Best Laptops For College Students

We live in the 21^st century when most people can’t imagine life without computers. They’re used in all areas of life, including educations. So, if you’re a college student, owning a computer is a must. But, what kind of computer is good enough for your studies?

Sure, you could argue that a desktop computer would be able to provide you with all you need, but the trouble with these kinds of devices is that they’re not portable. If you need to take your computer with you to the classroom, a laptop is what you need.

This is a kind of computer that’s portable, which makes it a superb choice for college students. You can take it to the campus, as well as use it in your dorm. And when the time comes to go home, you can take it with you in a backpack. It would be much more complicated if you tried to do the same with your desktop computer.

Of course, the fact that they’re portable means that laptops are usually more expensive than desktop computers. A laptop with basically the same specs as a desktop computer is bound to cost more. It’s because laptops use smaller components than desktops, which are more expensive to make. But this doesn’t mean you can’t find some superb laptops that come at affordable prices. You just need to know what you’re looking for.

Laptops For College Students: What To Look For?

The main advantage of laptops over their desktop counterparts is the fact that they’re portable. So, the first thing to pay attention to when shopping for a laptop is its size, weight, and its battery. These are the things that decide whether a laptop is easy and convenient to carry or not.

On top of that, you also need to check what’s inside the laptop. If it comes with beefy CPU, as well as a lot of RAM, you can expect impressive performances from it. A thing that can take its performances one step further is the SSD, so look for laptops that pack a solid-state drive.

Your ideal laptop also needs to be very reliable and durable. The problem is that there isn’t a specification that can tell you whether a laptop is long-lasting or not. But, there is a trick to find it out. You just need to learn more about its manufacturer. If the laptop is manufactured by a reputable brand famous for the sturdiness and longevity of its products, the chances are that it’s gonna serve you well for years.

If you manage to find a laptop that fits this description, while also coming at a reasonable price, you shouldn’t think too much about whether to buy it. The trouble is that finding such a laptop is not easy. It takes time and effort. But, you have us to help you out. We’re now going to review some laptops which we believe to be the best choices for college students.

Choosing The Best Laptop For College Students By Brand

There are many laptop brands for college students out there that make quality laptops, but only a couple of them deserve to be called the best. Companies like Apple, HP, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, and Acer really do stand out from the crowd.

Buying any laptop manufactured by one of these companies means buying a reliable and durable device. But, we know you want nothing but the best for you, which is why we’re now gonna review flagship laptops of each of the aforementioned brands.

Best Apple Laptop For College: MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro is a line of laptops manufactured by Apple. The first MacBook Pro saw the light of the day back in 2006 and since, several generations of this laptop have been released. The one we recommend for college students is the one released in 2019.

The laptop in question is one of the best laptops you can buy at this moment. It comes with a superb Intel Core i9 CPU with eight cores. It also comes with up to 32 GB RAM, as well as an ultra-fast SSD with up to 4TB storage.

The icing of the cake is the fact that it has a dedicated GPU. And the graphics card we’re talking about is Radeon Pro 560x Graphics, which has 4 GB of its own video memory. Thanks to all these things, this laptop can be used for all kinds of project, including big 3D design projects, software developing, and so on.

Best Hewlett-Packard Laptop For College: HP Pavilion

MacBook Pro might be one of the best laptops in the world today, but it’s also one of the most expensive ones.

If you’re looking for a budget option that has decent specs, we say go for HP Pavilion.

It comes with Intel Dual Core AMD A6-9225, as well as 8 GB RAM, which together ensure high performances of this device.

It also comes with 1TB of storage in its HDD. On top of everything, this laptop also packs a dedicated GPU, which is AMD Radeon R4.

Its battery is also pretty decent, capable of keeping it running for several hours straight.

Best Dell Laptop For Students: Dell Inspiron

Here’s a 15.6-inch laptop that comes with a touchscreen, which adds to your convenience.

It also packs a pretty fast CPU, which is Intel Core i5 8250U, with four cores. There’s also a RAM with 12 GB, as well as HDD with a capacity of 1TB.

All of this makes the laptop a pretty fast worker, even when dealing with advanced operations.

That’s why it’s kind of surprising that it doesn’t cost much more. Its price is more than reasonable, considering its specs.

