

Microsoft’s Surface Go is a worthy contender. Some work with a pen or stylus for limited note-taking, drawing diagrams and annotating documents. Some models double as touch-screen tablets. If you want to take a laptop with you everywhere, look for one with a 10in to 12in screen.

These machines are fast and cheap, but they are heavy to carry around, and tend to have short battery lives. Traditionally, students have bought 15.6in laptops as desktop replacements. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardianĭo you want a laptop for use at home or in your digs/flat/etc, or one that you can take to lectures and use around campus? There is scientific evidence that students who make notes on paper learn more.
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Microsoft’s Surface Go is a small, light, well-made convertible Windows 10 machine that doesn’t break the bank. Tier1Online also guarantees machines for three years for a small extra fee, but doesn’t provide on-site support.

In Lenovo’s case, it can be as little as £61.56. If you order a laptop online from Dell, HP or Lenovo, you may be able to buy three years of on-site support for a reasonable price. For ergonomic reasons, I recommend a laptop riser (or using a pile of books to lift the screen) and an external ergonomic keyboard for home use. You’ll need an external hard drive for backups, though you should also store important files online. If you take this route, I strongly recommend a ThinkPad from the X or T ranges with an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, 8GB of memory and an SSD. You could also consider a refurbished business laptop from Tier1Online, Morgan or similar source. All the major brands have suitable laptops including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo. Second, if you’re not doing any computer-intensive work such as video editing, almost any laptop with at least 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage will do the job. (The free Office 365 Education – yours for an academic email address – does not.) Most offer Microsoft Office free, but ask if this includes the desktop programs.
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First, check with your school, university or college to see if they have any particular software requirements, any recommendations, and any special deals with manufacturers offering laptops at a discount.
