New undergraduates

Advice on laptops

The Department runs a Bring-Your-Own-Devices (BYOD) scheme. Electrical and Electronic Engineers need excellent skills in using computers for programming, controlling equipment and many other tasks. There is no better way to become proficient than by managing your own laptop, including all the software installed on it.

Financial assistance may be available from the College to support purchasing a laptop https://www.imperial.ac.uk/students/fees-and-funding/financial-assistance/student-support-fund/

What laptop to choose?

Our recommendation is to buy a laptop with the following specifications:

• Intel i5/i7 CPU
• 8/16GB of RAM
• 512GB hard drive
• 13”/15” screen

We do not make official recommendations on the specific make of laptops. When choosing your laptop processing power is less important than weight (light) and battery life (long). The more RAM you have, the better. An SSD hard drive can speed up some processes but is not essential. A touch screen can be useful for annotating notes but is also not essential.

Our Department laptops use: HP EliteBook 840G5, 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD drive, 15” display - these can be borrowed for short term loan depending on availability.

Mac users can consider the MacBook Pro 13”, 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD drive, but you should be aware that some of the required software for coursework may not run in the new M1/M2/M3 processors.

Operating system

This depends solely on personal taste, but if you bring a MacBook make sure to install both OS X as well as Windows 10. We advise you run an English Windows 10 version on any laptop. Every student can request a key for their own license to Windows 10 educational version from ICT (via software shop). Help will be available for installing and converting operating systems.  Please note that some software packages are incompatible with the new M1/M2 chip Macbooks.

What about Software?

We use Office 365 at Imperial College. It is free to all students and can install on up to five devices. In addition, we offer students a wide range of free software to support their work. The ICT resources for new students pages have information about the available software packages.

Do I need a desktop as well as a laptop?

You are strongly advised against purchasing a desktop machine. Instead, you may want to buy a lightweight external monitor and connect your laptop to it. This configuration is much more portable and useful than a desktop machine.

Do I need a printer or other computer peripherals?

Scanning, photocopying and printing services are available in public areas, including the library. You access the printers and purchase print credits using your College ID card and details. If you intend to print lots of paper copies, it may be cheaper if you use your own printer.

Do I need to subscribe to cloud-based storage?

You do not need to pay for your own cloud. Instead, you will be provided with 4GB of secure file space in your Home directory and 5TB of cloud-based space on Microsoft One Drive.

Find out more about IT resources at Imperial

We have a voluntary summer revision course in Mathematics set up for you. Students have had their learning disrupted in many ways since February 2020: this course will be of benefit to everyone who participates. Statistics back this up: the average grades in the January Maths exam,  of students who participated  in the summer programme last year, was about 11% higher, compared to those who didn’t participate.

2024 Summer Maths Revision (PDF)

 Here’s a summary:

1) Go through the exercises, increasing in difficulty, until you find some that require effort.

2) Enrol for free in the online course on edX, and start at the point where you found you needed extra effort.

3) Watch the videos, do the extensions and challenges, do the exercises you found difficult, get them marked, see the solutions, watch solution videos.

In September, enrolled students can access four weekly sessions with Dr DN and Teaching Assistants, and also get help on an online Q&A platform.