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In a different thread, Tusker mentioned that his kid is going to Oklahoma State. I took the liberty of finding out what their laptop requirements are, assuming of course that he's headed towards a degree that would require him to use their relevant software such as AutoCAD and SolidWorks. If so, it would be best to get a Windows 10 laptop with specs that are listed in the Recommended section. Well, an i7 CPU is relatively pricey and is arguably overkill, but the rest of the specs are not demanding, so finding an affordable option should be quite doable.
So, if you want to play it safe, that's what I would get.
While I'm here though, and if you will humor me for geeking out a bit, Chromebooks are way too under-rated in my opinion. Indeed, the first person who originally suggested a Chromebook to me was a senior admin of a company that I had hoped to get hired on. That company handed out Chromebooks for their IT dept to use. They not only used Chromebooks to remote in, but it also provided a relatively safe device for him to use during a business trip to DefCon. He also went to Black Hat with it, though there, he said he mostly kept things turned off or in airplane mode. The point is, Chromebook's design philosophy and its ensuing reputation has resulted in its rising popularity amongst the InfoSec crowd.
Since then, I've also bought pretty much nothing but Chromebooks myself, partly because it's so affordable, partly because it's so very easy to work with, and if you know what you're doing, it's still very capable of getting some serious work done.
Again, I've also set up Chromebooks for my parents-- who are not really techno-savvy and don't care to be-- and they seem to have taken to it just fine. So long as your needs are within the performance capabilities of a Chrome browser, you will be fine.
And yes, accidents will happen, such as spills. Many, many years ago, I broke my rather expensive G4 Macbook by accidentally spilling a can of Mountain Dew on it. (Yes, once upon a time, I actually bought Apple because they had the best hardware for what I needed at the time). I didn't replace it because it was just too expensive to do so. These days, you can find Chromebooks that are virtually spill-proof and crush-proof. And even if you manage to break one somehow, well, they only cost roughly $230, and all your data can be auto-magically restored from the included cloud backup to your new machine. Trust me, that's a big deal if your kid is in the middle of an important project, and his laptop somehow broke while he was working on it. (Of course, you can use cloud back-up on any platform. I just wanted to make the point that Chromebooks can be made to be extremely durable, include free cloud back-up as well, and do it all while being super affordable.)
In summary, no, I don't think Macs are bad, but they are definitely pricey. I think Windows makes more sense, especially if his University is recommending them for some of their course. However, I feel that Chromebooks deserve more attention than they generally get. They can be simple, reliable, durable, affordable, and even powerful. As fellow Savers, are we not always looking for a good deal on a quality product? Chromebooks isn't for everyone, but if your needs are within what it can do for you, then I say give them a good look.
So, if you want to play it safe, that's what I would get.
While I'm here though, and if you will humor me for geeking out a bit, Chromebooks are way too under-rated in my opinion. Indeed, the first person who originally suggested a Chromebook to me was a senior admin of a company that I had hoped to get hired on. That company handed out Chromebooks for their IT dept to use. They not only used Chromebooks to remote in, but it also provided a relatively safe device for him to use during a business trip to DefCon. He also went to Black Hat with it, though there, he said he mostly kept things turned off or in airplane mode. The point is, Chromebook's design philosophy and its ensuing reputation has resulted in its rising popularity amongst the InfoSec crowd.
Since then, I've also bought pretty much nothing but Chromebooks myself, partly because it's so affordable, partly because it's so very easy to work with, and if you know what you're doing, it's still very capable of getting some serious work done.
Again, I've also set up Chromebooks for my parents-- who are not really techno-savvy and don't care to be-- and they seem to have taken to it just fine. So long as your needs are within the performance capabilities of a Chrome browser, you will be fine.
And yes, accidents will happen, such as spills. Many, many years ago, I broke my rather expensive G4 Macbook by accidentally spilling a can of Mountain Dew on it. (Yes, once upon a time, I actually bought Apple because they had the best hardware for what I needed at the time). I didn't replace it because it was just too expensive to do so. These days, you can find Chromebooks that are virtually spill-proof and crush-proof. And even if you manage to break one somehow, well, they only cost roughly $230, and all your data can be auto-magically restored from the included cloud backup to your new machine. Trust me, that's a big deal if your kid is in the middle of an important project, and his laptop somehow broke while he was working on it. (Of course, you can use cloud back-up on any platform. I just wanted to make the point that Chromebooks can be made to be extremely durable, include free cloud back-up as well, and do it all while being super affordable.)
In summary, no, I don't think Macs are bad, but they are definitely pricey. I think Windows makes more sense, especially if his University is recommending them for some of their course. However, I feel that Chromebooks deserve more attention than they generally get. They can be simple, reliable, durable, affordable, and even powerful. As fellow Savers, are we not always looking for a good deal on a quality product? Chromebooks isn't for everyone, but if your needs are within what it can do for you, then I say give them a good look.
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