These days students don’t think twice about taking their laptops or other electronic devices with them wherever they go. In fact, in many classroom settings, electronics, Internet connections and conferencing technology are essential components. Not surprisingly, this has given rise to yet one more choice facing students at various levels. As published reports indicate, many individuals are now weighing the benefits of both laptops and their sleeker counterparts, tablet PCs in the classroom.

<strong>Making Comparisons</strong>

Tablet PCs are the obvious choice if the personal criteria are convenience and a lighter load. Beyond these considerations however, technical aspects of these devices might make one or the other more suitable for certain tasks. The decision basically rests on the content of the course and what is required during lectures.

· Tablet PCs: It is true that there are many developers busy churning out apps for these devices. The big question is, how well do they handle full blown, feature rich applications? Users will no doubt prefer to have a mouse on hand, plus the ability to quickly switch between programs and windows as necessary. Typing may be an issue for those less experienced with the touchscreen format, especially with large blocks of information. They are acknowledged to be ideal for settings where previously prepared information, such as literature texts, will be read.

· Laptops: Reports seem to suggest that this is still the king of the classroom setting, even if it is beginning to give some ground to tablets. Its main advantages are of course storage and the types of software it can run. No matter how light manufacturers make it, a laptop will simply never be as light as a tablet PC. As stated previously, they are easier to use when lots of information has to be inputted in a relatively short space of time. The larger screen is also an advantage as windows can be placed side by side and still be viewed comfortably.

There are students and teachers who support using both devices. There is no denying that they complement each other. Most students still seem to have a preference for the depth and functionality of laptops. Tablets are constantly evolving, their portability and lightweight may eventually win the day.

Apple has always been in the forefront of promoting the use of path breaking technology in the educational field. Be it the K-12 Group or the higher education group, Apple has always been considered as a front runner in providing high technology products at reduced prices for the student community.

As a part of their tradition, they have come out with this Apple Macbook discount program , which has been launched for both the K-12 group of students and also or the higher education students. As an added benefit, Apple has extended this offer of providing special reduced prices to the other members of the Education fraternity such as the teachers and the supporting administrative staff.

Elementary, Middle and high schools, who want to purchase the Macbook at reduced prices for their students and teachers, have to go the Apple Store’s educational web site web site http://store.apple.com/us-hed/findyourschool. The Schools need to go to this site and select the school city’s pin code. This will lead the user to the List of schools which have enrolled for this discount program. The user needs to select his/her school and proceed to the product page. The schools can get a state of the art polycarbonate unibody MacBook at a price of $728, as comapred to the retail price of $1000., which works out to nearly 30% reduction in the price, which is a pretty good deal for the school.

Now coming to the comparisons between the Apple macbook college discount program and the other discount programs run by PC Manufacturers such as Dell, Apple’s student discount program covers both the K-12 Group of school going students and the college going higher education students, whereas the Dell student programs offers these prices for only the college going students. If the Apple macbook discount program is compared with the Hp college discount program , Hp gives only around 10% discount on the retail mark up prices for the college going students, whereas Apple Macbook provides around 30% discount from the retail price. In addition to the discount on macbook, Apple also gives on other third party products it supports and also the software it sells. Both HP and Dell doesn’t offer discounts on software and third party programs.

For a college Student , Macbook pro is an idea and a smart companion not only due to its sleek design, but also due to its excellent processor performance. On top of it, Macbook pro also comes with the Apple’s ever reliable long term usage capability. Macbook pro with a 2.4Ghz processor,2GB Ram and 256 MB graphics card for college going students, who would like to spend some spare time in playing multimedia games . The basic applications needed for a college going student is also there in the Macbook pro such as MS Word, MS Power Point and the Photo shop.Macbook pro comes in attractive youthful and peppy colors to match the the energetic style of the college going youth.

Another reason for its ever growing popularity with the college going students , is its ability to run Windows Operating Systems, including latest Win 7 OS. A final parting phrase to add- Macbook pro and the college going students is an unbeatable combination.

