As a college student, you are going to need more than just notebooks and pens for doing homework and taking notes during lectures. A laptop is every college student’s essential to get work done and also for communication and entertainment purposes. When choosing a laptop for college, there are many things to consider including its specs, portability, and especially the price to make sure it won’t exhaust your wallet. This buying guide that we have curated according to Consumer Guide will walk you through some recommended models of laptops for college. We will also highlight their key features to help you decide which one is the most suitable for you.
Best Laptops For College Students – [Reviews & Buying Guide]
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1. Apple MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop
From being lightweight, and compact for convenient portability to its great performance and high-resolution Retina with True Tone technology display, this Apple’s MacBook Air 13” easily tops the list. The dimension of this laptop is (H)0.16–0.63” x (W)11.97” x (D)8.36” and weighs just 2.8 pounds. This latest model of MacBook Air has an improved Magic keyboard along with the Touch ID making it more convenient to unlock your laptop and authorize purchases with just your fingerprint. There’s also an improvement in the built-in speaker of this latest model of MacBook Air 13” which offers 2x more bass with 25% more volume.
A three-microphone array is equipped to capture your voice more accurately. With the 1.1GHz dual-core Tenth-gen Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB ram, and 256GB of SSD storage, this will perfectly handle your college workload with no problem. If your work will most likely be dealing with documents and don’t require heavy graphic rendering, then this is recommended for you.
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- Retina display with True Tone technology and Razor-sharp text clarity delivers great display performance
- Improved Magic keyboard with 20% larger design that gives more room for Multi-touch gestures
- Touch ID enabled for the convenience of unlocking and authorizing purchases
- Comes with 30W USB-C Power Adapter and USB-C Charge Cable
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2 ASUS L203MA-DS04 VivoBook Laptop
If you’re low on the budget, there’s also a great choice for you too. With less than 300 bucks, you can still get a decent laptop that runs on Intel Celeron Dual-Core CPU N4000 Processor with 64 GB of storage and 4GB RAM. It operates on Windows 10 OS which is widely compatible with Microsoft Office and Google Classroom. With its slim design, this ASUS Vivobook L203 is only 0.7” thin and only weighs 2.2 pounds. If screen size is less of a priority for you than portability, then this one is just the right choice for you. Its size is about that of an A4 paper making it effortlessly portable.
Moreover, with the 180° hinge, you can lay the laptop flat on the surface to easily share content with your groups of friends. Despite its small size, the keyboard actually has a great ergonomic design with 1.6mm key travel that ensures supreme typing comfort. On top of that, the battery life is up to 10 hours which is optimized for all-day computing.
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- Ultimate Flexibility with USB-C, 2 standard USB3.1 ports, and 1 HDMI port
- Cinematic audiovisuals that optimize contrast and sharpness by 150% to create vividly realistic imagery, while the dual-speakers deliver impressive audio with the adopted ASUS SonicMaster technology
- Quad-core performance for great multitasking
- Included 1 Year of Microsoft Office 365 with updates
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3. HP 14” A Series Laptop For College Students
This 14” A-series laptop by HP is a reliable laptop that can get work done with great performance. It features the 2.3 GHz AMD Athlon Mobile Silver 3050U Processor with the Radeon Graphics. The 14” screen display is anti-glare, WLED-backlit, and micro-edge.
This laptop offers a great 500GB HDD with 128GB SSD for fast performance of multitasking. It’s operating on Windows 10 Home S mode, widely suitable for getting day-to-day tasks done. Not to mention the 10 hours operating battery which makes it a great portable college laptop.
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- Ports: 1 USB3.1 Type-C, 2 USB Type-A, 1 RJ-45, 1 AC Smart pin, 1 HDMI, 1 Headphone and microphone combo
- Memory: 8GB DDR4 SDRAM
- Weight: 3.24lbs – not too heavy to move around
- Comes with accessories including HDMI Cable, USB extension cord, and a mouse pad
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4. Microsoft Surface Intel Core i5 Laptop
Microsoft Surface is known for its sleek, light, and ultra-thin appearance as well as its powerful performance. It’s a perfect combination of performance and portability, so you don’t have to compromise between the two. It’s beautifully built with a stunning 13.5” touch screen with Intel HD Graphics 620 that delivers clear sharp images in true-tone colors.
