Chromebook - any good for university?

[Louis Brown]

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy a laptop for university. I'll be taking my gaming PC, on which I'll be doing the bulk of essay writing and also using for entertainment, so I really just need a solid machine that'll run Office 365. I need:
- 13.3" ideally, would settle for smaller but no bigger
- Quick to start and run basic programs (never used Chrome OS so I'm not sure if it's going to be a problem)
- Don't really care about touch screen or backlit keyboard, it's just for taking to class to take notes
- Budget is under £300

I'll be using OneDrive to move files from the laptop from the PC, so a huge HDD isn't necessary (but I've heard Win10 overwhelms small computers so I'm steering clear)

So far I reckon this would be my best bet: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0107N7X5E/ref=sr_ob_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1470329492&sr=1-1

Again I'm just totally inexperienced with Chrome OS so I don't want to buy it and then find it crashes trying to open Notepad - if anyone's used one then do let me know your experience.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[boosted1g]

Chrome OS will be adequate but frankly since the price is not that much more for a low end windows laptop you might as well go that route.
Once you have the chromebook there is no going back so if you latter realize you need windows for program X then you are just out of luck.

What Degree are you going to school for?

 

[Louis Brown]

Chrome OS will be adequate but frankly since the price is not that much more for a low end windows laptop you might as well go that route.
Once you have the chromebook there is no going back so if you latter realize you need windows for program X then you are just out of luck.

What Degree are you going to school for?

I suppose if I could get a 13.3" with an i3 for a decent price then I'd settle. I just haven't been able to find anything around the price point. It's not that I'm unable to spend more, it's just that I kinda object to spending a load of money on a laptop that's only ever gonna be used for Word and a bit of Spotify.

I suppose something like this would be alright though? http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/a2-refurbished-acer-aspire-e5-471p-core-i3-4gb-500gb-14-inch-touchscreen-wi-a2-nx.mmvek.004/version.asp

I'm waiting for results day to confirm my place, but fingers crossed I'll be off to study History in September!

Again, thanks for your help.

 

[boosted1g]

I would be a little reluctant about refurbished acer laptop, acer is owned by gateway and not the greatest quality, even more so with their budget lines.

Is there a Lenovo outlet store in UK?
I have had good luck with refurbished asus laptop before. Think I paid a little over $300 USD for one.

For something like college you cant just think about what your needs are today, you have to think about it what it will be in 2-3 years. With a chromebook you are keeping yourself very limited. You have to look at the laptop as being the investment that it is.

 

[boosted1g]

New Asus: http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asus-x555la-xx2282t-core-i3-4005u-8gb-1tb-15.6-inch-windows-10-64-bit-lapto-x555la-xx2282t-8gb/version.asp

Refirb HP convertible (hdd not ssd): http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-grade-a1-hp-pavilion-x360-13-s154sa-i3-4gb-1tb-convertible-wind-a1-n9r01ea/version.asp

 

[Louis Brown]

New Asus: http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asus-x555la-xx2282t-core-i3-4005u-8gb-1tb-15.6-inch-windows-10-64-bit-lapto-x555la-xx2282t-8gb/version.asp

Refirb HP convertible (hdd not ssd): http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-grade-a1-hp-pavilion-x360-13-s154sa-i3-4gb-1tb-convertible-wind-a1-n9r01ea/version.asp

What about this? http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/a2-refurbished-lenovo-flex-2-intel-core-i5-4210u-1.7ghz-6gb-500gb-win-8-14-a2-59422751-w8/version.asp

Is that too good to be true?

 

[boosted1g]

I think that generation of Flex was fine, I think it was the Gen 3 that was not that good.

Too bad it does not have an SSD in it already, If you can, I would highly suggest swapping one in there latter on.

 

[orlbuckeye]

I would be a little reluctant about refurbished acer laptop, acer is owned by gateway and not the greatest quality, even more so with their budget lines.

Is there a Lenovo outlet store in UK?
I have had good luck with refurbished asus laptop before. Think I paid a little over $300 USD for one.

For something like college you cant just think about what your needs are today, you have to think about it what it will be in 2-3 years. With a chromebook you are keeping yourself very limited. You have to look at the laptop as being the investment that it is.

It's actually the other way around Acer owns Gateway. They purchased a couple of years ago. Acer is the number selling laptop company in Australia.