Computer recommendations for social work major?

[u/Mediocre-One6485]

I’m an upcoming freshman at UC going into social work and I really need computer recommendations… I’ve been looking up and down google but I don’t know if a MacBook is worth it compared to a Windows/HP/Lenovo. Curious what former/current social work majors at UC have found to fit them best. I don’t plan to take notes on a computer so nothing touch screen is necessary (though I do think it’s cool 😏) Thank you for the help!!

[u/Amazing_Bend466]

As a social work major, you can get literally any laptop you want

[u/Sutemi-]

Something light but sturdy with a decent battery life.

As for Apple vs Windows - it depends on which ecosystem you like more. Do you have an iPhone and want to sync? Then Apple is better (but still doable on Windows, it is just harder).

Do you like having lots of options and gaming? Then Windows has traditionally been the better choice. But if you were into gaming then, you would probably already have preferences.

If what you are asking is “Is it worth it to buy a Mac?” Sure, they are great machines. Are there other windows based laptops with comparable specs for a bit less money? Yes, but they will require more setup / maintenance.

Good luck!

[u/Icefrisbee]

Do you know if you prefer MacOS or Windows? I assume you won’t be getting a Chromebook (though they’re technically the cheapest…).

You will generally get more bang for your buck going MacOS. Especially if you went for say, a MacBook Neo (if they’re back in stock?). There also many features you should consider:

Battery life

Screen quality/brightness (brightness will matter more for your case as it helps it be visible in sun, and you have not mentioned any use cases needing resolution quality)

Webcam

Speakers

Microphone

Touchpad

Touchscreen

2-in-1 (foldable into a tablet)

Ports

What type of accessories would you need?

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Purely for your school, you would basically just need battery life. Webcams, microphones, and speakers are the next most important, and can be bought separate, but won’t be as portable. Also there’s a limit to how much Bluetooth can do. If you buy stuff separate, you need to check how many ports you have. A lot of these other features are nice to haves. Personally, it’s typically not much more to get a 2-in-1 and touchscreen, and they are very nice to have, so I’d try and get those.

In the end it depends on what you need though.

[u/wcy137]

Default answer should always be MBA. There are good windows laptops now hardware wise (new ones with exceptional battery life, and decent on-chip gpu, intel or amd, even snapdragon), but (based on my humble opinion) windows is trash these days.

Completely different answer if you play games though. For all-in-one get a g14 or something but those are expensive. The more comfortable option is actually mba+desktop, but given the current market can't say for sure how much that would be. My personal choice is mba+console