Best Lenovo Laptop For Students: Lenovo IdeaPad

Lenovo is the world’s largest manufacturer of laptops, which suggest that its devices are worth buying.

Probably the best laptop model in Lenovo’s collection is the IdeaPad, which is a reasonably-priced device, with pretty impressive specs.

It comes with a 7^th-gen AMD A9-9425 with two cores, as well as 4 GB RAM.

If you don’t think that’s not too beefy, you should also know that this laptop also packs a 128 GB SSD, which takes its performances to a whole new level.

It also looks pretty nice with its slim design, while the fact that it’s relatively lightweight makes it easy to carry around.

Best Asus Laptop For College: ASUS VivoBook

ASUS is a Taiwanese company famous for the quality of its products, which also come at pretty reasonable prices.

ASUS VivoBook, for instance, comes with decent specs, while its price is more than affordable.

This is an 11.6-inch laptop, which makes it small and compact. And that’s why you can’t expect beefy parts to be inside.

Still, its specs are pretty decent, starting with its CPU which is Intel Celeron N4000. It also comes with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB eMMC.

All these things make it a pretty decent choice for internet surfing, online research, and so on.

Best Acer Laptop For College: Acer Aspire 5 Slim

The first thing you will notice about this laptop is that its design is pretty awesome. It’s slim with a 15.6-inch display.

It’s also very lightweight, thus incredibly convenient to carry. And what’s inside of it is even more impressive.

Acer Aspire 5 Slim packs an AMD Ryzen 3 3200U CPU, as well as 4 GB RAM and an SSD with 128 GB.

This laptop also comes with a dedicated GPU, which is AMD Radeon Vega 3. On top of everything, it also comes with a pretty awesome battery, which can provide over seven hours of playtime.

Best Laptops For College Students By Academic Major

Not all laptops are equally good for all kinds of purposes. A student of graphic design needs a different kind of laptop that someone with a major in engineering. This is why we’ve decided to help you out with finding ideal laptops for specific subjects.

Best Laptop For Engineering Students: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

If you’re studying to become an engineer, you need a beefy laptop that can run all sorts of advanced programs that you might need over the course of your studies.

This is why our recommendation is Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, a laptop with a really impressive CPU.

It packs an Intel Core i7 with four cores, as well as 16 GB RAM, and 512 GB SSD. The laptop also comes with a large-capacity battery.

Its display size is 14 inches, which isn’t ideal, but this makes the entire laptop pretty compact, thus easy to carry.

More info: The 4 Best Laptops For Engineering Students and Engineers

Best Laptop For Nursing Students / Medical School: Acer Aspire 3

Its price is not too high, it looks nice, it has a decent battery, and its specs are pretty awesome.

This laptop comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 2700U, which has four cores and a maximum processing speed of 3.8 GHz.

It also comes with an 8 GB RAM, as well as an SSD with 256 GB space.

The laptop also has a dedicated GPU, which is AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile Graphics.

All this makes it capable of performing all sorts of tasks you will need to do in your studies, as well as run some demanding video games.

More info: The 4 Best Laptops For Nursing College Students

Best Laptop For Architecture Students: Asus ZenBook Pro

Although it’s not very cheap, this laptop has everything a college student with a major in architecture needs.

First of all, it comes with a 15.6-inch touchscreen display, which makes it easier for you to do architectural projects.

It also comes with an impressive Intel 8th Gen Core i7, which can achieve a maximum clock rate of up to 4.8 GHz. It also comes with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD.

The cherry on top is the fact that it also packs a dedicated graphics card. Its GPU is NVIDIA GeForce GTX1050Ti. Finally, this laptop also comes with a fantastic battery, which re-charges really fast.

On top of everything, its slim design makes it convenient to carry around. The same is goes for the fact that its weight is just over four pounds. It also looks nice and classy, which makes it a suitable choice for literally anyone.

More info: The 4 Best Laptops For Architecture Students & Architects

Best Laptop For Mechanical Engineering Students: Dell XPS 9370

The first thing you will notice about this laptop is that it looks fantastic. But, looks aren’t everything; this laptop is also awesome in terms of performances.

It’s all thanks to the fact that it comes with an 8^th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU, with a maximum processing speed of 4.00 GHz.

Thanks to this fact, this laptop can be used for complicated projects, such as those that mechanical engineering students need to do on a regular basis. It also comes with 16 GB RAM, as well as a 512 GB SSD.

