Best College Laptops

Saving Money On Laptops For College

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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.

Laptops For College

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Choosing a laptop for college can be a complicated thing. There are so many options out there, offering such a vast array of capabilities, features, and bells and whistles that selecting the right one can be daunting. Laptops can run anywhere from about $300 to $2000 or more, and that price difference often has less to do with quality and reliability than with features and capabilities you may never need or use. How, then, should you make your choice? Read our tips for choosing the best laptops for college and use the coupons and codes listed here to save even more money!

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The first thing to do is to develop a clear sense of exactly what you need in a college laptop. If you are primarily concerned with the basics, like word processing, internet access, wireless, et cetera, you may be fine with something as inexpensive and simple as a netbook. These are extremely compact, relatively no-frills laptops intended for basic needs. Unless you plan to study something like music or video editing, which may involve more elaborate software and capabilities, a netbook should meet virtually all of your academic needs.

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For most courses, you will only need to be able to write and edit on your computer, to participate in online discussion groups, and to e-mail, and almost any currently sold laptop will allow you to do those things. If you intend to study music or something involving video editing, you may need to do some research into higher-end laptops with more memory and possibly with more software included at the time of purchase. If you know your potential major and believe it may require particular computer capabilities, you might contact a professor or department chair to inquire about recommendations. Remember, the best laptop for college students depend on each individuals needs.

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Aside from academic needs, of course, you may want to consider other uses in a laptop for college. If you are interested in watching streaming video, for example, you may want to select a laptop with HD (High Definition) video capability, or higher-end wireless technology. You might also think more about audio and speaker quality than you would if you were thinking of your computer as a primarily academic tool.

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Once you figure out what features and capabilities you need, do some research about what brands are most reliable and represent the best deals. Consumer Reports is a good site for product reviews, and customer reviews on sites like Amazon.com can give good guidance. Hewlett Packard, Toshiba, and Dell are all reliable and well-reviewed throughout the range of laptop options, but each produces some specific models that are superior to others. You will also need to decide whether you want to go with a PC or a Mac. Both have advantages — PCs tend to be loaded with software that will be compatible with what most others have (like Microsoft Word), while Macs tend to be very good for music recording and similar applications.

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In closing, choosing laptops for college comes down to three steps: decide what you need for school, decide what you want beyond those necessities, and do some research to find out who makes what you need best for the best price. If you think of the process systematically like this, you should be able to make a solid choice with a minimum of worry.

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