Best College Laptops

Choosing The Right Laptop For College

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I used to work in a college IT department on all different makes and models, different operating systems and Macs so I know first hand that certain manufacturers are better in quality than others.

For students in an art type of major, Architecture, Interior Design, Fashion, I would hands down recommend a Mac due to the graphics quality. But there are equally good Windows-based laptops for school that are very popular. After reading this you should have a better idea of what to look for when shopping for a laptop and your personal preferences for things such as screen size and color.

The three best brands I’ve worked on are Gateway, Dell and Apple. You’ll want to go with an Intel Core duo processor or better for speed and a minimum of 2GB of memory. If you plan on using your laptop for games or using multiple applications at the same time (toggling between open applications) get 4GB.

Hard drive size is dependent on what you plan on storing. If you are just going to be storing documents for school any of the standard hard drives the manufacturers are offering now will work. For music and picture storage you’ll want to increase the size depending on your usage. For those who store a tons of music and large pictures, keep in mind that it takes up a lot of space and will ultimately slow down your computer. So you may want to invest in an external hard drive. But for the average person, as I mentioned before, all the hard drives offered in the new laptops have a lot of space, about 250GB or more and will work just fine.

It is important to get a laptop with Wi-Fi capability as it is probably needed in certain classes and every college now offers Wi-Fi on campus and in dorms.

Also keep in mind battery life – some last just 3 hours and others last 6.5 hours or more. Video and sound are dependent on what you plan on doing with the laptop. This is particularly important to gamers but for your average student, the standard video and sound feature offered by the manufacturer will work. Personal options to decide is whether you want a webcam, if you are looking for a laptop with Windows or a Mac Operating System, the screen size and weight. There’s some laptops you can customize the color but there’s also different styles of skins for purchase as another option and perhaps less expensive. All these latter options are based on personal preference.

I would suggest going with a Gateway, Dell or Apple Macbook. However, the best laptop computer for college students is the Dell Inspiron 15R or higher. This laptop has excellent standard features with Intel Core i3 370M processor (better than Intel Core Duo), 4GB memory, 500GB hard drive, built in wireless and webcam, CD/DVD burner and 1 year warranty just to name a few options! You can also check; Best College Laptops 2010 for more suggestions.

Whichever laptop you decide to go with, all three that I mentioned above have a much better quality than others on the market, and this is based on my direct experience fixing a variety of student computers on a college campus.

Choosing The Best Laptop For College

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This is a guest post by Sami Dee, a long time friend and reader.

One of the biggest purchases most college students will make before starting their college career is a new laptop computer. Finding the best laptop computer for college students can be a daunting task because there are so many different brands and models available to choose from.

Currently, one of the most popular laptops for college is the Macbook Pro. This laptop is fairly expensive starting at $1199 for a 13 inch model and $2299 for a 17 inch model. Compared to the price of a PC with similar specifications, you will be spending quite a bit more money. What you are paying for in a Macbook Pro is the Apple operating system (Apples do not run on Windows), the style, and the build quality.

One of the benefits of owning a Mac is that there are fewer viruses targeted at Macs. Another perk of a Macbook pro is that it is one of the most stylish laptops on the market and is sure to be impressive among the college crowd. Because the Macbook Pro is rather expensive and most college students are unable to afford it, Macbooks are a viable option. These laptops also run Apple’s operating system but do not have the same high price tag (starting at $999) and conversely do not have quite the same power and style as a Macbook Pro.

Apple’s other major offering, the Macbook Air, is a good choice only if it will not be your main computer. Starting at $999, the Macbook Air is built for portability and not heavy use. If you will be taking it to class every day and want something light to put in your backpack, it is a great option, but it will not have the performance that other laptops have and you may run into problems with the computer not having enough power. PCs (running mainly on Microsoft’s Windows operating system) still outsell Macs today and the primary advantages of PCs include lower prices than Macbooks for models with similar specifications and a larger variety in brand, model, size, and style.

Many users also still prefer to use Windows because it is the operating system they are most familiar with. Dell and HP are currently two of the best selling brands in PC laptops and have a similar line up of notebook computers. These product lines start with fairly inexpensive netbooks (computers with screen sizes usually under 12 inches and usually priced between $299 and $599).

Netbooks are fantastic for portability, but do not have the same power as many full sized laptops and are, as their name implies, most commonly used for surfing the internet. The best screen size in a laptop computer for college students who will be taking the machine to class every day is between 13 and 15 inches. These laptops provide for greater mobility while still offering higher performance. Specifications to look for in laptops include the newest processors (such as Intel Core i3, i5, and i7), at least 3 or 4 gigabytes of ram, and a hard drive of at least 320 gigabytes to store all your files over the next few years.

Overall, the best laptop for college students depends on the student who will be using it. For some users, power and performance is the number one concern, but for others it is portability. PCs generally offer the best value in terms of price compared to performance.

Another major concern among students is price. While most students will greatly enjoy a Macbook Pro and a 15 inch Macbook Pro will likely meet both style and performance concerns, the price may be an issue. In this case, it is time to look into a similarly configured PC for a lower price. Many PC makers are trying to keep up with Apple’s popularity and offer great alternatives that may be even better than a Macbook pro with a lower price.

The best place to start when hunting for a new laptop is by exploring the various PC manufacturer’s websites and comparing specifications with price. Every student is different, but there is sure to be a laptop on the market that is right for each one of them.