Hi guys, I may be starting uni in September (part time) and am on the hunt for a laptop. My current Windows laptop is 5 years old and sluggish; I have an Acer chromebook which I use for Google docs (currently doing another course) but the lack of full Word/only being able to use it online is an issue. My daily devices are my iPhone SE & iPad 9.7 2017; all I’ll use the MBA for is uni work, which will consist of typing documents & browsing online. I can get a MBA with student discount for £850. I am tempted because of the build quality/the fact that the course may last 5 years. Do you think it’s worth it?
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MacBook Air for uni?
- Thread starter bwfcbecky
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I believe that the Air is a very popular college machine for the combo of weight/quality/durability/price. It doesn't exactly sound like you have high demands, so it sure seems like it would work fine. What are the specs of the model you are considering? Aren't they 8GB RAM/256GB storage or better now?
Yes, I was just considering the base model. But I can’t work out if I should just get a £400-£500 Windows laptop instead, considering my basic usage...
It would depend on what you're considering, I suppose. It's been a while since I bought a Windows laptop, so I don't know how common the practice still is of the OEM adding a bunch of junk software onto the machine right out of the box. You either have to deal with that stuff or take on removing it all. Macs come with no such junkware. That said, the MBA is a bit dated on some specs, so there's a chance a cheaper Windows laptop will have better specs. Considering you don't have such high demands that may not matter. If you have a few models in mind, we can try to compare them.
Personally, I don't even like how Windows 10 starts, even as a fresh install. There's so much extra Store junk they try to promote that you feel like you just bought a portable billboard. Once you get it all cleaned up it's not so bad.
Ok, thank you. I was considering a Lenovo IdeaPad 320, for £500. It’s newly released.
Can you post a link to it? I get multiple results, but the reviews don't seem to favorable on the one I saw. It had a really slow Celeron CPU.
Hi, here you go:
I found this "Lenovo IdeaPad 320 15.6 Inch i5 8GB 2TB Laptop - Grey", while browsing the Argos Mobile app:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8198835.htm
I found this "Lenovo IdeaPad 320 15.6 Inch i5 8GB 2TB Laptop - Grey", while browsing the Argos Mobile app:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8198835.htm
In reference to how long the Apple machines last - My 2011 MBA is still kicking. It's now my travel machine and I do light work on it, nothing too heavy - browsing, email, MS Office or Google docs, etc. But it can still handle things like Lightroom and video encoding, albeit slow. I would also consider that you do have an iPhone and iPad - it's really great how seamless they all work together. For me, the MBA has far outweighed it's cost. I wish they hadn't discontinued the 11" or else I'd be buying a new one.
But if bottom line price now is the most important factor, get the windows laptop and upgrade in a couple of years when your budget allows. The windows machine will serve your college needs just fine.
Side note: My 2008 MBP worked really well until about 2015. It hung on until 2016 when I finally got a new machine. But the '08 MBP still actually turns on and works (I replaced the HDD with a SSD a few years back) but it gets weird kernel panics and reboots randomly. But yeah, these machine have long lives.
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