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Recommended Kit List

New students to UAL Creative Computing Institute often ask us what we recommend you have available before you start your new course with us:

1. Your own computer

Owning your own computer is not a requirement of studying at UAL, however it is certainly a great benefit when it comes to time and flexibility of working for students, and if at all possible we strongly recommend students have their own laptop that they don't have to share with others at home.

If accessing a laptop is financially difficult for you, you may be able to access limited funding through the hardship fund which kicks off after the start of each year.

As a general rule there is no requirement for either a PC or Mac, you should pick what you are most comfortable with using. With the introduction of the new Apple Silicon (M1) Mac's the cost of a decent Mac has come down substancial making the comparison between the two somewhat less obvious, especially with student discounts available from Apple.

If you are specifically looking at a Windows or Linux computer you may get better value from purchasing a desktop computer for home use, then taking advantage of the large number of PCs and MacBook Pro laptops that are available on campus during and between classes.

BSc Creative Computing and Diploma Courses

Students studying on BSc Creative Computing and Diploma courses may prefer to choose a Mac as there is a unit in these courses where access to a Mac is required.

There are 48x MacBook Pro computers available across CCI's sites, and many more at UAL's Libraries across London so it's not necessary but perhaps slightly more advantagous to pick a Mac on these courses.

This information was updated Summer 2021 for the 2021-22 academic year.

Mac

If you are looking to save a bit of money the MacBook Air 13" is similarly specified to the MacBook Pro 13" however it has no active cooling which means in some longer running tasks it can become more of a problem, and the machine has a marginally less powerful GPU.

At time of writing the Apple Back to School deal was available which includes free AirPods and the usual Apple discount for education (note the prices above include the education discount).

PC Laptop

Generally we're pretty big fans of Dell (XPS, G Gaming, or Alienware) and Razer brand computers, however there is a large market and you should pick whats best for you, the following specs give you an idea of what to look for:

  • Intel 10th or 11th Generation processor
  • 16GB or 32GB RAM
  • 256GB or 512GB SSD
  • NVIDIA RTX series GPU
  • Check for USB-C charging and display connection as plug in stations at CCI all use this.
  • QHD or better display

PC Desktop

At CCI we primarily use Dell Precision 36xx series machines and can't really fault them for their value, reliability and performance, elsewhere in UAL we also use Dell Alienware although the warranties tend to be a bit more expensive with these.

  • Intel 10th or 11th Generation processor
  • 16GB or 32GB RAM
  • 512GB SSD
  • NVIDIA RTX series GPU
  • 27" 4K or 24" QHD monitor

2. A Reliable Internet Connection

As a general guide you should anticipate at least 6 Mbps download per person and 2 Mbps upload in.

So if you live in a house with 4 other people (5 total) then you should be looking to have at least 30Mbps download and 10Mbps upload for a reliable experience.

You should avoid using mobile data (3G/4G/5G) data plans where possible as they're susceptable to massive variation network congstion which can affect your ability to take part in classes (even now with 5G).

As a general rule from our experience you should start your search in this order:

  1. FTTH (Fibre to the Home) / FTTP (Fibre to the Premesis) / FTTB (Fibre to the Building) providers such as: HyperOptic, Community Fibre and G.Network

FTTH/FTTP/FTTB providers are by far the best option for home broadband provision, often offering upwards of 3,000Mbps for prices that aren't that different to the 2nd and 3rd options on our list, meaning you could aim for a much cheaper 150Mbps package for about £25 a month on a 12 month contract.

Whats more most providers of 'true' fibre are symetrical service whcih means bout 150Mbps download and upload as compared to pretty much all the others on this list where the upload speeds tend to be somewhere between 1/10th and 1/3rd the download speed at best.

Note: A lot of these companies are open to haggling if you want to get the same price but without the 12 month contract you might be able to get a rolling monthly plan.

  1. DOCSIS 3 Cable: Virgin Media

Virgin Media is the only cable provider in London, and the majority of the UK they offer DOCSIS 3.1 internet connectivity which can be very fast, however the cost of Virgin Media broadband when compared to FTTH providers can be pretty high, and there are parts of London where large numbers of customers put strain on the network and it can be very slow at peak times.

  1. FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) providers (BT phone line based)

VDSL and ADSL is the conventional way that that broadband has rolled out in the UK since it's inception however running over decades old copper phone lines and in some highly congested parts of London a conventional BT (now Open Reach) phone line isn't going to offer you either the best value for money or the best performance, but is preferable to a mobile data plan.

  1. MNO (Mobile Network Operator) Mobile Data (4G/5G) providers: EE, Vodafone, O2, Three

MNOs are people you get your SIM card from but also own their own network, in the UK there are only 4 consumer networks that own their own network with EE, Vodafone and O2 tending to be the best (but more expensive) options in London.

Three's unlimited data plans for low cost means they're very popular but they tend to have pretty slow service across the more densely packed parts of London.

  1. MVNO (Movile Virtual Network Operator) Mobile Data (4G/5G) providers: GiffGaff, Tesco, ASDA, Smarty, VOXI, etc...

MVNOs are often cheaper than MNOs because they have a kind of second class citizen status across the network, this can make 4G/5G even worse, and really is something we'd recommend you avoid at all costs.

3. Headphones and a Microphone

We've all gotten used to video calling over the COVID-19 period, however a lot of us still have audio issues because the autometic echo cancellation can only go so far in avoiding feedback.

For this reason we would really expect all students to use a set of headphones, ideally with a microphone during all calls to avoid disadvantaging other students with hearing difficulties or where English is a second language.

Any cheap pair would work, products like the free AirPods avialable with the Apple Educationd deal work very well for this purpose.

4. Webcam

In the unlikely even the computer you have at home doesn't have a webcam we'd really strongly recommend that you get one, the prices have come down a lot since the start of pandemic.

  • Logitech C920 (£)
  • Anker C300 (££)
  • Logitech C930e (££)
  • Logitech StreamCam (££)
  • Logitech Brio (£££)

All of these cameras are USB Class Compliant Video Devices (UVC) which means they're work out of the box on Windows 10 and macOS just fine and should also work with most Linux devices as well.

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