Best laptop for University?

What's the best laptop for taking notes and writing papers? I don't play any games, and only watch movies occasionally on netflix or youtube. I don't need anything fancy, but I do want something that runs smoothly and wont give me any problems with saving files or crashing.

I have around $400 that I'd like to spend.

 

there really is so many laptops in the world, I would recommend finding one you like yourself.

but if I had to choose, with that amount i'd either grab a windows surface pro rt/1/2 or an asus ultrabook/zenbook

 

Practically anything in the 400 dollar range is suitable for note taking. What I'd recommend is going to a local store and testing out the keyboards to see which ones you enjoy the most, then using that info to find the best pricing online.

 

I'd buy a chromebook if it's explicitly for school. Something lightweight and cheap. No need to spend more than $250 IMO.

 

Honestly any laptop would be fine, it'll come down to personal preferences. Practically everything (if not everything) can run microsoft word and the likes of Netflix without any issues.

For school, I'd suggest something in the ultrabook category, but you'll have a hard time finding an ultrabook in the $400 range. You could look at older models and may be able to find something in that range, but really, any laptop would be fine.

You could even use a tablet, I take all my notes on an iPad Pro and have my desktop for heavy duty assignments/general computer use; however, I did use my iPad as my main computer for a solid semester w/o any issues.

 

You can pick up a $100 Dell. I did that for a week when I didn't have a laptop and needed to get some work done on the go. I was so surprised at how well it did for me. I did my work without too much hassle.

Just bought a MacBook Pro recently though. If you can spend a bit more they are pretty nice for schoolwork and work in general.

 

I second this. These can absolutely do everything you mentioned in the OP at half your budget.

 

Chromebook is the way to go if you only plan to use it for notes and such. Though, the only problem with that comes by way of no CD-Drive. You can find external drivers should a situation ever arise of needing one, but your best bargain is that chromebook.

My first laptop died in my second year, which after I purchased a Lenovo. It's a great computer, but I rarely use many of the features.

 

For university/taking notes in lectures I would highly recommend getting a surface pro

 

Could pick up a second hand macbook air i'd imagine, battery life is great and they'll do what you need.

 

HP 250 G4 Core i3-5005U 2GHz 8GB 1TB DVD-RW 15.6 Inch Windows 10 Laptop - Laptops Direct

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-in...35?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1473948921&sr=1-35

 

Acer or Alienware