student discounts?

[speardane]

a friend's sun is in his 2nd yr Architecture course and is having trouble loading the 3d package he needs.

he's been suggested a dell XPS 15

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-l502x-p...l502x-proc-mod

pretty high end, i thought...

does any one know of vendors/ suppliers offering student discounts?

[Pob255]

Very few do student discounts these days.

I would suggest looking at a desktop rather than a laptop, esp for 3d stuff, desktop cpu's are stronger, graphics is stronger (although that's generally not so important actually, will depend on exactly what he's using/doing)

Student discounts on software still exist, eg MS does some good discounts on both OS and office.
Many of the pro 3d packages have far cheaper student/educational options (as some of the pro software can cost £1000+ these are good)

You used to be able get stuff VAT free if is was for educational purposes, (which is what many of the student discounts where) however its far harder to claim these now, you might be able to get something via the uni/college.
You might be able to get away with claiming it back against tax if you do a full tax return.

If he needs a tablet, then WACON still do educational discounts.

[Biscuit]

If he needs a tablet, then WACON still do educational discounts.

Sorry to correct on spelling but seeing as its a vendor name i thought it was important, don't you mean WACOM?

[TheAnimus]

Work in the school's lab?

[DDY]

Heh, if the computer labs are anything like the labs in my uni... Good luck finding a vacant PC when coursework deadlines are nearing

Don’t bother with student discounts for computers, most student discount deals I’ve come across are overpriced to start with.

My favourite spot to grab deals on mobile workstations (e.g. for CAD) is Dell’s outlet store, their business offerings can be found with hefty discounts and 3 year warranties as standard. The XPS 15, an adequate machine for architectural design in my opinion can be found on Dell’s outlet store too.

It’s also worth noting AutoDesk; makers of AutoCAD, Revit Architecture, 3ds Max and many more offer full student versions of their software for free - http://students.autodesk.com/

[petercook7]

https://shop.sony.co.uk/shop/b2c/edu...shop=SST_GB_EN
http://studentdiscountsearch.co.uk/l...-discount.html

[007]

if you can't get voucher / discount, think about cashback - quidco or topcashback will help you to recover some of your cash (e.g. dell 7-9%).

http://www.quidco.com/dell/

[KeyboardDemon]

I would also suggest getting a desktop, at 2.78kg that Dell is not the most portable of laptops so a desktop with remote access software means that he could work on his project work using any connected terminal regardless of whether or not it has the software he needs on the terminal. At my Uni if I wanted to use packages like SPSS it was only installed on a small number of PCs within the campus so this opened up the number of possibilities for accessing terminals to work on. If he already has a good enough PC at home then he could just get a £250 chrome book and use that as the remote access terminal by joining his Uni's wifi network.

[Biscuit]

great in theory but in practice:
- ports could be bloked for remote access
- Frame rate isnt always that great
- What if you want to go back to your parents or visit a friend and take it with you

Something might not be particualy easy to ship about and use on the mobe but if you can ship it about its instantly more useful in more ways.