Laptop Advice

Hello, my name is Peter, and I've been with James Madison College for 20 years as the IT/Systems Analyst. While I don't often work with students directly, I often get asked about the MSU laptop requirement. While you may be stressing about a laptop purchase, it's not as important as you think, just about any laptop will do these days. The following advice is my own personal opinion and may not reflect the opinion of Michigan State. This page was updated on April 16th, 2024.

tl;dr

Walmart is running a great deal on a basic MacBook Air for only $699. It is a tremendous value and should last well past your college career. It's really all you need, and then some.

Use a password manager! Random passwords for every single website, and turn on two factor authentication. Proton Pass is good, and free.

You can probably stop reading here, but continue for more details.

Detailed recommendation: Apple MacBook Air M1 or later with 512gb storage and 16gb of ram, with AppleCare, purchased on a credit card that offers extended warranty for free (varies by card provider). The M2/M3 version is also fine, but specced the same - but it's just slightly sleeker, slightly faster, and slightly more expensive. You get an educational discount, just show your ID at the Apple Store or order online in the Apple higher education shop. You can purchase the 256gb / 8gb ram variants as well, they are ever so slightly slower and multitask slightly less efficient, but they are more than sufficient. Check pricing at Amazon, Costco, and the Apple Higher Education store. Best Buy often runs good deals as well.

In June of 2023, Apple released a 15" MacBook Air. While it's slightly less portable, the larger screen is a joy to use and it's my current favorite computer.

Why do I recommend a Mac over a PC? The Macs are indeed slightly more expensive (10-25%) but they last about twice as long, and are about 3 times as fast, and are much less likely to have issues.

You can stop reading here, or read on below for more details.

Specs to look for and general advice

Solid State Drive - smaller in capacity, but exponentially faster, this is the most important feature.
At least 8gb of ram, but 16gb would be better.
PC: AMD Ryzen or Intel i5, i7, i9 processor, i3 is ok, but they are a bit slow. Quad core is better than dual core. For PC and Intel, I would suggest 12th generation or later, preferably Intel 13th generation or later. For PC and AMD, the Ryzens are all pretty good.
Mac: Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3 processor)
256gb or more of storage. 128gb is too small.
Built in HDMI port. Optional, but useful to have for presentations. If you don't have it built in, all laptops work with an adapter. You should have your own adapter, one will not be provided for you.
If you like to work outside, a dark or black laptop will absorb the sun and make it overheat, so choose a lighter color.
Keep food and water away from your laptop. If the outside looks like an airline tray table, imagine what the inside looks like.

PC vs Mac

I grew up as a PC user but currently use a Mac, so I am well versed in both and both are good choices. If you're looking for an easy recommendation, I recommend the 2020 MacBook Air with M1 proccesor. Now with Apple's own processor, this computer is competitively priced, lasts 15 hours on battery, and is faster than most PCs. You can buy with an educational discount.

Yet another note about PC vs Mac: my tech support calls for the laptops themselves is over 8:1. I have about 8 PC issues for every 1 Mac issue. Dead batteries, wifi issues, terrible sound quality, PCs just aren't as good and don't last as long. No promises, but most MacBook Airs last 7-10 years if well cared for.

What to avoid: anything 'used' or renewed. ANY Intel Mac, and the 2016-2019 Macs all had a design flaw in the keyboard. Note, used is fine if it's a family computer, or your high school laptop. It's hard to know what you get when you buy one off Facebook Marketplace, etc. The only exception to this is Apple renewed direct from Apple. They do a pretty good job.

If you have an existing laptop, feel free to take that and use it. Just make sure you use your free cloud storage as a student. You don't NEED a new laptop to be a successful student. You do NEED to backup your files to be a successful student.

How about a tablet?

I don't recommend a tablet acting as a primary computing device, although several students I know do it and they seem to like it. A Chromebook, while inexpensive, would be too limiting. An iPad as your daily driver is likely not going to be sufficient, and they are more expensive and less flexible when you price anything but the lowest end model. If you were to get an iPad Pro and a Magic Keyboard, that's more than a good laptop would cost and it would do less. So don't do that.

Anti Virus?

I am required to run anti virus on departmental operated machines, but for student machines, MSU offers a discounted option. PC/Windows has anti virus built in and Mac machines are slightly less prone to infections. I don't use anti virus on my personal machines, as long as you are careful you should be fine. And, an anti virus will lull you into a false sense of security. They won't stop you from reusing passwords, or clicking links you shouldn't, or installing software that you shouldn't. If you're mindful of what you're clicking on, downloading, and installing, you should be ok.

Buying Advice

Costco - Costco sells laptops and they most have 2 year warranties and an excellent Costco Concierge service in case you have difficulties.
Buy it on a Credit Card - some credit cards offer extended warranty, free of charge. As long as the laptop was purchased on the credit card, they will pay for any repairs after the warranty is over, for one or two years. Most of the MSUFCU credit cards do not offer this, except the new Visa Signature card, although that carries an annual fee. Other credit card companies vary, call the number on the back of the card to find out, although many are removing this benefit. As of this writing, the Amazon Prime Visa Card has it, as well as few Capital One Cards.
Apple has a higher education discount. Show your ID card at the store, or shop in the higher education shop.

Operating Advice

MSU provides 1TB of cloud drive storage. Store your school work on it. Your computer having a malfunction will not be an excuse since MSU provides a robust file back up and sync option. Google Docs are fine, but when you turn in a document, your professor will be expecting a Word document. Save as a Word document and you'll be fine.
Back up files. As they say, two copies is one, and one copy is none.
If the website link looks sketchy, don't click on it.
Passwords - use a different password on every website. Use a password vault such as Proton Pass, Strongbox, KeepassXC, 1password, Bitwarden, mSecure.
Use two factor authentication on every website that offers it.
Students get free access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and all the other applications while enrolled. No need to purchase Office software. Download at office.com.