Moreover, the luxurious Alcantara fabric-covered keyboard and trackpad also offer a natural typing experience along with the Surface Pen that allows you to draw and write naturally. This is a great option for art students who would need to do digital sketching. Additionally, backed by Microsoft, you can enjoy Microsoft-verified applications and the convenient OneDrive cloud to safely store your content.
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- Windows 10 S operating system
- Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD
- Weighs only 2.76 pounds for a 13.5” screen laptop
- Long battery life
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5. Jumper EZbook X3 Laptop For College Students
This Windows 10 operated laptop has HD Graphics 500 Dual-Core 1.1GHz-2.4GHz frequency with 6GB DDR and 64 GB eMMC internal storage. The slim design and long battery life are optimized for convenient portability suitable for work and college workload.
Moreover, the dual-horn speakers and the HD camera offer the great performance of smooth video and clear voices convenient for online classes, meetings, or video calls with your friends and family. EXBook X3 also offers great compatibility of extensive connectivity with various ports including two USB 3.0, one Mini HD and Micro-SD slot, one fast-charge DC port, one 3.5mm headphone jack, and one TF card slot that supports an upgrade up to 256GB expansion.
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- 13.3” screen display with HD resolution camera
- 8mm ultra-thin design and weighs only 2.7lbs, perfect for portability
- 7.6V/4500mAh, high-performance and long operating life battery
- 12 months warranty
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6. Llltrade Intel-series 14-inches Laptop
This Llltrade Intel-series has Intel Quad-Core Atom X5 E8000 Processor with 1.04 Ghz CPU and up to 2.5 Ghz frequency. With an internal memory of 4GB DDR, 64 GB of storage space, and 2 pieces of 4500 mAh large-capacity battery endurance, this laptop can easily help you get your daily college work done with great performance.
It’s highly ideal for word processing, email, and media streaming for entertainment, all at a budget-friendly price. Moreover, with its 2MP+8MP dual camera, you can enjoy video calling with friends and family with clear images and smooth video.
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- Ports: ultra-fast USB 3.0, micro SD, HDMI, and headphone jack
- Micro HDMI allows for a connection to a big-screen TV or external monitor
- 14” screen, full-size keyboard with 1.8mm key travel design
- 180-degree shaft adjustment
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7. HP Pavilion Intel Pentium Silver N5000
HP Pavilion Intel Pentium has a rich 6.5mm micro-edge HD SVA on a 15.6” high-definition LED display. The screen display is designed with an 81% screen-to-body ratio to maximize your viewing area. With the speedy 128GB SSD for seamless performance and reliable multitasking.
There is also a great battery life to last all day long; this 15.6” laptop will surely become your best companion throughout your college life. More than just serving you to get your work done, this laptop is also capable of light gaming and streaming of entertainment as well.
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- Windows 10 Home 64-bits operated
- HP TrueVision camera with dual-array digital mics, and tuned-stereo speakers for the smooth and clear voice of video calling, online meetings, and classes
- Stylish and portable design with over 10 hours of battery life and weighs around 3.95 lbs
- Ports: media card reader, one USB 2.0, two USB3.1
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8. Acer Aspire 1 15.6″ FHD Laptop
Acer Aspire 1 is perfect for multitasking and doing graphic work, thanks to its powerful Intel Celeron N4020 Dual-Core Processor, 4GB DDR memory, and 64 GB eMMC hard drive. The Intel UHD Graphics 600 offers a full HD display widescreen LED-backlit on this 15.6” laptop. Moreover, it has a battery life of up to 10 hours which is perfect for portable and all-day working. It’s operating on Windows 10 S mode, widely compatible with Microsoft Office and other software for work and study.
