7

milon

You won't get anything in laptop form for that price. If you want a semi-decent computer, you're better off with a desktop. Again though, you really need to spend more.

For really really cheap computers, try http://www.gooddealpc.co.uk

PCWorld, though a bunch of thieving pirates, also sometimes do deals over the internet (http://www.pcworld.co.uk/ . Just on their site now, they have a 2.4ghz machine with 17" monitor for £350. But, you have to consider that these wont be quality components and are probably easily damaged or something.

Reply 8

Will Piovano

They always screw you over somehow. My friend thought he got a really good deal for a 3.4 GHz Intel Pentium IV with 512 Mb RAM for something like £600. But he just found out his video card is as old as my grandma.

As a result my 3.0 Ghz laptop runs faster. Check everything; FSB, L1 and L2 cache. They hide these little details and make it look like a bargain.

Good huntin'.

Reply 9

BossLady

RichFaut

I agree with what people are saying here about 300-400 squid not being enough at all for a decent lappy, not even enough for a pretty poor lappy imo.

Even for a desktop, a good 'un, it's not really enough. If you have a couple of hundred squid more that you could use, it would certainly be worth it, in particular for a desktop! I suppose it depends on how much you're going to be in your room and using the comp though with a desktop, doesnt it?!

Reply 10

RichFaut

Well, ive already got an old desktop, so ill probably just upgrade it. Its got something like a 330 MHz processor and an ancient graphics card, im just wondering if it will be able to cope with playing operation flashpoint resistance over the intranet?

Reply 11

Will Piovano

Well, that's rather old to be upgraded. If you can run the game single-player, the major factor for online play will be an internet connection. Most games work fine with a 56k still. Only the really heavy ones like UT2004, FarCry and Doom are unplayable on 56k and require broadband.