KCooper

PC for me.
 
I just bought a new Samsung laptop; i5 processor, 8GB ram, GT650M, 1GB HDD for just over £500 brand new and its nice and nippy and capable of running every game I've thrown at it so far on, at the minimum, middle of the road settings.
 
I could never jusify the cost for a Mac, but then, that it just me.
 
It takes all sorts to make the world go round

you'll get wet

With regards to getting a job in web design, you would be a lot better off spending those 3 years developing your skills, putting together a solid portfolio and actively seeking a job/going it freelance. Plus you won't end up with a load of debt in 3 years time.
 
On the other hand, I went to uni, and had an awesome time and wouldn't change it for the world. I can't say it particularly gave me a big advantage when going for website design jobs (though, to be fair, it wasn't a website design qualification) but I learnt a lot from the experience. Going to university is an experience in and of itself, in many ways the academic side of it was only a small part of it for me.
 
 
Kyle

I doubt the Chinese or Indians have time to surf, too busy spamming forums

Don't agree with this, although I use a mac (13" Pro) the graphics card is not going to be 'better'. Generally macs are more portable than their PC counterparts but you are paying a slight premium. Apple has great support which many PC manufacturers can't beat.
 
If you already have a lot of software on your PC and don't want to purchase it again, stick with the PC.
 
In terms of OS, I would say OSX and Win7 are comparable. Lion will bring some new features hopefully. OSX is more secure, but you should be fine on Windows if you don't download untrustworthy files.
 
If you can wait another year, Apple may change the design of the Pro's so if you don't need it badly I would wait.

I like the approach :-)

anything that doesnt say 'mac' on it

There are many variables to this question
 
1. Designers quality of work
> If a designer is new to the world of web designing maybe he you charge £50
> If the designer has 10 years experience and know his stuff and how to create attractive user friendly sites maybe he would charge £500
 
2. Client budget
> As already mentioned some people budget by client. If i priced a job at £300 and client said budget was £200 i would have to make a deicision is £200 better than nothing or am i really too busy to take it on for less than what i was askign for
 
3. Client expectations
> I have worked with all types of clietns soem have high expectaions others think designs from the 90's are still top quality, the web is a big place and peoples opinions of good and bad design vary from person to person. Some times selling to a client at £500 for a 1 page design would alienate them and they might go with someoen who charged £50, if the cheper guy does a good job, fair play but in my experience bad design or low quality design noramlly comes with the lower end budgets.
 
For me i make it clear to my cleitns, design counts for a lot, if your site looks crap you wont retain what visitors you get, if your site looks good, interesting, user friendly, easy to navigate ect you have a better chance of getting return visitors and retainign there interest. Bounce rate is a word i hate to explain to my clients but some times you have to take the risk of of sayign a crap design is just as bad as havign no website if not worse due to it being a reflection of your business. It's not liek you would have people turn up to your office or hotel and the place be a mess, its all about the potential buyer perception of you as a business.
 
Thats my 2 cents worth
 
PS. already been said but i agree the majority of work is in the first page design anyway, noramlly 5 page sites ect use similar or the same design layouts

Watch the wonders of the universe at 9pm tonight that'l put things in perspective

Also... Get the Firebug extension for firefox. You can change CSS properties and see how the changes affect the site you are looking at - dissecting a website is a great way of learning!
 
 
Kyle

Not 100% convinced this will work but try it anyway...
 

var messageList = $('<ul />'); $.each(response.error, function(index, value) { $('<li/>').html(value).appendTo(messageList); }); $('#message').append(messageList);

Yeah for me the Apple styling is all beginning to look a bit - late 80's early 90's to be honest. It kind of reminds me of people's "vision of the future" would look like in that time period. A little bit films like Barbarella - cute retro films, but their vision of the future all looks a bit dated now.
Also I agree on the Acer front - I know a few people with Acers, all of them going strong after a few years. Yeah ok the build quality's not up to a Sony or Apple, but they're ok.

Just to jump in... I've owned 2 Acer laptops, one of them I still use regularly, and it has been going strong for 4 years (without needing a reinstall of windows too I may add, though thats down to the fact I actually do housework on my computer ).
 
Plus, the ipad just looks like pretty much every other apple product; white with rounded corners and the apple logo slapped on the back. Doesn't really do it for me. I would turn them both down for a date based on looks and go by myself
 
 
Kyle

I like the site on the whole.
 
The major concern for me would be the loading time, as has already been mentioned. At the moment the main background image is like 850kb. I just took that into photoshop and managed to get the file size down to around the 250kb mark using the "save for web" function. This alone would increase the load times. Also, moving all the jquery scripts (I see most of it already is though) to the bottom of the page should help.
 
 
Kyle

You’re in a tricky position.
 
I would say firstly, that if you’re not happy in your current choice of course, you need to work out why and be sure you’re clear as to your reasons, secondly quit the course until you have a clear plan of what to do next... so you seem to be doing the right thing asking for some opinion / advice.
 
So looking at your options.
 
1. Freelancing
I think you will find this tough going without either going through formal education of a related subject or working for a company in the industry. Although you have your own business I would think that the type of clients you will be able to appeal to will be initially limited, and I get the feeling your quite an ambitious guy, you may get frustrated. 10 years ago when the industry was still relatively new being able to freelance was much much easier... as the industry is maturing, clients are expecting more for less and faster. I’m not saying you are not capable but personally in your shoes I wouldn’t go this route. Other things to boost your income could be reselling hosting / email or other services such as email campaigns.
 
