Assuming the college I go to is compatible with both PCs and Apple, with these criteria any laptop recommendations? I don’t do any video editing or serious gaming.
Our Carleton freshman and UW-Madison sophomore each have a Dell XPS 13 (Can get it in a 15- inch now as well). Both are very happy with it. I’ll likely replace my 6-year-old HP laptop with one, too, if the HP ever dies.
HP Spectre X360. Covers all your criteria.
I would add:
I would also add comfort- find something comfortable to hold/type a long time on.
What’s your price range? There are dozens and dozens of computers that fit all of those criteria (and many of the additional ones people listed). Build quality, battery life, size and usability have vastly improved across the board on personal laptops, so basically any laptop you buy over about $500-700 will probably be pretty decent in those regards. Here are some thoughts:
Pretty much every college is compatible with both Windows PCs and Macs. Some universities may have a preference for one or the other, but at this point anything major you can use on one you can use on the other. The exception is if you are in some kind of special program or major that requires specific software that can only be used on one system (like maybe some engineering or architecture software).
PC vs. Mac is a matter of opinion once you are comparing PCs in the same price/build range as Macs. You can’t compare a $500 PC to a Mac, which is a $1500-2000 machine. But if you start looking at PCs in the $1200+ range they get pretty comparable to Macs in terms of build quality, battery life, and longevity. So really it depends on what operating system you use. I work at Microsoft so I am obviously biased, but I like Windows 10 a whole lot.
“Fast” is a byproduct of processing speed and RAM. You probably want a computer with a 2.X GHz processor (maybe at least Intel Core i5) and at least 4 GB of RAM, although 8 would be preferable. There are tons of computers you can configure like that, though.
“User friendly” is mostly a byproduct of the operating system, which is going to be identical across different Windows 10 machines (i.e., a Lenovo with Windows 10 is going to be just about as usable as an HP with Windows 10).
However, there are some hardware specs that may change the usability of the system. For example, many Windows PCs come with touchscreens. I have a touchscreen on both my laptops and I use it all the time. A second example is configurations; my personal laptop is one of those 360-degree convertible machines, which means I can configure it differently for different tasks. I like that - I use tent mode to read recipes while cooking and keep flour off the keyboard, for example; I fold the keyboard underneath to bring the screen closer if I’m watching something or reading a book while eating.
There are other things like media keys (so you can change songs or turn up/down the volume from the keyboard), a backlit keyboard, the style of keyboard (most these days are chiclet style), matte vs. glossy screen (most consumer laptops have glossy screens these days), a fingerprint scanner (which can help you log in faster), speakers, etc.
One other thing that falls in this category is ports, which you may want to pay attention to. Macbooks are good for eliminating ports before everyone else, or changing their ports to standards that aren’t widely used yet. While that puts them at the cutting edge, the problem is that until everyone else catches up (if they ever do) you’re stuck without ports and you have to use dongles or Bluetooth.
My personal computer is an HP Spectre x360 and I like it a lot. Pretty good battery life, very light, perfect size, very fast in the configuration I chose, very attractive. I highly recommend it or the new black and gold HP Spectre, which is gorgeous. My work computer is a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon. Super lightweight, very durable, very long battery life, very fast, but it’s clearly a work machine - it’s not slick and pretty.
I have the Asus Zenbook Flip UX360CA 13.3 in screen. I love it, because it’s light and portable, I can take handwritten notes on it (touchscreen and flips around into tablet), and it’s sooo much faster than my old laptop. Mine also has a solid state drive, which has been a lot more of a plus than I had expected. It’s really nice not to have to hear the fan cooling it down. I’ve never ran out of battery, even when using it all day. It’s also pretty durable- I fell off my longboard and onto my back when it was in my backpack once, and it was fine after restarting it a couple times!
It costs $699, so I thought it was a pretty good deal. My dad picked it out for me, and he’s a super frugal Electrical Engineer and computer nerd, so I trusted his research 
Not to jack the thread, but any Mac recommendations?
Depends on your major. If you are an engineering major, I would say DELL Inspiron 15. If you are not an engineering major and you like your laptop system to be easy to use, I would say any affordable Apple laptops.
Surfacebook Great for taking notes in class.
@nw2this new MBP with Touch Bar. Easy rec.
But for a general laptop for college, go for the XPS 13. Best-in-class.
Chromebooks are great! Cheap, long battery, instant start up – the only thing is they don’t really have a hard drive, so it might serve as a classroom computer, and then have your high tech computer in the dorm room.
I wouldn’t get a Chromebook- it’s too compromised for the heavy demands of a college student these days. Dell XPS is a great series, lots of performance for the money if you prefer windows. I think most engineering programs run on Win/Mac, but are designed for Windows and work slightly better on it- if you’re engineering contact the department and ask. Otherwise Macs are good choices as well if you prefer the look/feel of it. I think they’re slightly more portable.
I recommend checking out Apple’s official refurbished store. I wouldn’t recommend the new MacBook Pros because of the lack of ports, although this likely won’t be a problem in a few years you will likely run into issues for the tome being not to mention it is extremely expensive. I just bought a 2015 13" MacBook pro off the apple refurb store with a 3.1 Ghz i7 processor and 16gb of Ram and it runs, and looks brand new. It was also an extremely reasonable price. I recommend Mac over PC because they are generally built better, more user friendly, and last longer (although not always).
@collegeastcoast Lack of ports? I’d say 4 TB3 ports is hardly a ‘lack’. This is coming from a proud XPS 13 owner, as well, not just another Apple fanboy.
Lack of compatibility. One type of port isn’t great. Not for the immense amount of other things. I’ve owned many PC’s along with many MacBooks and I’ve found pros and cons to them all, but one thing I wouldn’t want to do is bring an adapter with me for several other things, or pay for other cords to hook things up directly. Depending on Op’s major this could be a problem for them. TB3 ports are great, but why not add some of the other ports necessary for hardware people use everyday.
Any other thoughts on what laptop might be best, portable enough to bring to class and back? For a natural science but non-engineering student. DD would like a mac but it seems to me there are some really good PC’s out there. The other thing I don’t like is always having to get anti virus software and Word but maybe it comes with some of them. Not sure if macs need antivirus software or not. Was hoping to get something around $500-600 and seems like entry level macs are around $900.
@CorpusChristi If you are willing to spend, the basic Macbook air sounds perfect for your uses. Mac’s generally do not need antivirus software for a decently tech-savvy user. Of course, you will need Microsoft Office for Word/Excel etc, as with any computer with the two main OS’s.
You can find PC’s at $500-$600 that will also work fine (look for lots of RAM, 8GB+). Mac’s do generally give a better user experience IMO, having used both consistently. I think that makes it worth the difference if you can afford it. Not to mention durability. A Mac will last you 3-4 years, easy.
Thank you @PengsPhils !