When you are studying at University more often than not you need to complete an assignment or project from home or you just want to protect your computer with the latest anti-virus and firewall software. Not every computer or laptop comes with all the packages that you require pre-installed and so it is necessary to purchase software such as Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop to assist with your studies.  The following review highlights some of the websites which are available that offer discounts or reductions to students.

Software4students

Website: www.software4students.co.uk

Software4students is a fantastic software website, it is designed specifically for student use and covers a wide variety of products from Microsoft Office products to Anti-Virus, Mac, Music software and even the latest in thing like voice recognition software.

They are licensed to sell Microsoft products and are fully authorised by Microsoft. All the Microsoft products they sell are the ’Professional’ versions of the software, boasting the more premium suites with many extra features such as Microsoft Publisher and Communicator. They also sell numerous other well-known software suites such as their range of Adobe programmes and also have MAC-compatible software suites.

Best Offers

Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus retails on Microsoft’s website at £299.99. You can get it for £37.89 with this retailer. A huge saving of £262.10.

Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Design Premium Student and Teacher is £333.60 on Adobe’s website (based upon Adobe’s reduced student prices – £1,773.08 is its normal retail cost.) Software 4students currently sells the suite for £284.99. A saving of £48.61.

They also have many different offers throughout the year, such promotions include bundles where you save more money when you buy a few products from their site.

How to get the deals

You have to register on the site (which takes about 3 minutes to do), and have to be a member of a registered University. Unfortunately some Universities aren’t partnered with the deal but there are plenty that are, to find out whether yours is just click register in the top right hand corner and start typing your institutions name into the relevant box, a list of the registered places will show up as you type. (Alternatively you can go to their ‘school search’ page – both produce the same results).

You can request delivery by disc or download online – both options are free.

Student feedback:

“Site is incredibly easy to use and easy to register. They have loads of uni’s on their so should be easy for people to get software.”  Joshua, first year student, Leeds.

“So glad I found this website, saved me so much money, I’m a media design student it is really handy being able to afford the different kinds of software that are usually really expensive.” Charlotte, second year student, Sheffield

 

Phoenix

Website: www.phoenixs.co.uk

Phoenix is one of the biggest re-sellers of Microsoft’s software to the education sector. They have very similar deals to Software4students and a very nice easy to use website. The only reason they came second place to Software4students is because of their delivery charges.

They are fully authorised by Microsoft and also have strong links with other retailers including Abobe and Corel.

Best Offers

Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus retails on Microsoft’s website at £299.99. You can get it for £37.89 with Phoenix. Again, a saving of £262.10.

Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Design Premium Student and Teacher is £333.60 on Adobe’s website (based upon Adobe’s reduced student prices – £1,773.08 is its normal retail cost.) Phoenix sells the suite for £287.95 including delivery. A saving of £45.65.

How to get the deals

Just select the software that you wish to buy and when you click ‘go to Checkout’ you will be required to type in your Educational Institution. A list of registered institutions appears once you begin to type, just select the one you belong to.

You can request delivery by disc or some pieces of software allow you to download online. Delivery of the media on disc costs up to £9.95.

Student feedback:

“Really nice website, so easy to use and great savings.” Jemma, second year student, Liverpool

“Good site, the only thing I’d say is that they don’t always quote the delivery charges until checkout so double check your deal is as good as you think it is.” Tessa, Sheffield.

 

Pugh Computers

Website: students.pugh.co.uk

Pugh Computers is a supplier of different software to students and educational institutions. It features different offers on their website than found on other sites, including free online training for new users of different products.

Best Offers

Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus retails on Microsoft’s website at £299.99. You can get it for £47.52 with Pugh. Again, a saving of £252.47.

How to get the deals

Select the manufacturer of the product who you wish to purchase from the student shop sidebar (left hand side) and it will display the policies per manufacturer. You have to register on the site to purchase anything and the process of qualifying each deal is a bit more of a hassle than some of the other sites available.

Delivery is ‘signed-for’ delivery only at a charge of £7.99, unless you select direct dispatch where the charge varies.

Student feedback:

“Nice site and have good offers, keep an eye on the offers and news bar if you do want the best deals.” Freddie, Liverpool.

“A bit annoying to register but is worth it for some of the lesser known software pieces.” Sian, second year student, London.

 

Student Expressware

Website: www.studentexpressware.co.uk

Student Expressware offer a different kind of service than the other sites listed in this review. Some of the links on the site take you to a few of the websites mentioned earlier in this review to fully purchase them, if this is the case it is better for you to go to the alternative site directly. This website is best for try before you buy purchases if you are unsure about your purchase.

The website doesn’t have the best deals for buying software outright – they do, however, link you to offers for trials with Adobe and Microsoft and other manufacturers. Just click the try before you buy button on the left hand side of their home page and see what is on offer.

*All prices, terms and conditions are correct at the time of publishing this blog entry

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