Best College Laptops

Top 6 Laptop Picks for College 2011

6 Comments

For today’s average college student, a laptop is no longer an accessory, it’s an essential tool. Current technology allows college students to take part in study groups without leaving their rooms or even with students on a different campus.

The first thing any college bound student needs to do is find out from their school if there are any specific guidelines to be followed for laptops. For the average college student, a system with at least a 320 GB hard drive is standard as they will no doubt have music and videos in addition to school-related documents and programs. When it comes to processing speed a dual core processor of no less than 4 GB RAM will do.

Some of the top offerings on the market are:

1. HP Pavilion dm1z: This offering from HP is priced at under $500 making it a good deal for most college students. Its specs include a dual core CPU, 3 GB RAM and 320 GB of storage. Its 11.6 inch display might be a tad too small for some students. The battery life is not too shabby either, which is important to the always on the go student. Another great feature is the HP Thermal Assistance Software. This cool feature adjusts the fan speed based on it sensing whether the laptop is on a hard surface or someone’s leg. Students will love the comfort of not having to deal with excess heat when the laptop is on their laps.

2. HP Pavilion dv6t: This is a more expensive option, but its specs justify the price. Aside from a 500 GB hard drive it also has 4 GB RAM and is powered by Intel Core i3 and comes with a 15.6 inch display. For students who don’t want to be slowed down by constantly typing passwords, the handy fingerprint reader is a plus. The size of the processor and memory enables smooth running of various applications easily.

3. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420s: This is another example of a quality offering from Lenovo. This laptop has a 320 GB hard drive and a 14 inch display. It also has an impressive 6 GB RAM and the processing power of the Intel Core i3. When it comes to security, few laptops beat the Lenovo. This one comes with a fingerprint reader so you can enable biometric login access. Since students share laptops, at least they don’t have to worry that their passwords can be easily cracked. This allows a better sense of privacy and security.

4. Toshiba satellite C655-S5118: Priced at roughly $450, this is another good deal for the budget conscious college student. With an Intel Core i3-370M and a 320 GB hard drive it should be more than capable of delivering the kind of performance needed for any field of study.

5. Apple MacBook Pro MC700LL: The price may be too much for some college students but it is hard to dismiss any product from the current technology leader, Apple. It has a 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 dual-core processor and a 13.3 inch display, and features a 320 GB hard drive. The design of this laptop also makes it a winner in the opinion of many. Weighing only 4.5 pounds, it can be taken from class to class with no trouble.

6. The Apple MacBook Pro Winter 2011: One of the newest laptops on the market, this is definitely no lightweight. With a minimum of 4GB and a maximum of 8GB of memory, this will allow students to run even the most memory intensive applications. Powered with the Intel Core i7 2.2 GHz processor and a 750GB hard drive, most college student will be pleased to own one. The 15-inch screen could have been bigger, but other cool features make up for this. Of course, this doesn’t come cheap with a price tag starting at $2000.

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, web cams and memory card readers now come standard on most laptops and it makes sense to look for these features. Whether being used for class or online discussions about assignments, these features are useful. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth makes it possible to get as Internet access from almost anywhere and sharing of information is greatly enhanced.

Some college kids need more processing power than others or keypads with additional features. For example, mathematics or engineering majors will find a laptop with a separate numbers keypad ideal. Graphic students will need more processing power and a large display. For them a 17 or 19 inch monitor should be a big selling point. Of course, these extras will cost more. Most laptops offering additional power and add-ons will run over $1000.