Cheap Laptops

I've had experience with both Mac and cheaper laptops and personally, I think the biggest difference is the battery life and lifespan. I had an older Mac laptop that gave me about 4-5 hours of heavy use before having to plug it in whereas my windows laptops usually only run about 3 hours average, and while both deteriorate eventually to the point of having to keep it plugged in most of the time, I found that the Mac took much longer to break down. I think cheaper laptops are still alright though and I'm sure they have improved by now.

 

Cheap laptops will work just as well as expensive ones but there has to be a trade-off. If it's cheap then obviously it's lower specs will negatively impact it's performance but depending on what you'll be using the laptop for you may not even notice the difference. But as DrRipley points out it's life span will be shorter.

 

It mostly depends on your needs. If you think you’ll use a laptop pretty heavily, it may be worth it to invest in something a bit pricier when possible. But if it’ll only see a few hours of use per day for mostly basic tasks, then a cheaper laptop could be an option. Though if I had to do that, I would try to use it pretty delicately. (Truth be told, I do that anyway, since I put my first two laptops through quite a bit of abuse, haha.)

 

It's not usually about battery life, but quality of software and how fast a computer runs that matters. Cheaper ones take longer generally, but also look at the cost of repairs. My mac needs a new charger and they are expensive, so look at the quality of the cables too.

 

It solely depends on your requirements there. If you just occassionally surf the Internet and check your emails from time to time, then a high-end (or even middle-end) laptop won't suit you whatsoever. But if you're a graphic designer and play top-notch games (just like me) then obviously the aforementioned won't suit you in this case. Just buy according to your needs and you'll do just fine.

 

We've covered this at least a dozen times on this forum. Budget laptops (less than $400) pale in comparison to higher end devices in virtually every way. There are some budget gems, but they're far and few between.

Compared to high-end laptops, budget laptops tend to a) feature a low-end processor that's not good for anything other than Web browsing and video streaming, b) feature lower battery life that can vary by as much as 5 or 6 hours, c) feature poor keyboards and trackpads with poor key travel and erratic finger gestures, d) tend to not last nearly as long due to poor build quality, and e) a lot of other disadvantages.

 

You may use a Chromebook. It's cheap and yet gives a powerful performance. Mac is a technological masterpiece, but may not fall within your budget, if you are actively looking to acquire a cheap laptop. I think Chromebook would adequately service all your computing needs as you mostly need it for your school work.