Your studies will be facilitated if you have a Windows/Linux/Mac PC or laptop with you. However, it can be a major decision to choose which equipment to buy. You may want to postpone the decision until after you arrive, and make do at the start with an older machine or even a tablet of a smartphone with a good screen, until you are ready to make your investment.

Students studying Computer Science modules, should follow the Recommended IT Device Specifications for Students: Central Guidance, with a few additional recommendations, specific to Computer Science.

You will need a computer that runs X2Go or VNC and Microsoft Teams. The ability to run virtual machines would also be useful (e.g. VirtualBox). We recommend at least a quad-core processor as that works better with Microsoft Teams and virtual machines. Suitable operating systems are Windows 10 or 11, macOS (10.15 or later) or Linux. iPads, Android tablets and ChromeBooks are not suitable as primary computing devices to study Computer Science modules.

If you have questions about equipment, please contact tech@dcs.warwick.ac.uk