Laptop for Nephew going to Uni - recommendations please around £500

[matty-hodgson]

I wouldn't recommend getting an iPad for university if you don't have a laptop.

You can't even get Microsoft Office on the iPad and that is the most used software for university studies, whatever the subject/elective.

That's a good point.. Although there is the Apple alternative from the iWork collection, priced at just £5.99 each.

Pages
Keynote
Numbers

I use the Pages one and find it to be very easy to use and has a very nice UI, and the fact that it uses touch controls makes it much easier to format complex pages around photos and stuff. It also allows you to save in a format that Microsoft Word will understand.

[cheekster]

Keep the suggestions coming please.

iPad even with 64GB SSD simply won't be large enough once my Nephew trasnfers all of his music etc onto it.

Thanks.

Cheekster.

[usxhe190]

That's a good point.. Although there is the Apple alternative from the iWork collection, priced at just £5.99 each.

Pages
Keynote
Numbers

I use the Pages one and find it to be very easy to use and has a very nice UI, and the fact that it uses touch controls makes it much easier to format complex pages around photos and stuff. It also allows you to save in a format that Microsoft Word will understand.

That's true but the problem is unless university has changed since my time (which is a long time ago), you will need to share files with other people due to homework and such and in that case, I don't know if importing and making amendments will be good and then exporting will be good when others are using a laptop/desktop with Office and you with an iPad.

[matty-hodgson]

That's true but the problem is unless university has changed since my time (which is a long time ago), you will need to share files with other people due to homework and such and in that case, I don't know if importing and making amendments will be good and then exporting will be good when others are using a laptop/desktop with Office and you with an iPad.

Yeah, I see your point. Just trying to broaden the pool of suggestions really, most people overlook the iPad for stuff like typing and all that, but I find mine extremely useful, especially with a £10 a month 3G plan for 3GB . Extremely useful while I'm out with my camera using the camera connection kit too, just slips right inside my bag and don't even notice it being there tbh, much less than a laptop, netbook or my Macbook tbh .

Also the battery life is absolutely amazing, they claim 10 hours of "average usage" and they aren't lying. My record so far is 11 hours, 2:05 of which I was watching a film and the rest I was surfing the internet.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Acer TimelineX 4820T is worth looking at:

http://www.oyyy.co.uk/product.php/12...Base%202010_09

http://www.oyyy.co.uk/product.php/12...Base%202010_09

It weighs around 2.2kg so it should not be too heavy to move around.