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The Official Aston University Thread

Reply 280

chatty_chick

Hey has anybody got any pictures of the halls?

Reply 281

Skeve

14

nirishguy

Really....I'm from Portrush, like 5 miles away from your friend!! Is he going this year? What school was he at? I was at Dalriada, can't believe there is going to be someone from Coleraine there, how random!!

I finish my job on Sunday, so will have to bum around for most of September getting things ready and hopefully doing some exercise to get me up these 18 floors! I could wave at chatty_chick across from Lawerence Tower...what are you going to study?

Glad to hear the BAM is easy in first year, though I think I will have to see it to find out. Anyone in the Live Musicians Society? Intrigues me greatly, along with the canoeing which I might have to give a go.

Haha right there are 2 guys I know from Coleraine doing Computer Science at Aston.
There are 2 guys from Derry doing Business Studies at Aston. I think theres someone else here doing some other subject but I can't remember. You won't be the only one there anyways!

Reply 282

caffecooki

10

chatty_chick

I will be studying human psychology! Wat about you? maybe we could have sign language across the towers! or a system of flashing lights hehehe!

I haven't even been to look at Aston yet.... Im just trusting that everything is going to be ok..!

i'm doing human psychology combined with sociology, so we might be in some of the same lectures :biggrin:

Reply 283

taran

1

Skeve

Haha right there are 2 guys I know from Coleraine doing Computer Science at Aston.
There are 2 guys from Derry doing Business Studies at Aston. I think theres someone else here doing some other subject but I can't remember. You won't be the only one there anyways!

computer science here too.......well comp science and GIS.

ive sent an email about changing to business administration but with no luck so far.

they just suggesting other courses which i dont wana do....ah well hard ass computer science it is then

Reply 284

CrazyChemist

beNcooKe

Chemist - No need to get puritanical over people's alcohol consumption.

I'm sure things will work out fine.

lol - sorry about that. Good way to improve your vocabulary this TSR thing...

Reply 285

Devil_Jin

2

taran

computer science here too.......well comp science and GIS.

ive sent an email about changing to business administration but with no luck so far.

they just suggesting other courses which i dont wana do....ah well hard ass computer science it is then

me i am doing computing science, however i ever so want to switch to computer science & buiness admin, however i do not have the maths gcse @ B, which is kind of stupid since i got a ABC for my alevels and they put me into do computing science all i can say is O_o, hopefully i can worm my way in, during the the start of term, lol

Reply 286

taran

1

thats weird.

cos im pretty sure they require you to have a B in maths gcse for comp science. well i think thats what it said on the requirements. they wanted a bbc from me and they still accepted me with a ccc.

you would be more likely to get into business admin than me due to ur wikid grades.

Reply 287

beNcooKe

"oh no we can't use the lift if the fire alarm goes off" - That is the standard in any buildings with lifts so it's nothing special or particularly bad about aston.

Fire alarms in the night are a pain and often caused by drunk people and toast. You'll get over them lol

Reply 288

Devil_Jin

2

taran

thats weird.

cos im pretty sure they require you to have a B in maths gcse for comp science. well i think thats what it said on the requirements. they wanted a bbc from me and they still accepted me with a ccc.

you would be more likely to get into business admin than me due to ur wikid grades.

yeah thanks, however the only thing i am worried about is that i do not have enough points, i.e i have 260pnts at the moment

i.e
AVCE ICT @ AB
A/s Buisness studies @ C

more important is just the maths GCSE that is worrying me,

any how fingures cross,

Reply 289

neems

i'm trying to choose a laptop for uni, but im getting horribly confused!! is there anything i need to look out for, like some have wireless thingies, and some dont....do i need that?

Reply 290

Skeve

14

neems

i'm trying to choose a laptop for uni, but im getting horribly confused!! is there anything i need to look out for, like some have wireless thingies, and some dont....do i need that?

Well, check first if your room has a wireless router.
If it does, then get a laptop with a built in wireless setup, or get a wireless card for laptops, they are inexpensive.
If the room doesn't have a wireless router you can buy one for about £20 and put it in your internet connection, or else just forget about wireless and use cables.

Reply 291

beNcooKe

As far as I know you are not allowed to have your own wireless network in university residences and i believe part of your agreement is that you will not operate one in case it interferes.

There is a wireless network already set up throughout campus for the purpose of internet access, you can either £10 or £20 per month for internet access. This can be sorted once youve moved in.

If you are buying a laptop make sure you buy one with wireless technology built in such as Centrino for example. If you don't then you have to buy a USB wireless Network Adaptor / Dongle which will use up another USB port that could have been free for something else. So basically if its already in your lappy then great.