This is a guest post by Shawn Poolern, a longtime reader and friend.
Preparing to go to college can be very exciting, but it can be easy to overlook one important piece of equipment: your laptop. The best college laptop for you will depend on what you are studying: a student studying photography or film will need to use complex editing programs, and will need a lot of hard drive space while a student studying a humanities subject such as English or history, or a studying for a business qualification will have different requirements again. This post will discuss the best college laptops for a student who mostly intends to write essays and complete written coursework.

The type of laptop required for more specialized courses is something which should be discussed with people experienced in the field, and possibly your prospective school as they will be able to advise on what capabilities are needed to complete the college degree.

First is the HP Pavilion dv6-3120us 15.6” laptop. With 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive it will run quickly and won’t fill up with data too swiftly unless you store a lot of movies and music on your computer. It comes in an attractive champagne colour, and has a full size keyboard. You might think worrying about the key board is a trifling matter, and it’s what’s ‘under the hood’ which counts, but you may find you feel differently after tapping out a 2500 word essay.

Second is the Acer Aspire AS1551-4755 11.6” laptop. It’s lighter on RAM and hard drive space (3GN and 250GB, respectively) but it’s also physically lighter. At about 3lbs, this laptop is ideal for carrying from class to class to take notes on the go.

Next we have the Apple MacBook MC240LL/A 13.3” laptop. Some people prefer Apple operating systems to Windows, and if you’re one of them this is a fantastic option. Not too big, not too small and in the classic Apple white this is a stylish option packed with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive.

Also worth considering is the Toshiba Satellite L655D-S5102 15.6” laptop. It has a large screen, making it a good multi-tasker, suitable for watching movies on and completing course work. The Satellite also has a built in webcam for keeping in touch with friends and family, and has enough power – 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive – to run smoothly through day to day tasks.

Last but not least is the smallest of today’s selection: the Sony VAIO VPCW222AX/WI 10.1” laptop. It’s small enough to pop in your bag and carry between classes without dragging you down, but with a 250GB hard drive and an Intel Atom processer, it’s certainly not a toy.

When it comes down to it, your choice of laptop is as much about personal preference as the specifications of one versus another, but don’t let a pretty exterior fool you into ending up with a substandard piece of technology. Any one of these five laptops will get the job done right, and look good doing it.

The decision to purchase a laptop for school can be one of the most nerve-wracking purchases one can make. Will it be fast enough? What size do I get? What does it come with? And most importantly, how much does it cost? Don’t automatically buy the lowest price laptop you find. There’s a lot more to consider than just cost. Read on to find out how these factors should balance out in an ideal college student’s laptop.

Being a college student myself helps me keep the mind-frame of a student at the forefront of this discussion. There are essentially two main components you need to focus on when looking at the speed of a machine. RAM (memory) and the Processor will determine how fast your computer can handle tasks and access stored data.

Big Budget: Hewlett- Packard Pavilion DV6: This model is highly customizable through the HP online site, but you can expect to pay a bit more for it. A Pentium i5 processor with 6+ gigabytes of RAM will keep this machine up to industry standards for a good four years (or five for any super seniors). This particular model also includes standard HDMI out ports ( to turn your HD tv into a monitor) and optional blu-ray drives. For the price this model is easily one of the most powerful and versatile machines a student should throw down their wallet for. Of course, a price tag starting at $700 and quickly working its way up with each add on could be putting itself out of a student’s admittedly limited budget. This could be one to ask Santa Claus (or your parents) for.

Medium budget: Toshiba Satellite L655-S5107: This model boasts 4gb of RAM and a Pentium i3 processor that is essentially an industry standard at this point in time. You’ll be sacrificing a couple of features that are standard on HP models like the HDMI port, but for some this won’t make much of a difference. In this model you’ll be gaining a good inch of screen size, but lose some of the resolution as the video card is not as powerful as the DV6. With a price tag of $600 dollars, this model tends to be a little better fit for those students paying with loan money.

Low Budget: MSI CR500-438US: MSI has been a major motherboard manufacturer for many years now, but has recently stormed onto the scene as a major PC manufacturing competitor. Most of their machines tend to be a bit more cost effective as their reputation in the fully assembled computers industry is in its early stages. This particular model includes 4gb of RAM, a 15 inch screen, and a Pentium dual core processor. It’s a fairly cut down model in almost every other aspect, but does include the HDMI output found on the HP. At an asking price of $500 this represents one of the most competitively priced machines discussed. It should do everything a student needs it to, but not a whole lot else.

