A good laptop is essential for college students. Whether you’re studying, writing papers, or designing graphics for class, you need a computer that’s powerful enough to get the job done. The best laptops for college students offer speed, versatility, and battery life that let you work the way you want to. To succeed in college, you need a laptop that’s not only powerful but portable as well. Whether you’re trying to take notes in class, do your homework, or study for exams, you’ll be mobile and on the go most of the time. And unlike some desktop computers, laptop screen sizes don’t tend to be as large as desktops, so portability is even more important.
When shopping for a new laptop, you will likely come across a few different types of machines: desktop replacements, gaming laptops, ultra-book, hybrid, Chromebooks, and MacBooks, to name a few. Each type of device comes with different features, specifications, and price points.
The laptop is a staple item for college students. To get through class and assignments, you need a laptop you can rely on, and the best laptops for college students are dependable and able to handle the rigors of daily use. If you will be using it for coursework, homework, and studying, then look for one with a long-lasting battery and a hard drive that can store many programs and files.
Whether you’re headed to college, or you’re already enrolled, you know that purchasing a computer for your education can be expensive—but it doesn’t have to be. Before shelling out hundreds of dollars on a top-of-the-line laptop, consider some of the options below. While you’re shopping for a laptop, keep in mind that a less expensive model may meet your needs, as long as it is powerful enough to handle your classes.
When you go to college, you are typically on your own when it comes to finding a place to live, as well as what you’re going to wear or how you’re going to spend quality time with your friends. College was also a time when many of us discovered new passions and interests, and you might even have a job. It’s an exciting time in your life but can also be stressful. Add to the mix being broke, and you have the makings of a major financial burden.
Is your laptop a beastly powerhouse with 256GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce graphics card? Or is your trusty old laptop playing nicely with your Chromebook and iPhone? No matter your tech needs, a laptop is made for college students like you. We’ve rounded up three of our favorite laptops for college students, and we’ve included specs, prices, and ratings so you can determine which laptop fits your needs best.
Laptops for college students
Dell XPS13
The Dell XPS13 is the thinnest and lightest 13-inch laptop on the planet. The laptop weighs less than 2 pounds and measures 0.9 inches thick. But that is only the beginning. The XPS13 runs on a seventh-generation Intel Core i5 processor and has a battery that lasts up to 15 hours. The laptop also has powerful graphics cards for gaming.
Apple MacBook Air M1
Apple’s MacBook Air is thin and light, but it doesn’t have as much storage space as other devices in its class. If you are looking for a laptop with a bigger hard drive, the MacBook Air M1 is worth considering. This MacBook Air is a 15-inch model with 1TB of hard drive storage, a 128 GB solid-state drive, 4 GB of RAM, 8 GB of RAM, and a 2.2 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4
Microsoft is continuing its smart device tradition. After their popular and much beloved Microsoft Lumia series, they introduced the Surface Pro series. Their newest addition, Microsoft Surface Laptop 4, has lived up to its reputation of making quality yet affordable devices. The laptop boasts a 13.5-inch PixelSense display, powered by the Intel i7 processor. It also includes up to 16GB of RAM for fast and powerful performance and up to 512GB PCIe solid-state drive for fast boot time.
Attending college and being a student means more than having to spend a lot of time on homework assignments, it also means having a lot of free time on your hands. This means being able to spend your free time doing what you choose to do. And a lot of students prefer spending time working or reading books on a laptop.
