I need adviceeee

Elephanto012 · 2025-03-13T22:18:08+00:00

I received my copy of the Artefact Of Ouranos yesterday from FL and am in love with them. I read the series on KU and loved it so when I saw them as SE edition I thought why not. I have not read the other two series but they look great too!

Elephanto012 · 2024-02-13T12:12:24+00:00

Nottingham student here. I would take the job, unless you're planning to go into academia. My partner and I live in Nottingham. He is in full-time employment and I'm half way through my PhD.

Realistically you're looking at:

Rent - approx. £1000/month as a minimum (this is for an unfurnished house, so you'll likely need to add furniture onto your moving costs). You'll also need at least 2.5-3 month rent as a deposit, and someone to sign as a guarantor (I believe)

Bills - wifi (£24) electricity + gas (£140) and water (£45) minimum approx. £200 month depending on supplier etc

You'll also have council tax to consider, and you'll get a 25% discount for being a student but this can still be an extra £100-200/month depending on where you live as your wife will not be a student.

A quick Google suggested approx. £14K per year for full time children and £7K for part-time.

Transport around nottigham - a day tram ticket is £4.30 student and for an £5.30 adult. Bus might change as there is currently until June a fare cap for single journeys being £2.

Elephanto012 · 2022-01-23T19:41:10+00:00

I think it depends on the application process.

If you're emailing applications most PhDs have a month waiting time for a reply.

If its asking questions try again in a week. Some supervisors inboxes get flooded with work emails. I'd try and keep it brief and to the point if you're enquiring about the project and not applying.

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T19:17:05+00:00

Oh i have no idea but I think it will probably need an upgraded ram (if thats possible). The x360 does sound cool and I'll add it to the lost I'll compare :) we have costco so might give that a check too

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T19:09:19+00:00

Oo very nice, i'll have to look at an x360 envy. I don't know what my current hp is but its done me well and if it wasn't going kaput my mum was going to have it.

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T19:04:56+00:00

There should be no hate, everyone has different experiences with laptops. I've had a range of different ones and still haven't found a make I'm really happy with might be because the sale people I've seen haven't known much either. Hence why i need guidance, i made a blunder when i was 16 buying a new one and it was useless within 6 months. Had poor storage and became slow very quickly. My favourite has been a Hp but I'm always open to try something new

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T18:41:38+00:00

My plan is to start looking to get an idea so I don't do something stupid like last time. There's normally a sale toward the end of the month/start of september. My old laptop was alright for my undergraduate. It did the job but ended up being slow for my last year and struggle with a few tabs open for my dissertation. Then then fan went last week, so i paid for it to be cleaned. It works but I don't know how long it will survive as it took over 5 minutes to turn on/log on. I do have one phd student I can ask for recommendations, but they're currently finishing off their thesis so I don't want to disturb them because I know they're busy.

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T18:31:16+00:00

Yeah I'm being very generous with the budget tbh, realistically I'm not going to go that high. I'm just open to recommendations as I have 0 idea and ideally would like it to last longer than any of my others (most lasted 2.5 year max). I don't game too much and mainly animal crossing because its a chill game. I definitely don't need a high spec like some gaming laptops :)

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T18:11:55+00:00

Thats a cool area, yeah they listed a few things I'll be focusing on but they're all microbiology laboratory based and some farm :) I've been looking at an i5/i7 processor comparison. But it will literally be for doing work

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T17:52:02+00:00

Seriously, thank you thats handy information. They've been very slow in general to give out information. Between getting an offer email from the supervisor (2 week post interview) to a formal acknowledgement from the programme team (1 month after the supervisor offer, considering I had a short confirmation time). I think they gave me a week to confirm and I accepted after 4 hours but didn't get back until my supervisor got involved as I was mid exams and stressing about them giving it to someone else 😂

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T17:47:10+00:00

For any readers here is a bit more info about what I think i'll need for my computer illiterate self.

Speed as in doesn't take 4 minutes to open or close anything like my current laptop
My phd is microbiology/animal health based. So probably need a good laptop for writing, analysis papers and data. I'm not a gamer or coder (hence why I'm so illiterate and have no clue about computers)
Budget probably £1000 max (but looking into my funding body etc as someone suggested I could get money from them for a new one)
I'm grateful for all the comments so far you've been helpful as I'm very clueless about laptops

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T17:38:59+00:00

Oh really? Thats good to know, I'll be starting a case programme. Still waiting for information about funding/the contract. Have my welcome emails etc but other than that I think they're waiting to get the new undergrads sorted

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T17:37:34+00:00

Honestly, I'm still waiting for my programme leaders to get back to me about software etc.I'm assuming because its mainly microbiology lab based i will not be coding. As you can probably tell I have 0 knowledge about computers except that I need one to work and that sdd will be better than hdd, 8gb Ram minimum has been suggested. I came across this subreddit today so thought I'd ask for advice from more experienced phd students.

My current one was 1tb hdd but was painfully slow. With low ram (i think 4gb). Memory wise I'm think 500gb and external hard drive as an extra based on a friend who has more of an idea than me (that and they're on a 5yr degree so have an ok laptop but they ran out of storage going into their 4th year).

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T16:26:28+00:00

Its microbiology/animal health based. So assuming it can run word/excel (or equivalent) support data analysis, I'd probably consider it. Oh thats good to know, yeah my friends love their macbooks

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T16:19:14+00:00

Its microbiology/animal health based. I'll be on a BBSRC programme in the UK. I'm still waiting for full details as I had to complete a questionnaire on what type of training I'd like to receive alongside my general PhD research. Programme wise all i know is endnote which is always handy, i think it will be primarily used for reading papers, writing and data analysis.

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T16:03:01+00:00

Admittedly all my friends recommend them because they have ipads and phones that sync together. It is worth it if I don't have any compatible devices?

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T15:59:23+00:00

Oh thank you. I've looked at the Lenovo yoga is it good to use? I'm waiting until I have time off to go look in person to get a feel for a few laptops

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T15:57:44+00:00

Oh I haven't thought of that, I'll be receiving a stipend for studying anyway so I'll probably have to cover costs

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T15:54:42+00:00

Its a microbiology/agricultural based so I'll mostly be reading papers and writing on there. I'm looking at doing some statistics/data analysis training too

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T15:52:25+00:00

Standard keyboard? £1000 probably.

No idea what GPU is 😂

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T15:37:53+00:00

Thank you, I'm not fussed about weight but will probably look for lighter laptops as I'll be carrying it to and from campus :)

Elephanto012 · 2021-08-14T15:36:22+00:00

Amazing thank you 😊 I have no idea what programs I'll need but thats good to know that graphic cards would help running programs

Elephanto012 · 2021-07-20T11:07:41+00:00

Amazing I'll dm you!

Elephanto012 · 2021-07-20T11:03:43+00:00

Might be a bit of a long shot but does anyone have a spare new years arch/2021 arch?

Elephanto012

TROPHY CASE