Best College Laptops

Best Laptop Buys For College

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There are many things a college student such as yourself worries about these days. Money, relationships, parents, and homework all can cause massive headaches. One thing that I believe a you shouldn’t have to stress about is finding the best value laptops for your budget.

When you buy a laptop for college, I would look at three things: price, size/weight, and RAM/Processor speed. Higher RAM lets you run more programs at once. A faster processor makes your laptop run faster.

If you are someone who is very mobile and doesn’t play video games or use Photoshop, a netbook is best for you. They usually cost about $200-500, include 1 gigabyte of RAM, and have an 10 inch screen. They usually weigh about 2 pounds, have about 5 hours of battery life, and have a smaller keyboard than normal laptops, which can be uncomfortable for long periods of typing. I would recommend testing a netbook in a store before buying it to make sure its keyboard and screen size are right for you. A netbook is best for people who only run a few programs at once and spend most of their time on the Internet and typing up homework and is one of the best laptop buys for someone who doesn’t have a lot of money to spend.

If you need some more power or a bigger screen but don’t want to lug around a giant laptop everywhere, I would recommend a laptop with a 13 inch screen. Their prices vary widely, but an average one will cost you from $200-700. They usually include 2-4 gigabytes of RAM and are about 4 pounds. Their battery usually lasts 4-5 hours. They have enough power to play most games and run many programs at once, but are also portable enough to bring with you wherever you go. These are among the top college laptops available on the market.

If you are a hardcore gamer or use video editing or graphics editing programs, you’ll need a laptop with more power. I recommend a laptop with a 15 inch or 17 inch screen. They cost from $400-1500 and include 4 gigabytes of RAM. They usually weigh around 6 pounds and offer about 3 hours of battery life. I would not recommend these laptops unless you need the computing power that they give you.

Buying a laptop may sound daunting, but it is easy if you know what you are doing. Before you buy one, do some research on the Internet. Read customer and expert reviews, go to the product’s website, and see what other people say about a laptop. Ask your friends what laptops they have. With enough information, you’ll do fine buying a laptop.

More tips for saving money on a laptop:
• Buy programs like Microsoft Office from your college’s store. They offer deep discounts!
• I know this sounds counterintuitive, but get the service contract/extended warranty. Computers get viruses, overheat, and get dropped.
• Go to sourceforge.org or search the Internet for open source software. It’s free and can be just as good as paid programs!

Best Value Laptops For College Students

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This is a guest post by Charles Moranell, a new reader and writer at helium.com.

What should a new college student should look for in a laptop? With so many different laptops out there and available today it’s very hard to know what to look for. You need to look for certain features, prices, and of course one stylish enough to match your individualism and make you stand out from your new classmates. Luckily with so many articles found online, or even by asking family, friends or teachers, you can find what is needed and for a manageable price. As an avid laptop user myself, certain features I can think of off the top of my head are certain to help you for your college classes.

A model you may consider would be the Toshiba Satellite Laptop L455 model. This laptop comes with a variety of features such as a 3 GB RAM, USB ports, 250 GB hard drive and is also in a lightweight and small design. The 3 GB RAM can be upgraded without any problems, this laptop also plays music and allows you to watch movies. To make this laptop even better, besides having all the basic needs for a college student, Toshiba has one of the best value laptops for students.

Another amazing model all college students should consider would be the Gateway NV5387u laptop, which has been featured on numerous lists for potential college students. The number one thing that is so amazing about this laptop is the price. Seeing as most college students aren’t rolling in cash, price is another big thing to look for when buying a laptop. This laptop costs a mere $500, and comes with many other features needed when in college. This laptop has a Dual Core processor as well as a 2.4 GHz, 4 GB RAM, and a hard drive of 320 GB. Also for this price, the screen of this laptop is at least 15.6 inches, as well as equipped with amazing graphics. Not only can you do school work but you are able to play video games, watch shows and movies and store as much data as you can possibly want on it.

Third and finally, the best laptop computer for college students I believe would be the Apple MacBook. This laptop is featured on many lists which includes it in the top five laptops for college students and is loved by generally the entire population. Not only are these computers fast, reliable, and meet the basic requirements for college, it is also stylish or good looking. Most people do not want a laptop that is unappealing to the eye, and thankfully the MacBook is anything but that. Known as a beautiful model, and being purchased by a wide variety of students, this laptop has a Core 2 Duo processor, a 2 GB RAM, a 9400M graphics card as well as a 160 GB hard disk capacity. As well as a 13 inch display screen, though some come with smaller or larger screens. Though is costs about $1299 and up, this laptop is definitely worth the price.

When searching for a laptop for college, it is important to research and look for hours about the basic requirements needed for a laptop, as well as what makes you happy and comfortable. Make sure you do not buy a laptop with features you don’t understand, simply because it is the latest and hottest thing, and you want to outshine your fellow classmates. When buying a laptop, make sure you understand everything about it, inside and out. You do not want to buy it, mess something up and end up having not laptop to use for college.

This post continues our Best College Laptops 2010 series.

READER QUESTION: What is your pick for the best value laptop and why?