What Are The Best Laptops For College Students?

College students are usually on a budget hence it's important to get a great deal on laptops for when they go off to college. However it's also clearly important not to get a really slow laptop (this is especially important when it's deadline time; students clearly wouldn't want really slow systems when coursework is due in urgently!)

This article looks at the best laptops for college students. Fortunately the average student's requirements for a college laptop aren't too big and so it is possible to get a good laptop for a fairly low price ($350-$500). However this does depend on the individual student's needs.

For example, a typical student will probably need their laptop mainly for word processing (i.e. typing up coursework and documents), watching video, listening to music and surfing the internet. These requirements are fairly standard and don't require an expensive system - you could get a laptop for these purposes for around $300-$500.

However other students might want to use their laptops to play computer games and as a result a more expensive laptop might be needed (one with a dedicated graphics card). On the other hand, a computer science student (who might need to do programming) would probably need a laptop with a good processor and a good amount of memory (RAM).

As you can see, the best laptops for college students vary depending on the specific needs/requirements of the student. Hence this article will cover the best laptops for different college students.

An Average Student

As mentioned above, a typical student won't need a massively powerful laptop because the programs they will tend to use don't have any major resource requirements. Hence as long as the system has fairly modern hardware (for example a dual or quad core processor and 2-4 GB of RAM; with an integrated graphics card) it should be sufficient. It is worth pointing out - however - that a typical student will probably need a fairly large hard-drive since they might have lots of music and/or video on their system. Hence aim for at least a 320GB hard-drive in such a system.

It's easily possible to find such a system (i.e. a dual or quad core processor system with 2-4 GB of RAM, integrated graphics and a 320GB+ hard-drive) for between $300 to $500. Check our best laptops for under $500 article for more information in this case.

Student who plays PC games

A student who plans to play computer games on their laptop will need a slightly more expensive system. This is because a system with a dedicated graphics card will be needed to play the latest games. Also aim to get a machine with at least a 15" screen - playing computer games on a screen smaller than this can be a little tricky at times.

What we'd suggest is to find a $300-$500 deal (like the system mentioned in the "An Average Student" section above) from a retailer which allows you to customise the system. Then add in a dedicated graphics card (this might cost $100-$150 extra for a decent graphics card). This is because 'gaming laptops' tend to start at around $800, however it's perfectly possible to get a good gaming system for $400-$600 by finding a budget laptop and then upgrading just the graphics card.

Computer Science student

A computer science student will probably be programming (roughly speaking, creating software) using their system. As a result, a laptop with a good processor and amount of RAM would be good here. Unless they plan to play games, integrated graphics will be fine though. A system with 4 GB of RAM and the latest line of processors (Intel Core i3, i5 or i7) should be sufficient.

You can get such a system (i.e. with an Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processor, 4 GB of RAM and integrated graphics) for around $600 if you shop around, and this should be sufficient for a typical computer science student.

Art/Graphics student

It's possible that a student doing art and/or graphics design will need to use graphics design software such as Adobe Photoshop. However - despite popular belief - a dedicated graphics card isn't necessary in this case (it can sometimes help, but for 2D design an integrated graphics card is fine). A good processor and amount of RAM is more important in this case.

Hence we suggest that - for an art/graphics student - you consider finding a system which meets the same criteria as a computer science student would need (see "Computer Science student" above). Namely, a good, modern processor and at least 4GB of RAM.


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