Recommended Kit List
New students to UAL Creative Computing Institute often ask us what equipment we recommend before you start with us:
1. Your own computer
Having your own computer is not a requirement of any of our courses because we operate laptop lockers at all CCI locations that can be used anywhere on that site, and desktop PCs in open access and technical areas.
That being said, it is more advantageous to have your own computer as it gives you flexibility about when and where you can study as all our courses are part of a computing curriculumn so it's our main tool.
We have advice where you can read more about buying a new computer.
UAL Diploma in Apple Development
Students studying on UAL Diploma in Apple Development you should choose a Mac as the Apple software development tools only work on macOS.
BSc Creative Computing
In year 2 of this course the unit "Coding Four: Collaborative App Development Studio" has previously focused on macOS development which, due to the tools Apple provides is only possible on macOS.
There are modifications planned from 2023/24 academic year which will broaded the remit of app development.
2. A Reliable Internet Connection
Read more about finding an internet provider.
3. Webcam, Headphones and Microphone
All our courses have returned to in-person teaching, however generally we find students prefer to attend tutorials with academics and get technical support from technicians online.
For this reason we recommend all students have a seperate headset because the speaker phone feature picks up a lot of background noise from your computer and keyboard which can make it hard to hear you.
If you already have some nice headphones for listening to music, many people like AirPods, these will be fine, however you don't need to spend this kind of money, any simple "headphones with microphone" search online will find you headsets for a range of prices, some good brands include: [Logitech](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-Headset-H390-Noise-Cancelling-Black/dp/B000UXZQ42], Sony, EPOS/Sennheiser.
Similarly for video calling it's not only nice to see a face, but to show people what you are working on, so if you haven't got a webcam in your computer, a simple low cost webcam would really help, we like the Logitech StreamCam because it's the best quality for the price, but cheaper generic brand webcams will be fine.
4. Software
We don't recommend any specific software be procured before your course as you can access Microsoft Office for free as a UAL student and other software would be course/year dependent and try to avoid commercial options where it makes sense.