There is no best one. There is a best one for a fourth grader and a different best one for a college engineering major.

So before you compare anything, do one thing: check what the school actually requires. A lot of districts hand out their own device or run everything through Google, and some college programs require specific software that only runs on Windows or only runs on Mac. That one phone call, or that one line on the supply list, may just be your definitive answer.

If the school has not decided for you, here is my take on each.

Chromebooks are genuinely good for younger kids. They are cheap, hard to break in software, they update themselves, and there is very little on them for a child to wander into or mess up. For elementary and middle school, a Chromebook is often the best choice. Where they run into issues is specialized software. A Chromebook runs web apps and not much else, so the day a class requires real Photoshop, or specific engineering or accounting software, the Chromebook cannot do it. Know that ceiling before you buy into it for an older student.

Windows is the safe default, and usually the cheapest path to being compatible with whatever gets thrown at a student. Almost all school software runs on Windows, the price range is wide enough to fit any budget, and a kid who learns on Windows is learning the thing most workplaces use. If you are not sure, this is the answer least likely to leave you stuck.

Macs make sense in specific situations. Some programs, film, design, certain music classes, lean Mac, and some households are already all Apple and want everything to talk to everything. They cost more, and for some college students that money is better spent elsewhere, but if the program calls for it, or the family already lives in that world, a Mac is a fine choice.

Short version: check the school first, lean Chromebook for the young ones, lean Windows when you are not sure, and go Mac when the program or the household actually calls for it.

Stuck between two? Email me with your situation, and I'll give you a straight answer.

Mike
PCRescue | Portland, ME