student technology help Harrogate
Itβs that time of year again. The summer holidays are disappearing, the school uniform needs finding, university accommodation is being sorted and parents everywhere are wondering:
βWhat on earth does my child actually need?β
And when it comes to technology, the answer can be surprisingly complicated.
Do they need a new laptop? A tablet? A printer? Noise-cancelling headphones? A USB-C hub? Three different chargers? A portable hard drive? And why, exactly, does one tiny adaptor cost Β£37?
The good news is that you probably don’t need to buy every gadget currently being advertised as a βstudent essentialβ.
Universities themselves often recommend checking your specific course requirements before buying expensive equipment. For example, some courses require considerably more powerful computers than others, while many universities provide software such as Microsoft 365 once students have enrolled.
So, before you reach for the credit card, here’s my PC Harmony back-to-school tech checklist.
π» 1. A decent laptop β but don’t automatically buy the most expensive one
For most students, a reliable laptop is likely to be one of the most important purchases.
But βstudentβ doesn’t automatically mean βbuy the biggest, fastest and most expensive laptop you can find.β
A student studying English literature, for example, is likely to have very different requirements from someone studying graphic design, engineering or computer science.
Think about:
Battery life: Nobody wants to be hunting for a socket halfway through a lecture.
Weight: If it’s going to be carried around campus every day, a lighter laptop can make a surprisingly big difference.
Storage: Make sure there’s enough room for documents, photographs, applications and coursework.
Keyboard and screen: They’re going to be staring at it for hours, so don’t overlook comfort.
And most importantly, check the university or course requirements first.
If you’re buying a new laptop, I’d much rather help you choose something appropriate than see you spend Β£1,500 on a machine when you only needed half of that.
π§ 2. Headphones
A good pair of headphones can be incredibly useful for students.
Whether it’s listening to lectures, joining an online meeting, studying in a noisy student house or simply trying to concentrate while your flatmate is enthusiastically playing FIFA, headphones can be worth having!
You don’t necessarily need the most expensive noise-cancelling headphones either. There are plenty of reasonably priced options i.e. this headset.
π 3. A USB-C hub or adaptor
This is one of those things students often don’t think about until they actually need one.
Modern laptops can be surprisingly minimalist when it comes to ports. If you need to connect a USB stick, external monitor, HDMI cable, Ethernet or other peripherals, a USB-C hub can be extremely useful.
Just make sure you check which ports the laptop actually has before buying one, ie. this one.
π 4. Don’t forget the chargers!
It sounds obvious, but chargers have an uncanny ability to disappear.
A spare charging cable, a decent plug and perhaps a power bank can be very handy, particularly for students travelling between university, home and everywhere in between. Just make sure you’re buying compatible and reputable chargers rather than the cheapest thing you can find online.
πΎ 5. Backups β boring but VERY important
Here’s the bit where I put my serious IT hat on.
Please make sure important coursework is backed up.
A laptop can be replaced. A dissertation that disappeared two days before the deadline is considerably harder to recreate. Cloud storage such as OneDrive, Google Drive or iCloud can be useful, and an external drive can provide another layer of protection. And don’t assume that because something is on your computer, it’s automatically safe.
If you want help getting backup properly set up, that’s something I can help with.
π¨οΈ 6. Do you actually need a printer?
This is one I’d think carefully about.
Many universities have printing facilities, so a personal printer may not be necessary. If you’re buying one for home, however, it can still be useful for schoolwork, forms, revision notes and the inevitable last-minute document that needs printing at 11.58pm.
If you do buy one, think about running costs, not just the price of the printer.
A Β£50 printer isn’t necessarily cheaper than a Β£100 printer if the ink costs a fortune – how about this Smart Tank 5107.
And yes, if you buy a printer and then spend three hours trying to connect it to the Wi-Fi, that’s exactly the sort of thing I can help with!
π‘οΈ 7. Get the basics of security sorted
This is particularly important when a young person is heading off to university.
Make sure the laptop is fully updated, use a strong password and enable multi-factor authentication wherever it’s offered.
Universities increasingly require students to use MFA to access their accounts and systems, so it’s worth getting familiar with it before the first lecture rather than when you’re standing outside a lecture theatre trying to log in!
And please don’t use the same password for absolutely everything.
π± 8. Your phone is part of your student toolkit too
It’s easy to think about laptops and forget just how much students now do through their phones.
University apps can provide access to timetables, emails, campus information, library services and more. Some universities even have their own apps designed to bring these services together.
So make sure the phone is updated, backed up and protected with a PIN, passcode or biometric security.
π Heading Off to University? Don’t Panic!
The most important thing is not to get caught up in the pressure to buy everything before term starts.
Check what your school, college or university actually recommends. Check your course requirements. See what software is provided. Then buy what you actually need.
And if you’re not sure whether that shiny new laptop you’ve found is actually suitable, ask someone before you buy it.
That’s one of the things I love helping people with at PC Harmony. Whether you’re a parent trying to make sure your child has everything they need, or a student who isn’t particularly confident with technology, I’m happy to provide friendly, jargon-free advice.
Because there’s enough to worry about when starting a new school, college or university.
Your technology shouldn’t be one of them.
student technology help Harrogate
student technology help Harrogate
