Laptop advice

[Jonny Ingbar]

Looking for a laptop for my son, mostly for Uni from next year, but also for second year at college from Sept - it would have to be Windows based.

Want something thats reliable and built well. I've had a few different brands, but due to poor build and unreliable hardware eventually bought a Macbook, which has been brilliant.

Lenovo seem to be pretty reliable, as do Samsung, but I know there's a few experts on here (by my standards at least!), so any pointers would be appreciated.

 

[afcb_acklam]

make sure whatever it is, it has a ssd

 

[SmallTown]

make sure whatever it is, it has a ssd

Really good advice.

Chromeboks are really good for uni. Cheap, solid operating system’s

 

[afcb_acklam]

chromebooks are great for younger kids, not uni imo. windows 10, ssd, lenovo - sorted.

ebuyer.com always pretty good #donny

 

[Centralscrutinizer]

I'm not an expert but I've had a Lenovo Yoga for 2.5 years and it's been spot on. It's been totally reliable despite being bounced all over the place for work travel.

 

[SmallTown]

I'm not an expert but I've had a Lenovo Yoga for 2.5 years and it's been spot on. It's been totally reliable despite being bounced all over the place for work travel.

Good example of good build quality. The yoga, with its complicated hinge, is the most complex laptop chassis they make. If that can survive central laptop basketball then a none yoga can survive anything!

 

[Glover_elbow]

I would recommend lenovo as well build quality is normally excellent another brand would be asus always seem well made

 

[SmallTown]

I would recommend lenovo as well build quality is normally excellent another brand would be asus always seem well made

I've had a few issues with one of my Asus laptops. My work lenovo never outs a foot wrong. It doesn't exactly get an easy ride either

 

[boroboy6872]

ASUS X512DA 15.6" Ultrabook Laptop AMD Ryzen R5-3500

 

[atypical_boro]

I have a Chromebook, it’s cheap, cheerful and limited. Fine for watching Netflix on trains and what not but not so great for uni work I wouldn’t say.

 

[NYboro]

I have an 8 year-old Toshiba Portégé which has been rock solid. I hardly ever boot it into Windows, but it does have Windows 10 Pro on it and is perfectly acceptable. The only thing I did was replace the spinning metal with SSD a few years ago.

 

[SmallTown]

I have a Chromebook, it’s cheap, cheerful and limited. Fine for watching Netflix on trains and what not but not so great for uni work I wouldn’t say.

Depends what the uni work is surely? You can take notes on it, word process case studies and dissertations. Consume media when you're not studying. Unless you're doing graphic design or similar media heavy courses I can't think of any way a Chromebook would leave you short .

 

[NYboro]

Depends what the uni work is surely? You can take notes on it, word process case studies and dissertations. Consume media when you're not studying. Unless you're doing graphic design or similar media heavy courses I can't think of any way a Chromebook would leave you short .

Certainly when my kids were at university, they were expected to have Micro$oft Office. At least, student rates for it aren't exhorbitant.

 

[Tees_In_The_USA]

I had tablets but I swapped out for a tablet, I can do most things on my tablet that I could do on a laptop. I use a surface go 2

 

[SmallTown]

Certainly when my kids were at university, they were expected to have Micro$oft Office. At least, student rates for it aren't exhorbitant.

Fair enough. Its odd to mandate a certain type of office suite. Google docs can do everything office can. I think the word processor will even save things as a .doc file.

I guess Microsoft do big student licences. They smartest tactic: get people used to the software whilst studying, so they demand it, are more proficient in it, in the work environment. Clever

 

[swordtrombonefish]

Lenovo seems to have got its build game together recently, and with decent specc'ed machines has a few of the tech recommendations going their way. I have to say though that people seem to have widely ranging experiences for the same kit.

I bought daughter an ASUS UX series for around £250 (refurb) 2 years ago for university when her 4 YO Macbook died (yep it happens) - it's thin, light, brilliant spec / SSD / 8Gb ram and a touchscreen - it is still as fast today and in daily use after university.

 

[atypical_boro]

Depends what the uni work is surely? You can take notes on it, word process case studies and dissertations. Consume media when you're not studying. Unless you're doing graphic design or similar media heavy courses I can't think of any way a Chromebook would leave you short .

It’s just not the best for using Office etc I don’t find.

 

[SmallTown]

It’s just not the best for using Office etc I don’t find.

I think its just different. The the missus work has just switched from office 365 to Google docs she was moaning about it at first, now she's "oh, you can't do THAT in word. Mainly collaboration stuff, which I suppose isn't helpful for uni either

 

[Boro in Devon]

Surely it depends on what you are going to use it for. If you are just using Office and Word for typing up assignments then anything will do. If he has to crunch data or need to access artistic programs then he will need something more specialised with better processors. My son was on a music course and could only use macs. I am an ex data guy and have been using HP they have been vary reliable.

 

[RedAsABeetroot]

Re MS Office currently on a remote course with Teesside Uni and it looks like I can access Teams plus office through the login they've given me. (Office 365?)