Good Laptop/Notebook for University Student (Budget $1000)

LColonelJezza on 10/01/2021 - 22:11
Last edited 11/01/2021 - 02:35 by 1 other user

Hi all,

I am looking for a decent laptop for use at university. Ideally looking for something that can just watch videos and run Word, nothing too crazy (already have a PC for gaming). Would love for it to be speedy and responsive, lightweight, reasonably sized, and for the battery to last all day at uni. Hopefully priced under $1000, and am willing to buy preowned. I am curious to hear from others what they use and what is recommended for someone in my position.

I have checked out some older Macbook Airs (around 2017-18), but haven't pulled the trigger yet, and thought I should consult the experts before spending anything. Is Apple a good choice for someone who doesn't have a lot of cash floating around, or should I try a different, reputable brand?

Thanks :)

Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

  • Zephyrus on 10/01/2021 - 22:30
    +1

    I found 2-in-1 laptops to be really useful for taking notes on slide and for drawing diagrams without having to cart around heaps of paper.

    Get one with a decent digitizer (One with an active stylus), I got a Lenovo Yoga but there are others that do as well.

  • Ema000 on 10/01/2021 - 22:39

    MacBook Pro 15-inch 2015 or MacBook Air 13-inch 2017

  • AustriaBargain on 10/01/2021 - 22:54
    +4

    M1 MacBook, it will last you a lot longer than older MacBooks. It has no moving internal parts!

    • AustriaBargain on 11/01/2021 - 00:34

      Should clarify the M1 MacBook Air has no moving parts. The M1 MacBook Pro does have a fan to cool the CPU, with the benefit of running a bit faster. From the looks of things the Air runs plenty fast enough already though.

      • RobBoss on 11/01/2021 - 17:59

        Second this, since the release of M1 Mac, it has also become the best performance per watt laptop.

  • whitelie on 10/01/2021 - 22:55

    This Lenovo IdeaPad should fit the bill for what you want and is reasonably lightweight.
    That said, nothing wrong with a used Macbook Air really, you get a pretty nice screen for the money.

  • Quantumcat on 10/01/2021 - 23:10
    +1

    Microsoft surface. Lightest laptop around and battery lasts ages. And you can get a pen and detatch the keyboard so handy for making notes in lectures. If you aren't doing anything intensive on it (eg photoshop or compiling software) a second hand one a few years old will be fine.

  • iridiumstem on 10/01/2021 - 23:21

    My memory of lecture theatres were, basically half the students are rocking a Macbook of sort. It's eerie almost, you see all these people behind with all the Apple logos glowing.
    I think there is a reason why people use Macbook so much at uni, so I don't think it's a bad option.

    I personally went for a Windows tablet with a stylus option myself. That said, I think an Android tablet or an iPad would've been better?
    Not sure about how efficient Intel has gotten, but Surface Pro 3 wanted to fly off to the air every time I wanted to just use it for OneNote.
    Heat dissipation was something that it really struggled with, so I ended up with a laggy warm device that wouldn't do what I wanted it to do.
    And the whole Onedrive backing up thing backed only half of my notes, causing me to lose almost all of the notes (since a lot of them made little sense with other pages missing).

    There probably will be a desktop available as an option if you need to type the entire assignment out at uni, if I were to guess. For light work, I don't think a simple iPad with Apple pencil or an Android tablet with a stylus would be bad.

    • hullohullo on 11/01/2021 - 01:01

      I agree that Macbooks can be a good option, albeit a little pricey. Last time I was at uni, it was like at least 80% of students were rocking Macbooks in my classes. Anything else was a rarity. Education store will give you like 10% off I think?

      • iridiumstem on 11/01/2021 - 01:28

        Yeah, Macbook everywhere. I think they are a good option, a solid built laptop with a good support if you have an Apple shop nearby as well. I think the last thing you'd want is waiting for a repair and have it shipped from your place to wherever, and play the wait game while your lectures are still going on.

        Tbh, I never really considered Macbooks as an option for myself, as Apple products were never my thing. So in terms of price range, all I remember is, they were not within the price range I wanted.

        Slight sidenote, but I was considering iPad Pros for awhile during my time at uni. When I tried the Apple Pencil at an Apple store near me, it was aeons ahead of what Surface Pro 3 had. I never liked how iPadOS worked with files and the stylus at the time (first gen) weren't really to my taste compared to Wacom stylus I've gotten used to with Surface Pro 1.

  • jayboi on 11/01/2021 - 00:13
    +1

    MacBook Air M1 is the way to go, stretch your budget a bit, it will last way longer than a 2018 MacBook Air, almost $1000 is a ripoff for a 2018 air

  • airtime on 11/01/2021 - 02:59

    Strongly recommend you stretch your budget and buy new. Pre-owned devices carry a significant risk of premature failure. You don't know how the battery or device has been cared for. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't.

    I second the recommendations for the Apple MacBook Air M1. With the current education offer you can pickup the base 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD model for $1,350. A $350 stretch above your budget. But for that extra you get a device that performs very well with great support and warranty that will effectively cover you for 3 years (they state 1 but with Australian consumer law they will stretch that for another 2 to make 3 yrs).

    I would pay the extra $300 for the 512GB SSD but that would put you $650 above budget.

    Also consider if you buy from an Apple store, you have a 14 day no questions asked full refund, no matter the reason (as long as it is in working order). You can use that time to check out whether it meets your needs and return if it doesn't.

    • ColonelJezza on 11/01/2021 - 12:03

      I am definitely considering this option, could you please link to where the M1 is listed at these prices? Looking on the Apple education site (https://www.apple.com/au-hed/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air) they're both being listed as way more, but I could be looking in the wrong spot.

      I greatly appreciate the extended comment from you and the advice to buy new.

      Thanks

      • jayboi on 11/01/2021 - 14:06

        Yeah, when you get it from the education store they have an offer currently where you get free AirPods with the MacBook Air, so you can sell the AirPods for around $150-$180 and bam instant discount there bringing the price much lower
        Also the MacBook Air M1 has the best battery life of 18 hours which is very convenient for uni, especially if you are using it all day, and the performance of the M1 MacBook Air beats every windows PC at this price point
        Here is the offer https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/596435

  • Mugsy on 11/01/2021 - 12:42

    It would pay to review your remaining subjects and see if there are any that requires specific software that is only available on Windows.

    It's been a while since I've been at Uni but across all 3 degrees I undertook, there was at least one subject that required software that was only available on Windows. Note that your Uni should be supplying a PC lab with fully licensed versions of that software but you may want to run a trial copy on your laptop to get by any assignments without having to go into the PC lab and possibly wait for access. Despite the fact that you can sill install Win10 on a macbook, to my understanding, you'd still need a serial number for Windows 10 (i.e. purchased copy) which might blow out your costs.

    It's because of this that I've always bought Windows based devices. OK, I'm also not a fan of macOS.

    For the early years of my Masters, I used a $250 Acer netbook to take notes. 8hrs+ battery life but it was slow with loading things up. Later years I used a $400 Lenovo E320 with ~4hrs battery life which I still use to this day. The 12hrs+ with a macbook certainly is appealing though. Good luck with your search!

  • BertieBrown on 11/01/2021 - 21:03
    +1

    I think MacBooks are a good option, but, if you do look at one, avoid anything with a butterfly keyboard (it’s a type of keyboard that Apple used and it frankly sucks), and also get something with a bigger hard drive, at least 256 GB. The 128 GB gets used up really quickly, and I don’t think the hard drive can be replaced in the newer MacBooks so you’ll be stuck with it.

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