If you are doing more than simple web surfing and typing get the best spec you can for your money. I'd personally avoid any super cheap deals with laptops as you'll need it throughout your degree so you want a spec that will last and often cheap specials will be shifting old stock.

I bought a desktop just before I moved to uni in 2002 and every now and then I'll spend about £30 on some upgrade or other but I use the machine for lots of stuff. My next big by for it will be a flat LCD monitor over the next month just before i come back for my final year as I'm sick of lugging a huge display around with me.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions just thrown them at me.

beNcooKe
Web Officer
Aston Students' Guild

Reply 292

Helix

my first suggestion is to head over to www.whatlaptop.co.uk, and go to the forums. people are highly knowledgeable is these things (shameless plug sorry) we must have about 8 threads at the moment of people asking the same uni questions, so you might even find your answer there!

as a quick bit of advice, you need to set a budget, and what you want to use it for.
no one is going to be able to help until we know at least those things, otherwise i could suggest hundreds of laptops :P

on a uni budget looking for an all round system, the acer Aspire 5024WLMi is perhaps the best value system out there at the moment, the inclusion of an ATI mobility X700 sets it apart form everything else. however let me know what you wnat it for and ill give you some options

ben, a PCIMIA wireless adapter is often a preferred method of giving your laptop wireless connectivity. no1 really uses this port anymore, so it saves a usb, which everyone uses :smile:

is it possible to have 2 machines connect to the internet via one account? i have a laptop and a wireless PDA. on a related note, can the wireless network be used to connect to other computers (eg connect my pda to my laptop) as if i take what you said, i would not be aloud to connect them via an ad hoc network, without being moaned at.

Reply 293

neems

thanks for the advice guys. helix....problem is i'm not really sure what i want!!! i guess i dont want it to be too slow, and preferably not too expensive...i dont really know much about computers. as with regard to a budget, i dont have one but i guess the rents will be more forthcoming with the dosh if its not too expensive.

Reply 294

taran

1

from what i heard aint centrinos and stuff well ermm crap. also gota consider the weight and size you want.

best thing would be to buy a reasonably good lappy as upgrades are limited and cost crap loads for lappys.

and as for networking, you can always buy a external network card which doesnt need to be slot into a usb port (bencooke, ive been researching :smile:

) . although they may cost more, it means you can save on a usb slot.
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=201576&pcount=&Product_Id=184361&Section.Section_Path=%2FRoot%2FNetworking%2FWirelessNetworking%2F80211gWi%2E%2E%2Etworking%2F

thats an example of one. anyone can correct me if im wrong.

Reply 295

Skeve

14

Centrinos and 'stuff' might be a bit slower than some high end AMD chips in benchmark tests, but does it really matter?
The average user will not really notice the difference.

I have to get a laptop, Im thinking of an Acer, Toshiba or HP with 512MB ram and a 60-80GB harddrive. Perhaps 128MB video memory too. Also want wireless facility and a dvd drive with a cd rewriter. Will cost beween £600-700. I recommend www.dabs.com for your computer equipment. Infact, I know of one local PC shop who get their supplies from there. Very good prices.

Some Dell laptops are good but you can find more powerful alternatives from other companies for cheaper, a lot of Dell is paying for the reputation and support, the machines themselves are overpriced.

Reply 296

taran

1

does the average user play games and stuff?

if they do then im sure they will notice the difference.

Reply 297

astonbitch

i have an acer laptop with built in centrino which is not "crap" it has a 60GB hardrive which i found pretty reasonable seeing as how i have about 5-6 different games plus various software for the course on here and a few movies.....mine has a partitioned hard drive which was very useful as i had to format quite a few times and this enabled me to shove everything on the one drive instead of using an external one......by now means are you allowed to use the account on the net form two computers.....we tried this and for the first few months it worked but then they started to block your account as they restrict it to only one IP address i believe........and no you cannot have your own wireless connection as it will interfere with the uni one......we made jokes last year of how we wouldn't be able to use the net if my flatmate was using her her straighteners :tongue:

....

Kt
xx

Reply 298

chatty_chick

I just ordered my laptop today :smile:

so excited about getting my paws on that! Fraid i don't really no much about computers tho... how will the wireless connection even work at uni? i mean once uv got the laptop and u get into ur room, wat then?

Reply 299

Devil_Jin

2

chatty_chick

I just ordered my laptop today :smile:

so excited about getting my paws on that! Fraid i don't really no much about computers tho... how will the wireless connection even work at uni? i mean once uv got the laptop and u get into ur room, wat then?

nice waht are the specs?? how much??

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