Laptop for Education: a Hefty Student Discount
STUDENTS, THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO offer you and your teachers a discounted laptop, through the National Notebook and Desktop Agreement (NDNA). To achieve academic excellence you’ll need processing power and a battery that can survive a hard day’s studying. These laptops are currently top of their class…
APPLE MACBOOK – Best Pricier Option
Apple’s MacBook is light, functional, tastefully designed and a joy to use. You can use either iWork for your essays, or the Mac version of MS Office- both cost extra.
The Core 2 Duo processor. 2GB memory and 250GB storage are no match fort he Dell or Sony but there’s an Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics chip and the battery will last a marathon ten hours. The 13.3-inc h, 1,280 x 800 screen and keyboard are both exceptional. Before September 7, if you buy an iPod at the sometime you qualify for a £130 rebate. too.
(+) Long battery life, Mac OS X is a by to use. Student discounts…
(-) Underpowered for the price. No HDMI
Price £800
SONY VAIO VPCEA1S1E – Best Connectivity
Packing a 2.1GHZ i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, this Vaio laptop will effortlessly handle most student tasks, while the 1GB ATi Radeon HD 5470 graphics and bright.14-inch display with 1,600 x 900 resolution make it a viable multimedia option as well.
The Vaio comes with Windows Home Premium and packs three USB ports and eSATA. Perfect for long hours of use, the isolated keyboard is one of the best on test, though the three-hour battery life, high price and hideous green styling are neither gifted nor talented.
(+) Superb screen, Good keyboard and plenty of connections
(-) Poor battery. Pricey
Price £700
TOSHIBA SATELLITE C650-15X – Best Budget option
The Satellite C650 is cheap and sober-looking, but with an intuitive end-to-end keyboard it’s built for essay writing. The T4500 2.3GHz dual core processor and 4GB memory are capable of running the majority of applications, and you get64-bit Windows Home Premium thrown in too. A 15.6-inch, 1,366 x 768-pixel screen, 500GB of storage and a desktop shortcut to BBC iPlayer also impress. You get two USB ports but no HDMI.
Integrated graphics won’t please garners and the battery lasts just four hours, but this is a sturdy, workman-like laptop at a good price.
(+) Very cheap Indeed, Great keyboard
(-) Wants for both Connectivity and power
Price £495
SAMSUNG NP-Q330 – Best Value for Money
This 13.3-inch Samsung laptop is very portable at just 1.97Kg, and boasts a respectable six-hour battery life. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium and typing up notes is made easy by the ergonomic keyboard’s oversized backspace and enter keys.
The Intel Core i3 processor and 3GB of RAM cope well with multi-tasking and Samsung has found space to include a DVD drive, three USB ports and an HDMI output. The MacBook is a better machine, but this is our top student choice.
(+) Mobility and performance in a reasonably priced unit, Well designed keyboard, Decent battery life, too
(-) A bit dull perhaps?
Price £584
DELL INSPIRON 17R – Best Multimedia Machine
The 17R comes with an Intel i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, Windows 7 Home Premium and Office 2010. The 1,600 x 900, 17.3-inch screen is very impressive, if a tad too shiny to use in sunlight. The keyboard is perhaps too cramped for really long typing bouts and the battery lasts four hours in power-saving mode — embark on some power-hungry tasks and you’ll get just 95 minutes.
With a 1GB ATi Radeon HD 5470 graphics chip. HDMI connectivity and three USB ports it’s a sturdy study tool and good multimedia option.
(+) Powerful spec for the pnce. Tasty screen. Bundled software
(-) Hard to use in brightlight. Short battery life
Price £700
STUDENTS, THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO offer you and your teachers a discounted laptop, through the National Notebook and Desktop Agreement (NDNA). To achieve academic excellence you’ll need processing power and a battery that can survive a hard day’s studying. These laptops are currently top of their class…
APPLE MACBOOK – Best Pricier Option
Apple’s MacBook is light, functional, tastefully designed and a joy to use. You can use either iWork for your essays, or the Mac version of MS Office- both cost extra.
The Core 2 Duo processor. 2GB memory and 250GB storage are no match fort he Dell or Sony but there’s an Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics chip and the battery will last a marathon ten hours. The 13.3-inc h, 1,280 x 800 screen and keyboard are both exceptional. Before September 7, if you buy an iPod at the sometime you qualify for a £130 rebate. too.
(+) Long battery life, Mac OS X is a by to use. Student discounts…
(-) Underpowered for the price. No HDMI
Price £800
SONY VAIO VPCEA1S1E – Best Connectivity
Packing a 2.1GHZ i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, this Vaio laptop will effortlessly handle most student tasks, while the 1GB ATi Radeon HD 5470 graphics and bright.14-inch display with 1,600 x 900 resolution make it a viable multimedia option as well.
The Vaio comes with Windows Home Premium and packs three USB ports and eSATA. Perfect for long hours of use, the isolated keyboard is one of the best on test, though the three-hour battery life, high price and hideous green styling are neither gifted nor talented.
(+) Superb screen, Good keyboard and plenty of connections
(-) Poor battery. Pricey
Price £700
TOSHIBA SATELLITE C650-15X – Best Budget option
The Satellite C650 is cheap and sober-looking, but with an intuitive end-to-end keyboard it’s built for essay writing. The T4500 2.3GHz dual core processor and 4GB memory are capable of running the majority of applications, and you get64-bit Windows Home Premium thrown in too. A 15.6-inch, 1,366 x 768-pixel screen, 500GB of storage and a desktop shortcut to BBC iPlayer also impress. You get two USB ports but no HDMI.
Integrated graphics won’t please garners and the battery lasts just four hours, but this is a sturdy, workman-like laptop at a good price.
(+) Very cheap Indeed, Great keyboard
(-) Wants for both Connectivity and power
Price £495
SAMSUNG NP-Q330 – Best Value for Money
This 13.3-inch Samsung laptop is very portable at just 1.97Kg, and boasts a respectable six-hour battery life. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium and typing up notes is made easy by the ergonomic keyboard’s oversized backspace and enter keys.
The Intel Core i3 processor and 3GB of RAM cope well with multi-tasking and Samsung has found space to include a DVD drive, three USB ports and an HDMI output. The MacBook is a better machine, but this is our top student choice.
(+) Mobility and performance in a reasonably priced unit, Well designed keyboard, Decent battery life, too
(-) A bit dull perhaps?
Price £584
DELL INSPIRON 17R – Best Multimedia Machine
The 17R comes with an Intel i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, Windows 7 Home Premium and Office 2010. The 1,600 x 900, 17.3-inch screen is very impressive, if a tad too shiny to use in sunlight. The keyboard is perhaps too cramped for really long typing bouts and the battery lasts four hours in power-saving mode — embark on some power-hungry tasks and you’ll get just 95 minutes.
With a 1GB ATi Radeon HD 5470 graphics chip. HDMI connectivity and three USB ports it’s a sturdy study tool and good multimedia option.
(+) Powerful spec for the pnce. Tasty screen. Bundled software
(-) Hard to use in brightlight. Short battery life
Price £700
