I'm starting university next week, so I can't really answer your question with personal experience. However, in preparation, I did buy the Acer Chromebook R13 to replace my old Windows laptop; it's pretty lightweight, ~£300-350, feels good quality, has touchscreen, and manages around 12 hour battery life on a single charge. I presume that a Chromebook would be perfect for university if you just use Google Suite/Drive and do note-taking and web-browsing. From what I found researching, just remember that you'll need half-decent wifi (better wifi means better performance) and that you may need to occasionally use the university's library computers for printing or using Microsoft Office when submitting work (these should be possible on Chromebooks but there may be some hassle).