Get a head start at University

Posted on 3 Jul 2009 at 11:00

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Karl Wright explains how, with the right kit and IT skills, you can improve marks and free up time to spend on more traditional student activities.

Attending university or college is a big adventure - finally, you can dye your hair green without being told it's against school rules. However, there's also the serious business of getting a qualification good enough to open doors for you after you graduate. There are no short cuts to success, but there are ways to give yourself the edge. If you have some idea of the IT skills you need to produce and submit polished coursework, you'll make life easier and you could even get higher marks. What's more, the quicker and more efficiently you work, the more time you can spend revising or - dare we suggest it? - in the pub.

There are certain pieces of kit every student should have, the most obvious being a laptop. A good laptop will do everything a desktop PC can. Unlike a desktop machine, it won't take up lots of space in a cramped study bedroom and, as long as it weighs 3kg or less, it will be portable enough to take to lectures and the library. Best of all, if you have your own laptop you can type your essays in the comfort of your own flat instead of having to wait for a PC to come free in one of the university's computer rooms.

For general advice on how to choose a good laptop, read our buyer's guide. Here we'll concentrate on the things that are particularly important when choosing a laptop for your studies. The sort of laptop you need may vary from subject to subject. Find out what software you're likely to need for your course, then read What's New PCs & Laptops and buy a laptop that will run that software well. Make sure you get something that is comfortable to use, with a good screen, keyboard and trackpad - you'll be spending a lot of time using it.

You shouldn't have to spend vast amounts of money, but don't buy something that only just meets the minimum specification for the software you need to run. You'll regret it if you do. You may not be able to splash out a few hundred quid on a new PC, but there are ways to cut costs without cutting corners. You could get a second-hand laptop, but make sure it works properly, comes with all the software you need and is powerful enough. Alternatively, you could buy a reconditioned laptop, which has been fixed after having been returned to the manufacturer under warranty. Reconditioned laptops should be as good as new and, crucially, often have a warranty.

Finally, you could buy a laptop with the Linux operating system pre-installed rather than Windows. Linux is easy to use and there is lots of free software available for it, including a very capable office suite, the commercial Windows equivalent of which would cost you hundreds of pounds. Best of all, unlike Windows, Linux is free, which helps reduce the overall cost of any PC on which it comes pre-installed.

As well as a laptop, two other must-haves are a memory stick and a multifunction printer (MFP). Memory sticks are cheap these days, and you can get a 1GB stick for less than a tenner. Not only are they useful for carrying important files around, but they also make it easy for others to share files with you.

MFPs, which combine a printer and scanner, are even more useful. Universities keep core texts for each subject on 'short loan'. Generally speaking, you can only keep short-loan texts overnight. This means an evening of frantic note-taking during which you must make sure you don't forget to note down something important, as it could be ages until you can access the book again. With an MFP, you can simply scan or photocopy the document. You can also print your own work, so you can check it before handing it in.