Student Buyers Guide
What to consider
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Deciding between a laptop or a tablet is the first step in choosing a device that will aid in learning.
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A laptop will provide more functionality than a tablet, especially in a school setting. It may also be more difficult to learn and to use if you are not familiar with technology.
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A tablet will be much more simple and easier to use, but some functions may be limited compared to a laptop.
Decide between a laptop or a tablet
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Choose one based on your needs.
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Choose a laptop if you need to take notes in class, write up assignments, create presentations or edit photos and videos.
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Choose a tablet if you need more portability, a longer battery life, for media consumption, faster load up times and general convenience.
What to look for in a laptop
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Look for a laptop with a long battery life so that it will last throughout the school day without needing to be recharged.
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Look for a laptop with a larger storage space if you need to save or download many different files and remember to back them up.
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Try to get a laptop with an SSD to reduce the boot up times of the laptop and to increase file transfer and file opening speeds.
What to look for in a tablet
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Look for a tablet that has a screen size that matches your needs. Smaller screen sizes improve the portability of the tablet.
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Look for a tablet with a long battery life for more convenience. Tablet battery life varies between devices.
The key components of a computer
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The CPU acts like the brain. It runs all the computers programs, calculations and operations.
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Generally, the higher the clock speed, (GHz) the faster the CPU. The more cores, the better the performance and multi-tasking capabilities.
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Generates the image on the monitor and is only necessary for gaming, media consumption, video editing, graphics design and 3D rendering.
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The core clock and the memory size of the graphics card are the two most important factors to look at when purchasing.
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For a gaming laptop, it is a good idea to buy a laptop with a graphics card that has the highest memory size and core clock that you can afford to maximise performance.
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RAM stores small amounts of data but at transfers it at extremely high speeds.
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It is important to buy the same type & speed of RAM because mixing and matching may cause the RAM to not run at the highest speed possible.
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Aim for at least 4gb of RAM for everyday use, 8gb for gaming and software and 16gb for intense editing software.
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A SSD generally have high speeds but smaller storage amount while a HDD will have high storage size but slow speeds.
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For a laptop, look for an SSD if you want fast boot up times and faster data transfer speeds. Go for a hard drive if you want a cheaper option or for more storage but slower speeds.
