College laptop

[ImBleu]

I start Uni in February (southern hemisphere) and am looking at laptops. The less I spend the better as I'm self financing my whole education.

 

Requirements: 12-14in (15 too big), preferably light.  That's about it. I have a gaming PC to do everything else on so just need something for notes and presentations at Uni. 

 

Options I have thought about so far (converted to usd)

 

Surface Laptop 1(i5/4/128): $620

Surface Pro 5(i5/8/128): $650 w/o KB or pen

Surface Laptop 1(i5/8/256): $740

Surface Pro 6(i5/8/128): $740 w/o KB or pen

Surface Book 1(i5/8/128): $740 all inclusive

Any other laptops?

 

Im not married to the surface lineup and will consider other brands, although I like the idea of writing notes with a pen. A nice build quality would be nice so it could survive 4 years. Im happy with Mac or Windows, Intel or AMD. I would prefer to avoid Huawei/Xiaomi products. What would you pick?

[DrMacintosh]

37 minutes ago, ThatCoolBlueKidd said:

so just need something for notes and presentations at Uni. 

iPad with an Apple Pencil? They have external access to storage now and desktop web browsers and USC-C/ Lighting to adapters for video out are a dime a dozen these days. 
 

Very popular and reliable option for note taking at Uni. 

[ImBleu]

32 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

iPad with an Apple Pencil? They have external access to storage now and desktop web browsers and USC-C/ Lighting to adapters for video out are a dime a dozen these days. 
 

Very popular and reliable option for note taking at Uni. 

iPad Pro I assume you mean? I have an iPad Air 2 with iPadOS which obviously isn't as good as the iPad Pro but not sure if iOS is good enough if I want to take typed and written notes together (like a surface with OneNote)

[DrMacintosh]

7 minutes ago, ThatCoolBlueKidd said:

I have an iPad Air 2 with iPadOS which obviously isn't as good as the iPad Pro but not sure if iOS is good enough if I want to take typed and written notes together (like a surface with OneNote)

You would need an iPad capable of using an Apple Pencil, so a 6/7th Gen iPad ($329), an iPad Air (3rd Gen), or an iPad Pro.  

 

For typed notes, you could get a Smart Keyboard Cover (or any 3rd party bluetooth keyboard case) for typed notes and the Apple Pencil will offer a much better handwritten experience than a 2-in-1 convertible laptop. An iPad can run OneNote better than most PCs. 

[ImBleu]

7 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

You would need an iPad capable of using an Apple Pencil, so a 6/7th Gen iPad ($329), an iPad Air (3rd Gen), or an iPad Pro.  

 

For typed notes, you could get a Smart Keyboard Cover (or any 3rd party bluetooth keyboard case) for typed notes and the Apple Pencil will offer a much better handwritten experience than a 2-in-1 convertible laptop. An iPad can run OneNote better than most PCs. 

At 10.2in though it's a bit small (latest iPad) and the 11in iPad Pro is over the price already for the base model without pencil or keyboard

[ImBleu]

2 minutes ago, ThatCoolBlueKidd said:

At 10.2in though it's a bit small (latest iPad) and the 11in iPad Pro is over the price already for the base model without pencil or keyboard

1060 USD for the 11in iPad Pro base model with keyboard and pencil

[DrMacintosh]

5 minutes ago, ThatCoolBlueKidd said:

1060 USD for the 11in iPad Pro base model with keyboard and pencil

You don't have to get the Pro.

 

10.5" iPad Air 64GB (3rd Gen) - $479

Smart Keyboard for iPad Air - $159

1st Gen Apple Pencil - $89

Total: $727 (Before Taxes)

 

Just use the Apple Education pricing store. 

[ImBleu]

Any other non-apple options?