Its display might not be too big (13 inches) but it’s a touchscreen display and a very good one. Because of this, you will be able to use it to write with your pen as well as do complicated projects using your hand.

More info: The 4 Best Laptops For Engineering Students and Engineers

Best Laptop For Graphic Design Student / Arts School: Acer Swift 5

If you’re studying graphic design or arts, you need a laptop with a touchscreen display. One such laptop is Acer Swift 5. Its FHD IPS touchscreen display has a 15.6-inch diagonal. Apart from an amazing display, this laptop comes with many other awesome things.

Its CPU is Intel Core i7, a fast and reliable processor with a maximum clock rate of 4.6 GHz. Add to that the fact that it packs a 16 GB RAM and you’ll see that this is a laptop that allows you to do several advanced operations at the same time. It also comes with a 256 GB solid-state drive, which takes its performances even further.

Another great thing about this laptop is that it looks awesome. It’s very slim, with its thickness being only 0.63 inches. Its stainless still look makes it pretty to the eye, while the fact that it’s made of a combination of magnesium-aluminum and magnesium-lithium alloys means that it’s very rugged, yet also very lightweight.

More info: The 4 Best Laptops For Graphic Design Students and Designers

Best Laptop For Computer Science Students / IT School: Lenovo Thinkpad T580

In order to be able to develop software and do other big projects during your computer science studies, you will need a beefy laptop.

It needs to come with a fast and reliable processor, as well as plenty of RAM and SSD storage. One such laptop is Lenovo Thinkpad T580.

Describe by the manufacturer itself as an IT manager’s dream, this laptop comes with a super-powerful Intel Core i7 processor, assisted by a RAM with 16 GB, as well as a 512 GB SSD.

This makes it a very fast and reliable device, thus ideal for programming.

It also looks pretty nice, with its slim design. Speaking of which, its thickness is only 0.68 inches. The laptop is also pretty lightweight, with its weight being just over four pounds. This makes it very convenient to carry around.

More info: The 4 Best Laptops For Computer Science Students

Best Laptop For Business Students: Acer Aspire E 15

Business students need a fast and reliable laptop that’s great when portability is concerned. And Acer Aspire E 15 is one such device.

This is a laptop with an incredible battery, which can keep it running for as much as 15 hours straight.

This means that you will be able to take the laptop with you wherever you go.

Apart from an impressive battery, this laptop also comes with a fast processor.

The CPU in question is an 8^th-gen Intel Core i5, which has a turbo-boost speed of up to 3.4 GHz. It also comes with a RAM with 8 GB memory, as well as a solid-state drive with a capacity of 256 GB.

More info: The 4 Best Laptops For Business Major Students

Best Laptop For Programming Students: ASUS ZenBook 14 Ultra-Slim

ASUS ZenBook is a laptop with amazing specs, which make it a very good choice for a wide range of purposes, programming included.

What makes it so awesome is that it comes with a fast and powerful CPU that can take care of various complicated operations with ease.

The CPU we’re talking about is an 8^th-generation Intel Core i7 processor with a turbo-boost that creates a computing speed of 4.6 GHz.

Its processor is aided by a 16 GB RAM, which ensures that the laptop will be able to handle several tasks simultaneously. There’s also a solid-state drive with a memory capacity of 512 GB.

It also looks really nice and elegant, not to mention that its size is really compact. Its screen diagonal is 14 inches, while its thickness is only 0.63 inches, making it one of the slimmest laptops on the current market.

More info: The 4 Best Laptops For Programming Students & Programmers

Choosing The Best Laptop For Student By User Type

When shopping for a laptop, sometimes the best method to find the best possible device is to look for laptops according to the user type. What we’re saying is that depending on your age and your needs, you may need a different kind of laptop than your friends. For instance, a high school student does not need the same kind of laptop as a college student.

We’re now going to help you find the best laptop according to the user type, reviewing the best options for high school students, freshmen, and grad students.

Best Laptops For High & Middle School Students: Lenovo ThinkPad P50

High school students love video games and if you’re one of them, you will need a powerful laptop that can run the latest game releases, which can be pretty demanding.

This is why your perfect laptop needs to come with a fast processor, plenty of working memory, but also a dedicated video card.

