Transportation
As like many other cities in Australia, public transportation are easily accessible and very convenient, especially for students. A maximum waiting time of 15 minutes for most areas nearby the city, thus u can plan your travelling time by checking the timetable pamphletes, or u can check online HERE. Students can get cheaper ticket prices when using bus or tram. FYI, the same ticket is used for buses and also for trams. Thus, it is advisable for students to buy the student priced tickets from stores, which can be used 10 times per ticket. There are two types of ticket too, the RED coloured peak ticket and the BLACK coloured off-peak ticket. Off peak ticket can be used between 9am and 3pm, and it costs much cheaper than the peak tickets. Also, each ticket can be used unlimited amount of times within two hours of the first validation. For example, if you validate your ticket in a bus at 10am, then u can use that same ticket wherever u go until 12pm free of charge.

Free tram and bus services are available within city too. So, if you are moving around in the city, you do not have to pay anything, just wait for the free "99C" bus and also trams within the city. Maximum waiting time is also 15 minutes during the daytime.

For those of you who are planning to get a car, its fairly easy to maneuver around Adelaide city. The city is within 4 main street, which is North terrace, West terrace, South terrace and East Terrace, making a square grid. within it, street and roads are alligned in a squarish manner. So, you can always make a turn here and there and no need to worry about missing a junction.
Renting in Adelaide
As per rule of thumb, the nearer you stay to the city, the higher the rent is. for houses outside the city (meaning outside or just inside the 4 terraces), the rent per room can vary between $90 to $150. Of course, you can rent a whole house together with  few friends to get cheaper price (around $300 per 3-roomed house?). Some landlords will cover the full bills, some will have a limit of how much they will pay (ie. they will pay up to $50, any excess is paid by tenants), and some requires you to pay your own bills.

As for rooms within the city, the price can vary between $150 to $200+. most rooms within the city comes in the form of lodges and apartment rooms. although the higher price, if you live in the city, you do not have to pay for transportation at all, as mentioned above, most transports within the city os FOC.

Bonds are also required when renting a house or room, usually 2 weeks' rent or 4 weeks'. This is to avoid tenants running away while still under contract or damaging properties before leaving the rented place.

For people who just come to Adelaide, i recommend you to find a place in a student's lodge first, before finding houses and friends to stay together, as staying with total strangers once u arrive in a foreign place can be a headache. Some examples of student lodges are Bradford Lodge or Highgate Lodge, managed by Adelaide International Village. Actually i found out about this place through LYN oso, i think mentioned before in the V1 thread. on a personal note, i am currently living in Highgate Lodge, and when i first move in i wanted to find a place outside to live. But after staying here long enough and met many peers, i feel like i will be continuing my stay there. contact me if you are interested in staying there

Banking
As stated by other guides, students are encouraged to get a bank account as soon as you reach Australia. National banks are like:

Commonwealth Bank of Australia
National Australia Bank
ANZ Bank
Westpac

Besides the above banks, South Australia also have its own bank, called BankSA. This is also a popular choice among students, as they provide students account which will not charge anything for any transactions you do. ATM cards also act as a debit card with no payment needed to use. EFTPOS are widely used in the city, so you can still shop and buy stuff even if you do not carry any cash. Besides that, another great account from BankSA is called the "Express Saver" account, which provides 7% interest rate. Most students here create these two accounts, and put all their money in the Express Saver account to earn the interest. When they need money to use, you can transfer money from one another using online banking or phone banking.

Telecommunication
major phone providers are the same as other states, such as Three, Optus, and Vodafone. Optus provide good prepaid deals, for example the Turbo Charge plan that gives you multiplies of credits for the amount you top up every month. Three is also famous among students, as the cap plan by them provides very attractive phones which you can get for free, as long as u take a contract with them.

Internet Connection
Internet connection here in Australia in general is pretty different from our Streamyx back in Malaysia. Most ISP here have limits to their line per month, means if you exceed the limit before the date ends, you will either get your lined shaped to 64k, or they will charge you per MB used. The most popular ISP in South Australia is Adam Internet. They offer ranges of connection speed, from normal ADSL (various speed) to ADSL2+. Its not cheap to get an internet line either, fixing a phone line itself can reach $100+. So for heavy downloaders, get used to limiting your downloads before coming over