Computer/laptop for college freshman.

[cactus]

My daughter is starting college this year. Through out high school she has used a provided notebook. We need to buy her a decent computer but are clueless what we are looking at. Does anyone have a recommendation? Usually with electronics we use Costco but we are open to any suggestions at this point.

Thank you in advance.

[j15w]

Price range? How about size?

[E92335i]

Macbook Air.

[LTC-J]

For what activities?

If you are talking about web browse, tik tok, office, and similar 'junk', spend $200 on whatever is in stock. ZERO reason now days to spend much more for such unimpressive tasks.

[BucDan]

Keep it simple, as a Linux and Windows guy who's career revolves around those 2, get her a MacBook air.

[Featureless]

Ask the school for recommendations.

[duckman1]

Most of the educational programs etc are windows based. We purchased a mid level laptop for our son. He built his own 2 years later for gaming and social media type stuff.

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[Iknownot]

$300 or so will get you a decent basic windows laptop. $500 will get you a pretty good 11th or 12th gen Intel i5 with a decent screen if you really look around. That will easily last the 4 years. Mac is about $300 more
Than that and a nice Chromebook will be $100-200 less.

I’d wait for Amazon days coming up. They’ll have a sale on some decent laptops. Or wait for Black Friday times if you can.

[mossy]

We need to buy her a decent computer but are clueless what we are looking at.

I bet she knows what she needs so I would ask her to find something within your price range and get that. she gets the computer she wants and you don't have to learn anything about computers.

[SactoDoug]

If it is just for note taking and writing papers, get her something cheap with a long battery life. Laptops get lost, stolen and damaged all the time at college. She might even do well with a decent tablet and keyboard like a Galaxy Tab. Ask her what she wants. Stay away from off brand tech. Buy from major manufacturers.

If she has any special needs such as drawing with a stylus, video editing or running CAD apps, then you will have to buy something specialized for her needs.

[Ora Serrata]

My Silicon Valley friends always recommended Lenovo as the best bang for the buck. I’ve been extremely happy using them exclusively for the past 15 years.

[metalhead]

When my twin daughters started college in 2020 I bought them each a Microsoft Surface laptop that can be used as a laptop or tablet. Both laptops are running great and they still love it as of now.


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[tokuno]

My daughter just graduated and her high school chromebook won't cut it for university.
After much poking around, I realized that she just needs basic office automation in a light-weight, enterprise (i.e. rugged) package, with web cam, flash slot, speaker jack, usb a & c, bluetooth, wireless, (bonus: rj-45), and preferably powered through usb c (non-proprietary power supply), and d'oh, forehead slap. My corporate Lenovo Thinkpad T480s does all of that, with a very comfortable, usable keyboard, touchpad, and finger-button mouse.
Slim, portable, rugged (I've proved that many time over with how I abuse mine), with great battery life.
It's a bit dated, but more than sufficient to her needs.
Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB, 256 SSD, Windows 11, only 14" screen, but she's got young eyes, and the small package is super easy to slide into a backpack or fit on a desk.
Bought from Newegg in 'A' condition used/refurbished for under $400 shipped.
I've been tinkering with it since it arrived - no regrets; great purchase. Very nice solution, and I expect it to hold up MUCH better than the HP/Acer-type "looks good on paper, but built cheap" affordable laptops at Costco.

[squeeze]

I often look around the coffee shops I visit and 80% of the users are using Apple. These are younger professionals who seem to be working remotely. Many are doing FaceTime/ COSTCO sells Apple products. Buy once; cry once.

[Librarian]

Most of the educational programs etc are windows based.

That's my experience. I'm a Mac guy, but that reason says buy a Windows machine.