All of these machines should be able to handle the challenges a college student’s professors may throw at it, but you have to consider how long term your investment will be. Hopefully after talking about some of these laptops you have a better idea of what too look for in a good student PC.

Walk around any college campus today, and you will see that many of the students have laptops. You might also notice that most of them seem to be made by either Apple or Dell. But just which are the best laptops for college use?

Apple laptops are certainly popular. But what do they offer? Apple have three different laptop lines: the MacBook, the MacBook Pro, and the MacBook Air, with standard prices from $999, $1199, and $999, respectively. However, college students can take advantage of the generous discounts available from Apple’s Education Store, so you needn’t pay as much as this.

The MacBook comes in only one model. It is white, has a 13.3″ display, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and up to 10 hours of battery life, all weighing in at 4.7 pounds. It is the best laptop computer for college students who just have to have an Apple, but are on a limited budget.

The MacBook Pro comes in six variations. All are made from sleek metal. The displays vary between 13.3″ and 17″, the processor between 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz, RAM is 4GB, the hard drive is between 250GB and 500GB, and battery life is up to 10 hours, and the weight is as little as 4.5 pounds up to 6.6 pounds for a 17″ model. Prices range from $1199 to over $2000. The MacBook Pro offers the college student the ultimate portable Apple experience, with the most options, but with prices to match.

The MacBook Air wins among the Apples when it comes to portability. It is super thin and weighs no more than 2.9 pounds. It comes in four versions. The display is 11.6″ or 13.3″, the processor is a 1.4GHz or 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, RAM is 2GB, instead of a hard drive there is 64GB, 128GB or 256GB of flash-based storage, and battery life is up to 5 hours of doing typical college work. Prices range from $999 up to $1599. The specifications are quite a bit lower than the similarly priced MacBook and MacBook Pro models. However, they are more than sufficient for the typical college work of word processing, emailing, and browsing the web. Where the MacBook Air really wins is in being so small and light, leaving the college student with plenty of spare carrying capacity for all those heavy textbooks.

For the college student on a real budget, Dell laptops are an excellent choice. The Inspiron 15 costs as little as $399, yet is a very capable model. You can stand out on campus by selecting a blue or a pink color. The base model has a competent Intel Celeron 2.20GHz processor, 2GB RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and a 15″ display. All in all, a solid choice for the student wishing to make her money go as far as possible.

Alternatively, if you want something small, highly portable, and even cheaper — though with lower specifications — the Inspiron Mini 10 Netbook is an excellent choice. Costing as little as $299, and weighing as little as 2.66 pounds, it is light on your wallet and light in your bookbag. It has a lowly, but energy efficient Intel Atom 1.66GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, and a hard drive of up to 160GB. Despite being the least capable laptop discussed here, it is the cheapest and lightest, and works well for carrying around campus, taking notes in lectures, and keeping up with emails and the web.

Note that all five of the laptop lines we’ve covered allow you to connect to your college’s wifi networks out of the box. No matter your budget and needs as a student, there is a laptop model to suit you. Even if you want to show off with a fashionable Apple, reasonably priced models are available. If you want the very best, Apple also has the model for you. And if you want the best value for money, check out Dell’s offerings.

This post continues our Best College Laptops 2010 series.

This guest post was written by James Donell, one of our regular readers. 

Asus derives its popularity through the sheer variety of products available to consumers. And this is all well and good—but for most of us, this vast plenitude of options just isn’t that important. All we care is that, as far as our preferences go, we’ve got one or two options that match. But, with Asus’ broad and accommodating product line, there truly is something for everyone–even multiple somethings. And being a former undergrad myself, I know firsthand which “somethings” these are. So, the following provides an overview of the three most attractive Asus notebooks for the undergrad. Of course, this is just one man’s opinion.

