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Laptop for Computer Science

What laptop would be best for A level Computer Science? I would prefer Windows as I’m more familiar with that interface.

Reply 1

Dunnig Kruger

Be prepared for it to be a self-study A level. Because every CS teacher I've come across has been useless or next to useless.

What's your mobility profile? As in how physically strong are you? And will you be carrying the laptop a lot on foot or public transport?

The value for money in laptops is in free laptops. Spare laptops that the IT Depts of local large organisation would give you, especially if you will do some charity work on it.
Next best is in used premium business laptops on ebay. EG HP 840 or 845 G8's at £250 or less.

Dump Windows and install Linux, eg Debian with KDE Plasma on your laptop. KDE Plasma is a slicker, more versatile interface with better default settings than Windows, whilst also being similar enough to Windows to make it easy to get used to.

Reply 2

staristrying

Original post by Dunnig Kruger

Be prepared for it to be a self-study A level. Because every CS teacher I've come across has been useless or next to useless.
What's your mobility profile? As in how physically strong are you? And will you be carrying the laptop a lot on foot or public transport?
The value for money in laptops is in free laptops. Spare laptops that the IT Depts of local large organisation would give you, especially if you will do some charity work on it.
Next best is in used premium business laptops on ebay. EG HP 840 or 845 G8's at £250 or less.
Dump Windows and install Linux, eg Debian with KDE Plasma on your laptop. KDE Plasma is a slicker, more versatile interface with better default settings than Windows, whilst also being similar enough to Windows to make it easy to get used to.

Thank you for the advice! I will mainly be travelling by foot so I would something a little more light-weight. Also, what revision/learning materials would you recommend for CS? ^u^

Reply 3

Dunnig Kruger

My personal recommendation would be to drop CS and to study some other A level.

If you're attracted to earning money in some IT job, then that's fantastic. As it's a great way to earn money for someone with a passion in this area.
In this case you're best off picking an in-demand IT specialisation that gets your juices flowing. And then getting training in that, getting certification in that specialisation (if appropriate), maybe generating your own experience (by doing some project for yourself or for someone else for free or nearly free), getting a starter job in that specialisation.
The best type of training will depend on you. Training can be as simple as throwing yourself in at the deep end and using manuals to discover how to do what you want to do.

If whatever specialisation you pick doesn't work out for you for whatever reason, you simply jump over to another specialisation.

For your laptop, if you're of slight build get a 13.3". 14" for medium build. 15.6" or 16" if you're built like a rugby forward.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 4

vnayak

Original post by staristrying

Thank you for the advice! I will mainly be travelling by foot so I would something a little more light-weight. Also, what revision/learning materials would you recommend for CS? ^u^

There are next to no resources which exist. There are past papers you can do, but they are extremely limited and so I would recommend saving these or using them sparingly.

For CS, you have to make your own resources.

Reply 5

staristrying

Original post by Dunnig Kruger

My personal recommendation would be to drop CS and to study some other A level.
If you're attracted to earning money in some IT job, then that's fantastic. As it's a great way to earn money for someone with a passion in this area.
In this case you're best off picking an in-demand IT specialisation that gets your juices flowing. And then getting training in that, getting certification in that specialisation (if appropriate), maybe generating your own experience (by doing some project for yourself or for someone else for free or nearly free), getting a starter job in that specialisation.
The best type of training will depend on you. Training can be as simple as throwing yourself in at the deep end and using manuals to discover how to do what you want to do.
If whatever specialisation you pick doesn't work out for you for whatever reason, you simply jump over to another specialisation.
For your laptop, if you're of slight build get a 13.3". 14" for medium build. 15.6" or 16" if you're built like a rugby forward.

thank you for the advice! I do have a computer internship so I'll try not to rely on my A-Level too much :smile:

Reply 6

staristrying

Original post by vnayak

ah 🥲

thank you for the warning, I'll try to be as mentally prepared as possible :')

Reply 7

Dunnig Kruger

Original post by staristrying

thank you for the advice! I do have a computer internship so I'll try not to rely on my A-Level too much :smile:

Excellent!

See if they have an old laptop you can have for free for personal use and supporting your A level studies, plus any charity work you do.

Be ruthless about moving companies. In some internships, the organisation will keep you too long in some mundane job. Effectively using you as cheap labour.
When you get to the stage where you're not learning anything new at work, start looking around at other work opportunities.

Reply 8

OVDOSE

I have a light Lenovo IdeaPad slim with 8 gig of ram and a core i3 which cost below 300£. If all you do on it is programing and chrome then I'd definitely recommend