Laptops for BA Business management with foundation year

Hello everyone, I'll be studying BA business management with foundation year course next month.
I want to know what laptop would be best to buy? I have a computer at home where I plan to do all assignments on but need a laptop to take to uni and was planning on downloading the 'glean' app. Please let me know your thoughts....

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Sheetal1001

You're going to be studying a low key social science. It's not an intensive science where you need to run thousands of computations in the background at ridiculous speeds, risking the entire system crashing.
The most intensive use of software would be in Excel or a stats software for a small data set, if that.

A standard £300-400 laptop is more than sufficient. I would check to see there is sufficient RAM (e.g.4GB+), speed (e.g. 2Ghz+), and hard drive (e.g. 60GB+) to make it worthwhile. Most second hand laptops would meet these requirements easily. What I do recommend to get when you do have the laptop are the software and accessories that you should have to prepare for uni.
Software that I recommend having on your laptop:

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Microsoft Office Home/Small Business offline - whilst slightly more expensive than the Student edition, you can still use the software after your degree; essential to have PowerPoint, Excel, Word

•

Antivirus software (ideally with antispyware)

Essential accessories include:

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laptop bag - roughly £20

•

wired mouse (because wireless is a pain) - £6-£10 is sufficient

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earphones - £6-10

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all in one printer - with print speeds of at least 20ppm; includes copier/scanner. Should cost around £50

Optional accessories include:

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Laser pointer - recommend Kensington, because of the ergonomics, functionality, and look; you would probably do 1-2 presentations as assignments in your degree, but it can be useful if you do a lot of presentations in your job

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DVD player - if you have DVDs

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Tablet - a bit pricey, so you can give this a skip

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Second monitor - as a second screen or the main screen

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HDMI cable - in case you want to connect your laptop to the TV as well as your monitor

•

Mini speakers

Reply 2

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by Sheetal1001

Hi! As MindMax2000 said, BsMngt does not tend to require particularly complex computers, with Excel and other Microsoft services being fairly standard. I would say Windows over Macs, as there may be small differences when submitting docs/spreadsheets. However, this could depend on the modules and your university, so you can always contact them to double check.

I would also ask if the university provides a Microsoft account - I am using Microsoft Office (etc.) for free at the moment, and am planning on buying it closer to graduation. Still spending the money, true, but for now there's a little extra cash for groceries or other unexpected costs.

Hope this helped!
Vicki (Lancaster Student Ambassador)