Hey all, I'd highly recommend emailing a current student in your program (maybe someone who's advanced past the first couple years) to ask about this sort of thing. I had a great conversation with a third year today who told me that, basically, it doesn't matter. Any operating system can run basic stats software, and you only need worry about hardware if you're looking to work with really big data sets. The major qualitative softwares are available on either mac or PC platforms. Having something small, like an iPad or Chromebook, seems to be a personal preference, and only necessary if you enjoy the aesthetic of those devices. I don't have money to blow, so I'm going to invest in a lightweight, standard-equipped laptop and go from there. After all, the first year won't be that different (in terms of schedule, computing needs) from college.
One last piece of advice given to me by the student, FWIW: "One last piece of advice that you didn't exactly ask for: Many students are in the habit of bringing their laptops to class for note-taking, but I really strongly feel that this isn't wise. All you have to do is look around the room and you'll see students checking their email, shopping for shoes, etc. I think it's simply too easy to get distracted during class time if you have access to the internet. I have always used a good ol' spiral notebook and pen to take notes, and I find that I tend to remain much more absorbed in class discussions that other people. The process of hand-writing notes is also great for my memory too. I keep my notebooks organized so that's it's very easy to look up notes I took on a particular lecture or assigned reading, and I really don't think I miss out by not having my notes in digital form."