Years ago I needed a good laptop when I started my PHD and this forum steered me in an awesome direction.  The Lenovo ideapad that was suggested to me got me through my doctorate and is still chugging along great to this day.

Now my wife is going back to school to be a Family Nurse Practitioner, and needs a laptop, so I'm back for suggestions again.  

Here's the three she likes.  Are they worth getting?  What else is out there that we should be looking at?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

First one - I had an acer before and wasn't a fan...


Second - an updated ideapad.  I kind of like this idea because I like my older one.


Third - a macbook.  We have zero experience with macbooks.


So that's what she's been looking at.  Is there anything else out there we should consider?

Acer  - Ok cpu, not enough ram, tiny SSD. Also it ships with a crippled version of Windows, so you'll probably need to wipe it and install a "real" version of Windows.

Ideapad - slow and hot running cpu, low quality screen, decent ram and ssd

Macbook - slow cpu, decent ram, tiny SSD.  Also with Mac's, you either love the OS or hate it.  If you've never used a Mac, expect a steep learning curve.

In order to give you better suggestions, I need more info.

Budget?

Whats more important - Bigger screen, or portability?

What programs will she need on the laptop?

I’d like to keep our budget around $500. Probably $800 max.

Balance of size/portability. It’s mostly online so she won’t have to tote it around constantly.

Program wise she’ll need adobe reader, office 365, webcam/microphone. Needs to have a USB port, allow browser plug ins, and can install software. Looks like they use canvas online for their modules.

Good news is that those programs are not demanding.

My recommendation would be.

CPU: Intel 8th/9th/10th gen I3 / I5 / I7.  Or AMD Ryzen series (avoid AMD cpu's that are non-ryzen )

Ram: 8 gigabytes.  4 is just too limiting,

Storage: SSD, at least 250 gigabytes.  Avoid bottom feeders with crappy magnetic hard drives, these are incredibly slow.  (tip off, if the drive is listed as being 5400 or 7200rpm, its a magnetic drive)

Screen 13" or better.  Make sure it is an IPS panel.  Not IPS displays are absolute crap to look at for any length of time.  Also, make sure the resolution is at least 1600x900.  Avoid 1366x768 (aka 720P) screens.   Keep in mind, the bigger the screen, the heavier the system.

A deal I just spotted.

https://slickdeals.net/f/13845047-lenovo-thinkpad-l380-13-3-fhd-ips-i5-8250u-8gb-ddr4-256gb-ssd-win10-pro-449-free-shipping?src=frontpage

you need at least 8Gb of RAM and a 256Gb SSD.  Win10 doesn't work well on 4Gb of RAM, despite Microsoft saying it can.  I know this from experience.

https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-probook-430-g7-notebook-pc

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-notebooks/new-vostro-14-3490-laptop/spd/vostro-14-3490-laptop/cav143w10p1c1107

Any decent business class laptop should work fine, in your price range.  I tend to stick with 13"-14" size if I have to carry it around.

Thank you all for the input, it is much appreciated.

Are there any required apps that have to be run?

You could always got a high spec Chromebook that will do chromeos, Linux, and Android apps as needed.

I had to find laptops for 3 people for work with that exact budget the past couple weeks. I looked at all of those models too.

So the Acer will likely have the best specs for the cash. The newer non-thinkpad lenovos don't have the best rep due to build quality and as already stated by another poster the heat may be an issue as well. Lastly, newer macbooks have had issues with the keyboards with no actual fix in sight. IMHO applecare would be a must which is an extra 250 onto your budget.

I got one guy an acer swift 3 since they're pretty decently priced and have decent specs. I got myself a Lenovo e495 since battery life isn't an issue but I wanted to be able to upgrade ram and storage. Still hunting for a 3rd laptop.

Anyways, in my couple weeks of constant research it seems like build quality has really gone downhill since everybody is chasing the thinnest and lightest dimensions which don't really go hand in hand with reliability and durability. I know Acer isn't the king of build quality but my dad has had the same budget line Acer for the past 13 years. He just replaced a fan not long ago but that's it, and he was able to do it himself (can't setup a router yet he could do that). My wife gave my MIL her toshiba satellite laptop back in 2011. It was a complete piece of trash back then yet it still runs. The person that told me to find some new laptops for us has a 2016 dell inspiron 7000 and it's complete piece of shit (but hey, it's light and pretty). Things have kind of taken a nosedive in quality so personally I'd be looking for a business class laptop. They're built to be carried around and abused. Dell lattitudes, HP Elitebooks, and Lenovo Thinkpads would be what you're looking for. I'd personally not be opposed to a manufacturer refurbished one. For what you're looking to do you really don't need cutting edge hardware but you would definitely want reliability. IF you do get something newer just be aware that newer Ryzen stuff will reserve 2GB of RAM for the GPU. So if you see a ryzen 3500U for example with 8GB of RAM it's actually going to be  6GB.