77 replies to this topic

[Shaun]

Lol yeah.

[dondon]

i was hoping to get one for £1.23 cos thats all i have just now but never mind

[Shaun]

I have (after much deliberation) decided not to buy a laptop. As I already have a computer and the university has tonnes of computers for you to use anyway.

Instead I'm going to buy a nice USB flash pen drive. Coated in titanium and can withstand 2000 lbs of pressure .

http://www.sandisk.com/retail/cruzer-titanium.asp

[John]

I have (after much deliberation) decided not to buy a laptop.  As I already have a computer and the university has tonnes of computers for you to use anyway.

Instead I'm going to buy a nice USB flash pen drive.  Coated in titanium and can withstand 2000 lbs of pressure .

http://www.sandisk.com/retail/cruzer-titanium.asp

thanks for reminding me, i will have to get one for when i'm back at school, lost mine ages ago.

[dondon]

why would it need to withstand 2000lbs of pressure?? just incase your fat neighbour comes round and sits on it???

[Shaun]

I don't know! lol. Perhaps I'll leave it under my dads (heavy) car one day and see if it still works once he has drove over it lol

[dondon]

lol and if it doesnt take all the pieces back and ask for a refund

[Shaun]

definetly. I wonder if the force of dropping it in the air, until it comes under freefall, and it was to smash off the ground if that would be more than 2000lbs?!

[dondon]

maybe but id like to see how youd go about doing that lol

[Jill1405]

what about textbooks cos some of my friends have reading lists but i havent heard anything bout it. do they tell u when u get there wat to read etc, though i'm doin engineering i dunno how much reading is part of the course.

Jill
xx

[John]

maybe but id like to see how youd go about doing that lol

I think all you need to do is drop it out of a aeroplane of helicopter, not sure though.

Obviously from high up though.

[st-and Paul]

what about textbooks cos some of my friends have reading lists but i havent heard anything bout it. do they tell u when u get there wat to read etc, though i'm doin engineering i dunno how much reading is part of the course.

Jill
xx

Usually for a science/engineering topic the book list will appear online and the lecturer usually brings the ones he/she likes into the first lecture. In science and engineering reading isnt usually a huge ammount and very rarely is it impossible to pass a module with just the lecture notes, they usually are good enough to tell u everything u need for exams.

[sparky]

One piece of advice about textbooks.

Never buy all the books of the reading list until your first lecture or so. The lecturer virtually always makes recommendations on what is the best text to get, and may recommend other texts to get if you want to explore the subject deeper/or need a bit extra help!

In some classes, course notes and lecture notes can get you through, but I always prefer having a book aswell, as it usually has a bit more substance, especially when you go to revise stuff at the beginning of the course, and all the lecture slides have on it is a couple of bullet points. :-/

[Dave]

i good plan is to buy 2nd hand aswell that is what i did for a few of my books and i can now sell my textbooks to pay some of the way to new ones

[sparky]

Yeah definately. There are a few of my textbooks which I never really used!! The Management Science one was rarely opened! The Stats one never got used much towards the end either!

I think they'll be a lot more reading and stuff this year though.

[The Wedge Effect]

I don't buy second hand books, because sometimes I find pages ripped out, scribbles on pages, et cetera. Not something I want. However, I will be selling my second hand books. *wonders where to sell these books at*

[st-and Paul]

Also, its a good idea to see if you are likely to need the textbooks for more than one particular module, I will look at honours reading lists to see if the book or something similar is needed again. If you are using a book for only part of one module for a semester then it really isnt worth buying it, even second hand. Instead try getting the book out of the library on a short loan or something, and make copies of the (usually few) bits you really need.

[broughy]

I don't buy second hand books, because sometimes I find pages ripped out, scribbles on pages, et cetera. Not something I want. However, I will be selling my second hand books. *wonders where to sell these books at*

Ask 4. level 4 of the union. or stick up notices around the campus

as for book buying - in my 2 years at uni, i've bought 2 textbooks. both at the start of 1st year. one was University Physics by Benson which is a massive thing, ways about 2 tonnes, & we used it in tutorials in first year - was great fun lugging that thing into uni on a tuesday, i can tell ya! it cost about £40 i think (new) but it was definitely worth it - i think i've used it in 4 out of the 5 physics classes i've done thus far. the other book, i've never used. it was "only" £20, & we were told it was absolutely essential in first year labs - it wasn't, cos nobody i know even opened it! then we were told at the start of 2nd year labs that we absolutely had to have it.....& again, nobody used it! i've also been taking a peek at some of the stuff for my 3rd year classes, & its one of the recommended texts for one of my classes - whats the bets i don't use it!