My daughter will be off to Uni in September…. I’m a little rusty on lap top knowledge.
She will be doing a history degree so it’s use is will be mainly a word processor and prob watching the odd movie / internet surfing (no interest in gaming)
I was thinking a MacBook but not sure which one? back in the day anything with Microsoft was just poor and slow with all the security patches etc. hence a preference for Apple.
Any words of wisdom on spec which one to go for - happy to search for a good used one given her requirements to save a few pounds.
My daughter insisted it had to be a MacBook Air when she went to Uni and it has been excellent for her. The low weight is a real benefit, particularly when she was living off campus.
If your daughter’s exams were this summer - best of luck come results day.
There are Apple discount deals for students in HE - the best may not be available until she is registered at her university and has an online account and email address. And another way of saving money is to look on the Apple UK site for refurbished laptops.
Our eldest had a Microsoft surface for the first 3-4 years at uni but when it starting failing last year got a MacBook Air to replace it, with which she is delighted. All the macs we have had over the years (apart from one) have lasted 5-6 years or more without problems
We have 3 apprentices at work two with MacBook Airs one with a windows laptop. The two with Macs have had no problems with course work. The one on windows has lost course work at least 3 times.
Another Vote for MacBook Air. My last one lasted over 10 years
In addition, please teach her to use the Apple iCloud for storage (yes I realise its topical at the moment, but of course that MSoft) as students are very lapse when it comes to backups
Also a MacBook Air user here, I’ve got the current M3 one but the previous M2 is likely to be more than enough for the use case here and a fair bit cheaper as well. I can also recommend Apple’s Refurb option, it’s as good as “new” and usually saves a fair bit.
That may have been the case 20 years ago but not now. Yes you can buy an entry level Windows laptop for a few hundred pounds and yes they will have a poor build quality but up the budget to something like what you’ll pay for a Mac and you can get an excellent laptop. I’m a big fan of the Dell XPS range, superb build quality, light weight and well spec’ed. Like Apple, Dell have an outlet store selling refurbs at good discounts.
My current laptop is a 6 year old Dell XPS, never had a problem with it and still a very good laptop.
For what this might be worth…I guess not much as rather a minority view…
If you choose the microsoft route, consider a few lightweight programs rather than the bloat ware that is the usual choice.
For example for word processing there is the excellent, and very word like with a fraction of the footprint, and all features a student might need, Atlantis Word Processor.
For graphical image use, look at IrfanView.
SoftMaker Office is also a very good alternative.
Any of the portable applications are good, (though unpopular), and can be kept on a memory stick with your working files, or preferable several memory sticks for backups.
Or for a more hardcore approach, look at Linux which has many versions that run reliably on an older - cheap - “windows” laptops, and will have software for every student need, and be a reliable and robust operating system.