One such laptop is Lenovo ThinkPad P50, which packs an Intel Xeon E3-1505M v5 CPU with quad cores, as well as 16 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD. It also comes with a beefy graphics card, which is NVIDIA Quadro M2000M.

Thanks to these parts, this laptop can be used to run demanding video games, as well as many other programs.

Therefore, it’s more than a suitable choice for high school and middle school students. The only downside of it is that it’s not too cheap.

More info: The 4 Best Laptops for High School & Middle School Students

Best Laptop For College Freshmen: ASUS VivoBook Pro 17

It’s slim and superb in terms of portability, which makes it a favorite among college students. But, what makes computer buffs go crazy about this laptop is the fact that it comes with some really awesome components. Firstly, there’s the Intel Core i7-8565U, which is an incredibly fast and reliable CPU. There’s also a 16 GB RAM and an SSD with 256GB. The laptop also packs an HDD with 1TB of storage capacity.

And we’re not yet done with talking about amazing things this laptop has inside. It also packs a dedicated video card, which is GeForce GTX 1050. Thanks to this fact, you will be able to use this laptop for all sorts of graphically demanding projects, as well as for video games.

Its display is very large (17.3 inches), which makes this laptop a very suitable choice for students of arts, design, architecture, and so on. But having a wide screen does not mean that this laptop is chunky. On the contrary, it’s very compact with a thickness of only 0.8 inches.

Best Laptops For Grad Students: MSI WE72

As a grad student, you need a powerful laptop which will be able to run all sorts of operations, no matter how complicated and demanding they might be.

Your perfect laptop also needs to have a large display, while still being beautiful to the eye. MSI WE72 seems to fit this description.

This is a 17.3-inch laptop with specs that make it a very suitable choice not only for grad students but also for professional engineers, architects, and so on. Its CPU is incredibly fast and powerful, which isn’t surprising considering that we’re talking about an Intel Core i7 processor.

It also comes with a total of 32 GB RAM (two 16 GB DDR) and an SSD with a 512 GB storage. There’s also an NVidia Quadro M2200 GPU which makes this laptop suitable for a really wide range of uses.

Best College Laptops By Feature / Use

Some laptops come with certain features that make them loved by some people. For instance, some users prefer using touchscreen for drawing and writing. Others put an emphasis on a laptop’s ability to run demanding games. And some users want their laptop to be superb in terms of portability.

Best Laptop For College And Gaming: ASUS ROG G703GX

College shouldn’t be just about studying; you deserve to have some fun along the way. And if your meaning of fun is playing video games, you will need a laptop with powerful components, which can run the latest released without any problems. One laptop that seems ideal for gamers is ASUS ROG G703GX.

There are so many reasons why this laptop is one of the best choices for college students who like playing games in their spare time. First of all, it has a large Full HD display. Its diagonal is 17.3 inches. An even more impressive fact about this laptop is that it packs an incredibly beefy processor. What we’re talking about is an Intel Core i9 CPU!

There’s also an overclocked GPU, which is GeForce RTX 2080. It also packs 32 GB RAM and a whole terabyte of memory storage in its solid-state drive. Actually, everything about this laptop seems amazing. Everything apart from its high price.

More info: The 4 Best Laptops for College & Gaming

Best Lightweight Laptop For College: Apple MacBook Air

Apple products are famous for their reliability and the same is the case with Apple MacBook Air.

But, there’s one thing about this laptop that makes it stand out from the crowd. It’s incredibly lightweight and slim, which makes it a fantastic choice for those who want an easily portable laptop.

Its weight is only 2.75 pounds, which is something not many other laptops can compete with. Although it’s not a laptop with the largest display of them all, with a 13-inch diagonal, its display has a fairly decent size.

Another awesome thing about it is that it’s very slim. Its thickness is only 0.61 when the lid is closed.

Apart from being a true wonder for carrying, the laptop is also awesome in terms of specs. Its processor is an Intel Core i5 with two cores, accompanied by a RAM with 8 GB and a solid-state drive with 128 GB.

More info: The 4 Best Lightweight Laptops For College Students

Best Touch Screen Laptop For Students: Dell XPS 9343

This laptop comes with a 13-inch touchscreen display, with Quad High Definition.

Not only does it provide a fantastic image, but it’s also really responsive when you use it for drawing, writing, and playing games.