Given the powerful specs and graphics of this laptop, you can also enjoy some light gaming and entertainment streaming as well. It weighs a little over 4lbs but if you don’t mind a bit more weight on the back, you can actually get a great performing laptop at a really good price.
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- Ports: one USB3.1 Gen 1, two USB 2.0, one HDMI port, one (RJ-45) Ethernet, and one combo headphone/microphone-in jack
- Included activation code for Microsoft 365 Personal Subscription, and accessories including USB extension cord, HDMI cable, and a mouse pad
- Stylish design with full HD 15.6” screen display
- High-performing built-in camera and stereo speakers
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9. Lenovo IdeaPad 14” Laptop For College Students
Lenovo IdeaPad is also another great choice for a college laptop. It’s got a 14” LED widescreen display with AMD Radeon R4 graphics. This laptop adopts the 7th-Gen Dual-core AMD A6-9220e processor, 1.6GHz frequency that can be upgraded up to 2.4GHz. It has 4GB DDR memory and a 64 GB eMMc hard drive.
This laptop also has extensive connectivity with various built-in ports including a USB 3.0, a USB 2.0, an HDMI, a headphone output with a microphone input combo. Moreover, it has over 8 hours of battery life which is also great for performing all-day long tasks.
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- Included 1 year Microsoft Office 365 Personal subscription
- Operating system: Windows 10 S mode
- Built-in stereo speakers and an HD webcam with mic
- Weighs only 3.09lbs
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10. Samsung Galaxy Book with Voice Assistant
Samsung Galaxy Book is stylish, powerful, and built with the latest technology, perfect for college students and all-around tasks. It’s got a 13.3″ QLED Full HD 2-in-1 touch screen display that offers a great experience for a touch-screen laptop. As for the processor, it has the Intel Core i5 processor with a 1.6GHz base frequency that can be upgraded up to 4.2GHz. It’s operating on Windows 10 and has an 8GB DDR4 Ram with 256GB PCIe SSD hard drive that offers large storage space with speedy performance.
Moreover, the extensive connectivity ports also provide convenience for you as well. The built-in ports include two USB 3.0 Type-A, one SD Card Reader, one HDMI, and a headphone jack. On top of that, this laptop also offers great battery life with 18.5 hours on an integrated 4-Cell 40WHr battery.
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- Weighs only 2.62lbs with slim and stylish design, conveniently portable
- Features fingerprint reader for security
- Features a built-in voice assistant, Amazon Alexa
- 360-degree flip-and-fold design with a backlit keyboard
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Buying Guide How To Best Laptops
You have just looked through the 10 best laptops for college students of the year. These outstanding gadgets generate a whole lot of attention of for their superb features and specifications. Other than the specs, the following are some features you will need to look for when purchasing a laptop for college.
Weight:
When it comes to college laptops, portability is important. You’ll most likely be running around the campus from classes to classes with your laptop. It’s more convenient to carry a lightweight laptop than a heavy one. Microsoft Surface or MacBook Air 13” are all great choices for portable laptops with sleek and stylish design. However, they aren’t known for being budget-friendly, so there are also other options like the ASUS Vivobook, the Jumper EZBook, or the Lenovo IdeaPad.
Battery life:
Since you will most likely be out working or attending classes, it’s more convenient to use your laptop portably instead of having to find a plug everywhere you go. Any model with at least 10 hours of battery life on a single charge should do the job well.
Storage Space:
When we’re talking about the storage space of a laptop, we’re looking at HDD and SSD. The difference between them is speed. Since SSD has no moving part, it delivers a faster speed performance than HDD, making multitasking much more effortless. However, a larger SSD tends to be more expensive than the HDD, so depending on your type of work, choose the one that closely serves your purpose. [/su_note]
Conclusion
When you know what you will most likely use the laptop for, it will be easier for you to sort out your choices. The degree you’re pursuing and the software programs you’ll be working with play important roles in this part. You need to make sure the operating system is compatible with your school programs and the right storage space for your work.