1) U30Jc (my personal favourite) When I went notebook hunting after my A-levels (or high school, for all you Americans), my biggest concern was size. My life had taken on a mobile quality, and I sought a laptop to correspond. Of course, there were other options out there (think iPad, for example). But, for me, the selling point was the optical drive. Whereas computers abound that offer smallness, few of them provide the benefit of playing and writing DVDs. I don’t know if you’re like me, but that’s a huge deal. My DVD collection is immense, and my music library was stored optically. If I ever wanted to transfer and enjoy my media as I had been, I needed that optical drive. And with a small package like the U30Jc, the decision was easy. But, there were also some alternatives I considered.

2) UL80vt (if I had been more responsible) As an undergrad going into a design-intensive field, I pretty much relied on my school’s computers for graphics-intensive applications. And that’s all well and good, but in hindsight, opting for a less-condensed-but-more-robust PC like the UL80vt would have saved me countless hours inhaling coffee in the studio. It would have been a dream, in other words, to do the work in the comfort of my dorm. And with the right computer, I could have. The UL80vt offers the out-of-this-world graphics capability of the GraphixBoost counterposed with data-crunching intensity of DDR3 memory. It’s a combination that even outperforms most Mac offerings in graphics-heavy applications, and at a fraction of the price. Given, it’s a bit less attractive as a streamlined personal computer. But, if I had been more responsible.

3) U20A (for the bargain hunter) One of the personality traits I can’t claim is having an eye for a bargain. The U20A is quite possibly the best value out there in computers, because the aesthetics that you sacrifice (like the attractive lines of the U30Jc or the suave aluminium of the MacBook) just aren’t worth the premium they cost. The U20A is a economic alternative that may be less consistent with the coffee-shop stereotype of notebook user, but its innards are truly impressive for the price. With storage capacity in the hundreds of gigabytes and graphics ability for running any game imaginable, it’s just a good deal! Plus, with its 12-inch display and slender body, it really isn’t too uncompetitive with sleeker options. In the end, though, I’m not as bargain savvy as I should be. But that isn’t to say you aren’t. And perhaps, if you are, you’ll notice at first glance what I only recognised in hindsight.

In the uncertainty of the already crumbling economy, students have had much more trouble budgeting their college expenses. The best laptops for students are generic low-end models which use slightly aged hardware, but can still get the job done. The best college laptop can end up being a refurbished laptop.

Budget laptop brands for college students who do not require much power (which are interchangeably called notebooks) include Toshiba, Compaq, Acer, Asus, Emachines, and Gateway. Some of these brands sell laptops as low as 300 dollars when on sale. It’s imperative for college students on a tight budget to be aware of these sales. You can also get more power with a refurbished laptop for a similar price, such as the Compaq Factory-Refurbished AMD Athlon II processor / 15.6″ Display / 3GB Memory / 250GB Hard Drive laptop (model cq62-209wm.)

If you’re a design student, you will want a laptop that has a dedicated graphics card. The two main brands of dedicated graphics cards are ATI, which recently has been acquired by AMD, and NVIDIA. Their lines are named Radeon and Geforce. If the graphics card in the specs of a laptop you are looking for are neither of these, it most likely is a low-end, integrated graphics card. Not having enough video memory or speed can hinder the design process. A dedicated graphics card is crucial for students working in 3D as well as in programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator. You will need an adequate cpu and ram in order for a dedicated graphics card to function to its full potential. A design laptop is a much greatest investment.

While a laptop like the ASUS G51JX-3DE, which sports 1GB of video memory (NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M graphics,) 6GB of ram, a Intel Core i7-720QM processor, and 500GB of 7200 RPM hard drive space, and a $1,700 dollar price tag will give you all the power you need to design and also play games, it is overkill on a budget. A more appropriate laptop would be the ASUS UL30Vt-X1, which cuts ram down to 4GB, video memory to 512mb (NVIDIA G210M,) and 500GB of 5400RPM hard drive space, and the price tag down to roughly 710 dollars. This will do all you will ever need in college. Will you be able to play the latest PC game on the highest graphics settings? Probably not, but you’re not in college to play games.

It’s also advisable to game on a desktop computer, as laptops are prone to overheating. For Apple fans, Apple offers discounting for students with its laptop models, but it is not much. You can’t find much of a deal when it comes to Apple computers. If you must have one and your budget can afford it, go for it, but the PC counterparts are just as good, if not better, for the same price. The major advantage of Apple brand laptops are the long battery life, which can last upwards of 10 hours on one charge. If you decide to purchase an Apple laptop, the MacBook will run you $999 and the Macbook Pro starts at $1199. Some colleges and universities may recommend you buy an Apple laptops for various reasons, mainly for compatibility with course material.

