Back-to-school season is almost here and if you're headed back to school, a good laptop can help you complete homework assignments, write essays, research new topics and more. But, depending on your field of study, you might need a laptop that works well with Adobe Creative Suite or one that can handle large databases with ease. Below, find the best laptops for college students at various price points, so you can find one that best suits your budget.
What to look for in a student laptop:
Space: Everyone's storage needs are different. Some of us prefer to store everything online on the cloud while others prefer the hard drive on their laptop. Below, find options ranging from 64 GB to 256 GB of in-built storage.
Features: Laptops come with tons of additional features, including things like a backlit keyboard that can help you type in low light conditions or a webcam that can make taking Zoom classes easier. Some even have better RAM or graphics cards built in which can help you edit photos and videos without facing any lag time.
Operating System: Which operating system is the best depends on the student. You might be used to a MacOS if you've only used MacBooks in the past, or you might prefer Windows if you've always stuck to that OS. Both Apple and Windows make your laptop easy to set up, but both come with their own set of apps. Macs are generally considered safer and offer better protection of data compared to Windows. Windows, however, offers more accessible options, including allowing you to set up your device via just your voice. Windows laptops are also generally more affordable, whereas newer Macs have much higher performance speeds due to their new chipset which makes them pricier.
Price: Everyone has a different budget. Find laptops ranging from $280 to $1,000 below.
Best laptops for college students:
This 2-in-1 laptop can be folded to be used as a tablet or as a traditional laptop. It has a 14-inch screen and conveniently weighs under four pounds making it easy to carry in your tote or backpack. Battery life lasts 11 hours and since this pick is a Chromebook, you'll be easily able to access apps and download them from the Google Play store. Everything on a Chromebook is usually stored online though, which might make this laptop hard to work if you don't have access to a stable internet connection daily. That said, its cloud storage feature makes it much cheaper than traditional laptops with big hard drives. Other features include multiple ports (including USB-A and Type-C ports) and a microSD card reader.
RAM: 8 GB
Storage: 128 GB eMMC Storage (eMMC is an embedded flash memory chip)
This HP laptop is built for "back to school" students. It has one year of Microsoft 365 included, which gives you access to Word, Excel, Teams and more. It also weighs just 3.2 pounds and comes with a total of 576 GB of storage, which allows for multiple apps and documents to be stored on this pick. It doesn't have a backlit keyboard but does boast an 11.5-hour battery life and a built-in HD webcam for video calling. Ports include USB-C/A, HDMI and a headphone jack.
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 64 GB (inbuilt) but comes with an included eternal hard drive with 512 GB
Apple's MacBook Air has everything a student needs to get their classwork done. It has 256 GB of storage, a backlit keyboard, a Full HD front camera and up to 18 hours of battery life. It also comes with Apple's latest M3 chip, which the brand says increases performance by 13x compared to older 2020 models. This means it should be able to handle heavy-duty apps like Adobe PhotoShop or Premiere Pro with ease without lagging or overheating. As for ports, you get two Thunderbolt ports and a headphone jack. And, there's a touch ID too, which makes it easier to sign into your laptop and helps keep your data just a little bit safer.
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
This option has a wide 15.6-inch screen and packs 126 GB of storage. It also has a front-facing HD camera and an AMD Radeon graphics card for better visuals on all your presentations, videos and games. It has an 11-hour battery life, three USB ports and an HDMI port for added connectivity. It also weighs under four pounds and has improved thermal performance, according to the brand, which means that your laptop shouldn't heat up even with long hours of use.
RAM: 8 GB
Storage: 128 GB
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