Many students bring up their own computers to College. All student rooms have Ethernet sockets which allow the students instant access to many the facilities that the Internet provides. For details of the mechanism for obtaining permission to use the Ethernet, see the Ethernet information page . Students are responsible for all aspects of the maintenance and repair of their own computers. This question is asked many times and there is no easy answer.
Most people require wordprocessing and potentially Internet access.
If you are doing a specialist subject, e.g. Oriental Studies, then you may require special equipment. For the student's particular course it is worthwhile contacting the subject tutor who will know what equipment others are using. As a general guide, desktop computers are much better value than portable ones and, within College, there is a bias towards PCs rather than Apple computers. College does not support Apple computers. Their email account however is only activated the first time that they log on to their herald account.