The last thing you should keep in mind when it comes to purchasing your laptop, is to read the warranty carefully. Some can be tricky and won’t cover incidental damage. Some students take out 3rd party warranties to protect their purchase. Hopefully this has been helpful for you.

HP laptops present a variety of options and features which will enable a college student to enjoy anything from just accessing the e-mail and browsing the internet to full scale gaming and entertainment. We’ll review three different HP laptops for college in this post, one for each budget.

An excellent entry level HP net book or mini notebook features a small profile, economic (also known as green) performance and a price tag that will fit nearly any budget. Starting at $279.99 the HP Mini Series 110 features a 10 inch screen, 9.5 hours of battery performance and a powerful 1.66GHz processor – extreme speed compared to desktops of just a few years ago. This little package also comes with a multi card 5 – in – 1 digital media card reader, three USB Ports and an integrated webcam, speakers and microphone, Wireless-N and optional mobile Broadband technology to round out the package. These tiny packages carry as much power as many desktops but in a small, efficient and fast package. You can expect a minimum of three hours of hard use – or much longer if you do have a lot of writing to or reading from the internal 160 GB hard drive. Use it when you are out shopping or on the go and no need to worry about carrying around a bunch of wires. In for a little more power and more features, you will have to give up a bit of the green incentive offered by the mini.

You can step into a midrange, the HP G#2t (G62t, G42t and G72t) series offers all of what the mini has with a larger display and keyboard (15 inch), extra memory, a hard drive twice as large and a dual core processor for more speed. What you gain in speed you give up in battery life. With a battery of equal size, you will only have about five hours of fully mobile use, less if you are using the hard drive or DVD Drive a lot. Prices for this model range between $479.99 and $599.99 with a variety of optional equipment including more memory, faster processor and high speed rewritable DVD. There are a number of midrange units to choose from with a little more power and features.

Achieving the powerhouse notebook in the HP line-up is the Envy. Its name is everything it means. This laptop has a power house of features including 4 GB of memory, an Intel i3-370 Dual Core 2.4GHz processor. This unit is powerful enough to take a run circles around the average desktop making it one of the best laptops for students. The 14 inch display is standard and if you want to play big screen, an optional HDMI interface can be added in the customization. Solid state hard drives make the system even more efficient and all top end systems have the 8-cell Lithium Ion Battery for extended wireless use. Prices in this range start $999.99 and can exceed $3000.00 with all the available upgrades.

The savvy buyer can obtain any of these portable devices direct from HP but I would recommend you do your homework and search for notebooks on sale where you can easily cut 20% or more off the higher end units and possibly find a lot of other models to choose from – there are best college laptops out there for nearly every need and wallet.

Nowadays, it’s practically a requirement for college students to have their own laptops. With more and more professors uploading their lectures and schedules online, having instant access to a computer and the Internet is a must. However, with the proliferation of so many brands with so many models, it’s quite tricky to pick THE best laptops for college students. The first thing to keep in mind when choosing one though, is the brand. Is it known for having a durable, user-friendly, and feature-rich laptop range? Does it offer excellent after-sales service? Only a couple of brands do offer these, and one of them is Dell.

Dell laptops have long established a reputation for quality and excellence. Better yet, most of their laptops are quite affordable and therefore in the perfect price-range for the cash-strapped college student. To prove this, let’s compare 3 laptop for college in Dell’s lineup.

First is the Dell Inspiron i14R-2265MRB. At an average retail price of $750, it’s a bit on the pricey side for a college laptop. On the other hand, its features make the price worth it. It offers a 14” 1366 x 768 TFT display, 4GB of RAM, 500GB storage, a DVD+/-RW optical drive, and comes with an Intel Core i5 450M 2.66 GHz processor. The battery also lasts for around 5 hours, so students won’t need to scramble around and look for a socket after every class.