2. Joining a different course at a higher level
Unlikely to be honest, but you should contact the administration departments of courses you are interested and see if you can talk to the course leader... they can advise. Unfortunately although you do run a business, I don’t think that will help you much.
 
3. Leave Uni and get a job
You will probably learn a lot more usable skills in a good company than you will at university in my opinion. That said university will make you more aware of the history / psychology / culture of design etc that you don’t always have the luxury to go back and learn when your working full time. These areas are not to be sniffed at, and played down they are in the back of my mind all the time when working on projects.
 
Other benefits of getting a job in my mind are that you’ll be able to focus on certain areas, rather than trying to juggle everything yourself.
 
When things go wrong... and they can do, its not just on your head.
 
You have the experience of other team members to refer to, which is often invaluable.
 
There are often company perks, such as courses, events etc...
 
And hopefully at the end of the month you know financially where you are...
 
Perhaps not as ambitious as being a freelancer but if you use your time well can be equally as productive.
 
4. Part-time study / Shorter courses / Internships
Have you thought about studying part time... so you get the qualification you would like, whilst either freelancing or working part-time for a company?
 
If I known what I know now I think I would have done an HND over a degree...at least from my experience... I am suited to high intensity courses, I found my degrees to quiet... whereas my observations of the HND’s indicated much much denser study. You then have the option to do a top up to make it a degree.
 
I sent you a link to Mark Boultons job opportunity in Wales...yes thats right Wales but a job like that, with someone quite high profile could really make your future. Anywhere that is really really keen to help someone starting out(ish) should not be taken for granted.
 
Well I hope all that is food for thought. You should really contact a few more freelancers of standing and ask them how they are getting on and how they started... and also identify companies you think you would like to work for... then approach them directly and ask what the deal is in terms of recruitment etc.
 
N.B - As for the previous comment about experience being more valuable than a piece of paper I agree to a point, but as you start to go after bigger clients you'll be amazed of the hoops you often have to go through to get the work... quite often qualifications are asked for and taken into considerations.
 
All the best with your decision.

I guess it could run OSX if Apple weren't so up themselves restrictive on what you can do with their software.

I better step in before this gets any further. Thank you all for your concern and suggestions. Thank you notbanksy for the post. It does show you care about members on this forum. However, I did request users to be honest and speak their mind and I will gladly take comments in any way possible. I have worked with clients for many years now and I have faced clients who do speak openly; thus,I know how to manage . cibgraphics, notbanksy is also right with one matter. Just stating you don't like the colors doesn't really make it a great feedback. As a designer you should know that everyone has different taste in colors. Just because this color makes you depressed does not mean it makes everyone else depressed. I would have appreciated your suggestion on a color/color hex. The same goes for fonts.
 
In all ups and downs, I am greatly thankful for everyone who has responded for providing me with feedback. When I get the chance, I will try to gather something that tries to incorporate my vision with your feedback.
 
Here's a toast to all those who replied:

I disagree. It's like asking a guy who has no clue about cars whether the car is good or bad. He will surely tell if it's good or bad by the looks of it but then again present him a better one and he will say it's better.
 
All I'm saying is that designers are not picky, but we know what makes good websites because we put many hours into research and developing our skills in this field. So the question is in this case...are you satisfied with the "ok" or are you aiming for the best?

I don't have a problem with anyone disliking someone's work. But if someone goes out on a limb to ask for criticism so that they can get better at something, posting comments like yours is not at all helpful and somewhat rude.
 
By all means, be honest, but don't dismiss someone's work offhand. If you have the skill and experience to know what's wrong with a piece of work, share it with the community; otherwise what's the point in posting at all? Do you think it makes you look smart or better to say those things? It doesn't. It makes you look arrogant.

I still can't see any reason to own one, but thats just me personally. My phones more than capable for anything I need or would like to do on the move, ie, browse the net, check my emails or play a game (amongst calling and texting of course ). To each thier own though I guess.

1 item to start... How many items is he eventually going to want to add on there? If its only ever going to be like, 10 - 15 products, you may aswell go for something simple like google checkout, or if the rest of the site will be built on Wordpress then install an ecommerce plugin.
 
A dedicated shopping cart solution would probably be overkill.
 
Of course, if he plans to build the product number into the hundreds, then I will retract my previous "overkill" statement
 
 
Kyle

1 item to start... How many items is he eventually going to want to add on there? If its only ever going to be like, 10 - 15 products, you may aswell go for something simple like google checkout, or if the rest of the site will be built on Wordpress then install an ecommerce plugin.
 
A dedicated shopping cart solution would probably be overkill.
 
Of course, if he plans to build the product number into the hundreds, then I will retract my previous "overkill" statement
 
 
Kyle

And you've barely posted since you've hit 1000 posts
 
 
Kyle

Hi Steven,
 
I've seen a lot of small IT companies who think they can get away with offering web design alongside their other offerings, thinking it's a good idea to be a "one-stop shop" for small businesses - in fact, I used to work for one. If you're determined to go down this route, the best thing you can possibly do is build a separate brand under which to offer design services, because the two are not compatible.