Microsoft laptops generally have very good build quality for their price point, and they also offer student discounts like Apple does. My wife is a die-hard Th

Microsoft laptops generally have very good build quality for their price point, and they also offer student discounts like Apple does. My wife is a die-hard ThinkPad user, and we've found over the years that unless you buy the expensive business-oriented ones they are, at best, not impressive. If the budget is less than $1000, you probably want to go with a used machine, a Microsoft machine, or a Chromebook.