The second model is the Dell Vostro 3300. This laptop can be bought for around $600, hitting the sweet spot in the wallets of college students. The features aren’t too shabby either. It’s 13” screen makes it a bit lighter than the previous model, but the battery life is less stellar then the former. However, it also doesn’t scrimp on speed and storage as it offers 3GB of RAM and 320GB of storage. Moreover, it also comes with a 2.26 GHz Intel Core i5 M430 processor. Not bad at all.

Last but not the least is the Dell Inspiron Mini iM1012-687OBK. This is the cheapest among all the 3 models as it’s really more netbook than notebook. But then, netbooks are usually more suitable for students as their primary functions are for typing and surfing anyway. The Inspiron Mini’s excellent battery life is also guaranteed to make the young and active student very happy as it can go for around 9 hours before the next charge! The 10.1” WSVGA display offers clear and sharp images and the 1GB RAM and 160GB storage meets the standard among netbooks. At $280, this computer is a pretty sweet deal.

So there you have it, 3 examples of laptops that are part of Dell’s product line. These 3 uphold Dell’s reputation of producing laptops that are value for your money, and they’re affordable to boot! Another plus is that Dell offers excellent student discounts at the website Dell University. With lots of brands to choose from today, it might be worth it to check out Dell’s offerings first as they’ve proven time and again that they offer good college laptops at student-friendly prices!

Pink notebooks come as the perfect example for the marriage of style and technology. The gadget, styled like a fashion must-have, enhances the appearance of young women, not to mention improves their productivity in school or at work. Pink notebooks happen to be some of the most clamored for objects on the market. Fad or not, having one brings a haul of advantages for women.

Why the Pink Notebook?

There’s no denying that pink notebooks add more depth to the rather spunky and naïve connotation of the color pink. With their sleek contours and picturesque hue, ladies would look more professional and in touch with their sense of style just by bringing these gadgets to a populous location. The laptop garners a lot of attention and a lot of positive connotations from the general public. It could enhance one’s image and even the perceived social status. Who wouldn’t want to have a gadget like that?

More than just Beauty

Performance-wise, the latest models released from reputable brands leave very little to be desired. The laptops are getting more and more powerful over time, and the pink notebook is no exception. Upon purchasing one, you’ll have no trouble fulfilling your duties at work as well as your social responsibilities – through social networking and instant messaging. Best of all, you can do all of them simultaneously, without slowdowns, given the capabilities of advanced processors. Multitasking shouldn’t be a problem, since it’s a skill that most women possess.

Not much of a Financial Constraints

Given its advantages professionally and aesthetically, the pink notebook is growing in popularity. More and more women are demanding for it. As a result, the prices are gradually decreasing, much to everyone’s advantage. Secondhand, refurbished, and rented units are also available for a much-needed financial break. So, all in all, you can take home a pink laptop anytime you want. How awesome is that?

Pink Notebooks for Sale

Pink is the default female color, as ladies love to indulge themselves in the hue as much as possible. So, wanting a pink electronic gadget is very much possible. In fact, such gadgets have soared in popularity, worldwide, with pink notebooks for sale coming as the prime example. Finding them should be easy, and it surely is, with the number of places where you can get one.

Computer Stores and Dealers

Computer stores and dealers feature a wide selection of pink notebooks for sale, giving you a choice between fancy and pricey models or cheap refurbished units. The first things you will see are the notebooks made by popular brands. Quite a number of them are on display, with each brand occupying a huge section. There are also racks for refurbished units – for those who are a bit low on cash – as well as those for laptop accessories. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you can always go to another shop. Computer stores are often found in clusters, so not much travel is necessary.

The Net

The internet holds the most number of pink notebooks for sale. You can find everything that a computer store has to offer, plus older models and even obsolete ones. If you’re quite the sleuth, you can grab a unit at a discounted rate – secondhand laptops. You can also sell off your notebook in a jiffy online, if you’re in dire need of funds.

Pink Notebooks are Cheaper in Other Countries

Travelers enjoy an advantage if they’re into electronics. Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines sell pink notebooks at much lower rates, compared to the US, Canada and Europe. By visiting such countries, not only will you be treated to rich cultural backgrounds, you’ll also bring home quite a dainty gadget. If you brought lots of pocket money, you might as well go for other toys, like mobile phones, cameras, and even gaming consoles.