Apart from having an amazing display, the laptop also has amazing components inside it.

There’s an Intel Core i7 processor inside, accompanied by 8 GB RAM, and a 256 GB SSD.

All these components make it fast, reliable, and suitable for a wide range of purposes.

Best 2 in 1 Laptop For Students: HP Spectre x360

The so-called 2-in-1 laptops are those that can be used both as regular laptops and tablet computers.

They come with a touchscreen, as well as a keyboard that can rotate 360 degrees. Most 2-in-1 laptops are compact, with a pretty small screen.

But, that’s not the case with HP Spectre x360, which has a 15.6-inch display.

It also has many other impressive specs, starting with an 8^th-gen Intel Core i7 processor with four cores. There’s also RAM with 32 GB, as well as an incredible SDD with 2TB capacity. On top of everything, it also comes with a dedicated graphics unit, which is NVidia GeForce MX150.

All these things make HP Spectre x360 one of the best laptops you can buy today.

More info: The 4 Best 2 in 1 Laptops for College Students [convertible to tablets]

Considering Other Options: Do You Really Need a Laptop?

Do you need a laptop? Short answer is: yes! A longer answer is that you need it because this is a kind of device that you can use for a variety of different purposes, including both studying and having fun. Sure, you can do basically the same with other devices, but there are some things that make laptops stand out. Let’s see how laptops compare to tablets, desktops, and even Chromebooks.

Chromebook VS Laptop: What To Choose?

Chromebook is a type of laptop that runs on Chrome OS, an operating system focused on work online. Therefore, Chromebooks are usually designed to do well on the internet, as well as to be portable in the sense that their battery life is good and that they’re lightweight.

But, regular laptops can also be lightweight and have a good battery. They can also do a wonderful job on the internet. And unlike Chromebooks, they can be used for many other purposes, including video game playing, software development, graphics design, and so on.

Tablet VS Laptop: Pros & Cons For Students

Tablets are extremely convenient to use – they’re usually small and lightweight, not to mention that they come with a touchscreen. However, because they’re small, you can’t expect them to pack too many awesome components in.

This is why when you compare a tablet with a laptop from the same price range, you will see that the laptop has much more impressive specs. And the best thing is that, these days, you can find some really slim and lightweight laptops, many of which come with a touchscreen.

The so-called 2-in-1 devices serve both as laptops and as tablets. They have a touchscreen that’s usually larger than the display regular tablets have. They also come with a keyboard that can be rotated backward, thus turning the laptop into a tablet. Unfortunately, good 2-in-1 devices are usually pricier than regular laptops.

Desktop Computer VS Laptop: Which Is Better To Have?

Both desktop computers and laptops have their own pros and cons. Desktops for example, come with large computer cases, meaning that there’s plenty of space for quality components, which don’t have to be expensive. Thanks to this fact, an average-price desktop computer can have better specs than a high-end laptop.

But, desktop computers require a lot of room. Not only do you need a place for the computer cabinet, but you also need a large desk to place the monitor, keyboard and mouse, as well as the speakers. All these components come in a single device when laptops are concerned.

Apart from saving space, the fact that they’re compact means that laptops are portable. You can put your laptop in a backpack and take it with you to the classroom. You can’t do the same with your desktop computer. They also come with a built-in battery, so you can use a laptop off-grid as well, which is not a possibility if you own a desktop computer.

All this makes laptops a better choice than desktop computers. The only problem is that they cost more. But, as you’ve probably figured out on your own while reading our laptop reviews, there are some products that come with high-end specs and low prices.

Conclusion

You can think of yourself a true expert on laptops after finishing reading our reviews. Now you know what are the specs to look out for when shopping for a laptop. You also know what kind of a device is suitable for students of different majors. You also know what kind of money you have to pay for a fantastic device.

Speaking of money, we did focus our reviews on devices that have a good price-to-quality ratio. That said, considering their specs, all of the laptops we reviewed are superb choices. Whichever you decide to buy, you will make a good choice, we promise you that!

As a new college year is fast approaching, you better get your laptop as soon as possible. If you’re wondering where you can find these laptops at best prices, we say Amazon! That’s the place for finding the best laptops, which will be shipped to your place as quickly as possible. Don’t waste any more time, go to Amazon and buy yourself a laptop straight away!