Laptop for college?

[SamFlux]

Hello. I will be starting college soon and I am looking for some input on what my best option is for a laptop. This will be my only computer while there, so I think I need something good but as cheap as possible. I will be carrying it around with me so weight is something I worry about.

What do I look at? Mac? HP? Lenovo? Dell?

 

[Commodus]

Hello. I will be starting college soon and I am looking for some input on what my best option is for a laptop. This will be my only computer while there, so I think I need something good but as cheap as possible. I will be carrying it around with me so weight is something I worry about.

What do I look at? Mac? HP? Lenovo? Dell?

The first thing: does your college program have any software requirements? If it does, that could dictate which platform you use and what kind of hardware you need.

Apart from that, it also depends on what you mean by "good." What do you hope to do in between assignments? Will you be doing much gaming, or are you mostly interested in watching movies and music?

If you're in a creative (art/media/writing) field or aren't tied to anything beyond basic productivity apps, I'd lean toward a Mac, either a 13-inch MacBook Air or (ideally) a 13-inch MacBook Pro. The key? In college, your biggest priorities are a good keyboard, light weight and long battery life -- Apple has all three. They last long enough on a charge that you might not need to plug in through multiple classes, they weigh no more than 3.5 pounds and they're really easy to type on. The main catches are the pricing and storage. You can get educational pricing, but you're realistically looking at over $1K. Also, the base models currently ship with 128GB of flash storage, which is very fast but could be a concern if you store a lot of games/music/videos. If you're only about streaming (Netflix/Spotify), you're fine.

If not that? Dell's XPS 13 is a good all-rounder. Get the non-touch model, and remember that you can custom-order with a 256GB drive if 128GB isn't enough.

I'd be wary of getting a gaming-focused system, unless it's something truly portable like the 14-inch Razer Blade. A lot of students have dreams of playing the latest shooter and taking notes on the same laptop, but it's not so fun to lug a 6lb-plus gaming rig across campus. You're in school, so focus on something that will help your studies first... anything else is icing on the cake.

 

[Murloc]

what are you going to study?
That can change the requirements.

Do you want to do any gaming or just work?

How much weight do you want to carry around max?

Any preference for screen size?

Based on my experience you should go with a 13'' if you want to bring it to class several days a week.

If you avoid bricks and aim at good battery life (e.g. 8 hours), you'll soon be looking at laptops aimed at business that easily reach the 1k$ threshold.
Personally I hate carrying weight so it's worth it for me, I don't know about you.

 

[Puffnstuff]

U.S. education system uses windows based software such as myitlab so you will want to get a windows based laptop with enough memory to run your applications, especially when you do research papers or require multiple software applications open. I ran into issues with only 8gb of ram while doing research papers and increased to 16gb. E-textbooks also take up memory so if you are planning on running vitalsource your textbooks will also need room to run. Since it is going to be your only pc then get the largest screen you can afford which will make it easier to look at for long periods of time. I run my laptop next to my desktop so I can have access to my e-textbooks when my class shell won't allow for me to switch between windows. Pearson has set up their software to run in full screen only with full focus so you cannot switch to another window when the class is being accessed.

 

[JustMe21]

I suggest the Dell XPS 13. It's light and it has a long battery life.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8983/dell-xps-13-review/6

You can always check the Dell Outlet to see if there is a refurb.

Whatever you get, be sure it has a 1920 x 1080 screen, minimum. A lot of cheaper laptops still do 1366 x 768.

 

[cholley]

i have this one, lightest i have owned
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-...lack/2996026.p?id=1219567191659&skuId=2996026

 

[imported_Irse]

I would buy one with a 2.5 in HD, clone it to a large (500GB or 1TB) SSD after all of the programs have been loaded then install the SSD and keep the original HD on the side in case something happens to the SSD. Not a student but just bought a Dell Inspiron 13 i7 2 in 1 from the Microsoft store for $699 and bought a 960GB SSD for under $300. So I will have a 13 inch i7 with a 960GB SSD for about 1 grand and its not that heavy.

 

[cholley]

I would buy one with a 2.5 in HD, clone it to a large (500GB or 1TB) SSD after all of the programs have been loaded then install the SSD and keep the original HD on the side in case something happens to the SSD. Not a student but just bought a Dell Inspiron 13 i7 2 in 1 from the Microsoft store for $699 and bought a 960GB SSD for under $300. So I will have a 13 inch i7 with a 960GB SSD for about 1 grand and its not that heavy.

that narrows it down, "I would buy one with a 2.5 in HD"

 

[Oyeve]

I recently purchased a refurbed Dell Venue 11 pro for 450. i3 proc, 8gb ram, 256gb SSD. Its full HD and I also bought the battery/keyboard attachment for it. So total cost was $590. And its full Windows 8.1 and slim and has the convenience to be a tablet as well as a slim laptop.