In two weeks, a new academic year begins for Irish students at second and third level. Many will need a decent, reasonably-priced laptop to take them through the next few terms. Here are four models we can recommend for that job.
1. Samsung Galaxy Book
Price: €769
Samsung’s entry-level Galaxy Book gets the nod as a good student laptop for two reasons. First, it’s a solid, relatively sleek, newly-released 15.6-inch model that covers all the basics really well. Second, you currently get a free pair of Samsung Buds (worth €179) when you buy it.
The laptop is nicely designed, overall. It’s a lot lighter (1.6kg) than some 15.6-inch laptops you’ll find, which makes a big difference if you’re lugging it in a bag, or even from the bedroom to the sitting room couch.
The configuration that costs €769 comes with the latest (11th gen) Intel i5 processor, 8GB of Ram and 256GB of storage.
There’s a good selection of ports and connections, including two USB-C slots, one USB-A, a full size HDMI, a headphone port and a MicroSD memory card slot.
You’ll get a solid five or six hours of battery life between charges, which is pretty good for a 15-inch laptop. The display isn’t a touchscreen but its non-glare 1080p resolution is very decent.
Advantages: Microsoft's Surface laptop comes with a handy touchscreen
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Advantages: Microsoft's Surface laptop comes with a handy touchscreen
2. Microsoft Surface Laptop Go
Price: €739
Microsoft generally charges a premium for its high-end Surface laptops, but it’s currently selling this one (8GB Intel i5) at a good discount. With the sole drawback of a modest storage level (128GB), it’s almost perfect for a student at either second or third level.
The 12.4-inch Surface Laptop Go has a few significant advantages over rivals, which are mainly design-related. It comes in a choice of three colours and is very light (1.1kg), making it the most portable and baggable student laptops on this list. It also has relatively good battery life, at up to seven or eight hours between charges.
And it has a touchscreen that works with several stylus models, from Microsoft’s own pricey Surface Pen (€115) to much more affordable versions, such as Timovo’s Pen (€35 from Amazon).
It’s also powered using a USB-C connection, which is a big plus for me: it means you’ll be able to plug in a regular USB-C (PD) charger and not have to lug around some bulky proprietary brick.
If it has a drawback, though, it’s in the very small number of ports available. That USB-C port? It’s the only one on the laptop. Otherwise, there’s only one USB-A port and a 3.5mm headphone port.
But that, plus the modest 128GB storage size (you can go for 256GB for an extra €110, which is an extortionate markup), is the only real negative I can find.
Generally speaking, the Laptop Go is a well thought-out, comfortable, light, effective laptop that looks and feels a lot better than most of its rivals at this price point. Of all the models on today’s shortlist, this is the one you most feel like quickly picking up and starting to work, browse or study on, unencumbered by fussy barriers.
No compromise: The iPad Air from Apple beats most laptops for speed and multi-tasking.
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No compromise: The iPad Air from Apple beats most laptops for speed and multi-tasking.
3. iPad Air
Price: €828 (including trackpad keyboard)
I’m sticking the iPad Air in here for two main reasons. First, most student or college software requirements can now be met by iPads.
Second, this particular model is effectively an iPad Pro in all but name, with the same pro-keyboard options, mouse controls and other work-friendly features.
With a 10.2-inch screen, the iPad Air is significantly smaller than most laptops you’ll find. Whether that’s an advantage or not depends on the user: for some, laptop screens are unnecessarily large, even for projects. For others, the more screen real estate there is, the better.
But there’s no compromise on power or utility. This beats most basic laptops for speed and multitasking with different programs, browsers or apps is now normal.
As for a keyboard, Apple’s ones are great, but very pricey.
The ultimate Magic Keyboard (with a trackpad to control a cursor on-screen) costs a whopping €339, while even the standard Smart Keyboard costs €179. You’ll get better value from alternatives such as Logitech’s nice Folio Touch Keyboard Case with Trackpad for iPad Air (€159).
And should you need one, Apple’s Pencil stylus for the iPad Air is good but pricey (€135). More affordable alternatives are Zagg’s Pro Stylus (€79) or Logitech’s ‘Crayon for iPad’ (€69)
One disadvantage is that the entry-level model, while having the same power as all the others, only has 64GB of storage.
Even if you’re not a downloader, that’s a level I’d be uncomfortable with for a machine I was working on.
Unfortunately, the next storage level up (256GB) costs €170 more. So whatever way you look at it, a properly set up professional-grade iPad is more expensive than several of the other options on this list.
All-rounder: Dell's Inspiron 3000 will handle all your college tasks with ease
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All-rounder: Dell's Inspiron 3000 will handle all your college tasks with ease
4. Dell Inspiron 15 3000
Price: €649
As basic laptops go, this is a good, solid all-rounder with lots of ports, a reasonable keyboard and a decent 15.6-inch (non-touch) screen. It’s not exactly light (1.9kg) and some of the features, like the mediocre 720p webcam, feel like they’re a little old.
But with 8GB of Ram and the most up-to-date Intel i5 processor, there’s not much you’ll face at school or college that you can’t do on this. 256GB of storage will easily be enough, too.
Curiously, some of the older specifications on laptops like this are superior to the configurations you’ll see on sleek Surface or MacBook models.
For example, this Inspiron 15 3000 has a full-sized memory card reader and an HDMI port. That’s very useful for anyone using a camera or who needs to connect their laptop to an external monitor; most modern basic or mid-range laptops don’t have these ports.
This Intel i5 (11th Gen) model also has both types of USB ports as well as a joint headphone-microphone port.
