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TL;DR – These are the Best College Laptops:
1. HP Envy 13t
Best Laptop for College
For a laptop that has quality in most regards and a price that’s right, look no further than the HP Envy 13t. This ultrabook may not come from HP’s premium tier of Spectre laptops, but the Envy line has been copying the Spectre’s homework. So, you’re getting a lightweight and slim build with a metal exterior that comes in at under three pounds and just 0.67 inches thick. You also get a bright screen with options for touch and 4K upgrades.
Inside, the HP Envy 13t can come packing a 10th-gen Intel Core i7 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage even in its base model, which costs under $1,000. HP often puts the Envy models on sale as well, which can make it even cheaper. The base model uses Intel Iris Plus integrated graphics, but you can upgrade to a model with dedicated Nvidia GeForce MX350 graphics for a slight premium.
2. Microsoft Surface Go 2
Best Budget Laptop for College
If you’re on a tight budget, the Microosft Surface Go 2 (read our review) is an excellent choice. Not only is this laptop affordable, but it’s also terribly portable thanks to a weight of just 1.2 pounds and dimensions that will leave it taking up about as much space in your backpack as a college-ruled notebook.
The Surface Go 2 isn’t packing the most powerful internals with a Pentium Gold processor, 4GB of RAM, and just 64GB of storage. But it has enough power for taking notes in your classes and whipping up all your essays. The screen is a standout, as it’s a pixel-dense 10.5-inch panel with a Full HD resolution, and it supports touch input and an active stylus, so you can take notes, doodle, or mark up documents by hand right on the screen. If you think you’ll need a bit more muscle, you can upgrade to the model with 8GB of memory and 128GB of faster storage, but that price increase plus the added cost of a keyboard (which isn’t included) may make other laptops seem a better value, especially when our favorite budget ultrabook costs as little as $679.
3. Apple MacBook Air
Best MacBook for College
Apple just made its best MacBook for college students even better. The new MacBook Air is visually unchanged from the previous model, but the new model includes Apple’s custom-built M1 chip. This is a huge step away from the Intel processors that have long been powering Apple’s MacBooks, and it comes with a big perk for students: efficiency.
The M1 chip features eight processing cores in total, with four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores. So, when the MacBook Air needs to get something done quickly, it can, and when it’s not working hard, it can rely on the more efficient cores. That all translates to an extended battery life that will make hopping from class to class a lot easier. Even the integrated graphics on the M1 chip prove impressive, so you’ll be able to get a bit of gaming in when you need a break from homework. And, with support for iOS apps on the MacBook Air, you’ll have plenty of ways to tackle your schoolwork and social life.
4. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
Best “Windows-alternative” MacBook for College
If a full-on Windows laptop is more your speed, then go with the Surface Laptop 2. Starting at about $980, the Surface Laptop 3 comes with a 13.5-inch touchscreen display, 8GB of memory, an Intel Core i5 processor, and 128GB of storage. For a little more at $1,530 you can get a laptop powered by one of AMD’s latest Rzyen 5 CPUs, and this model comes with some potent integrated graphics that are powerful enough to let you game on the go.
There are four colors available—Burgundy, Platinum, Cobalt Blue, and Black—each of which features a color-matching Alcantara covered keyboard. Alternatively, if you want a laptop that stays clean, Microsoft introduced a fully aluminum version of its flagship laptop. Keep in mind that if you want to pick up any of the colorful options, you’ll have to move on up to 256GB of storage, which bumps up the cost to $1,250.
5. Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch)
The Bigger MacBook for College
It took a while but Apple has finally introduced a new MacBook Pro that’s truly designed for the pros. This latest model fixes a lot of the foibles around the previous models by introducing a new (by which we mean old) scissor switches beneath the keys while giving back users a physical escape key and better arrow keys.
This new MacBook Pro is fast thanks to the latest parts including Intel Core i7 and i9 processor options. You can also load it up with up to 8TB of solid-state drive storage and 64GB of memory. It’s expensive with a starting price of $2,400, but it’ll be well worth it if you’re in a media production major.
6. MSI GP65 Leopard
Best Gaming Laptop for College
Sometimes you want a little more muscle in your computer so that when you’re done with homework you can settle in and unwind with video games. That’s just what you’ll find on offer with the MSI GP65 Leopard. This laptop won’t weigh you down too much when you’re hurrying between classes, as it’s compact and weighs in at just over five pounds.
Inside the light and compact chassis, you’re getting a substantial amount of power. The GP65 Leopard packs an Intel Core i7-10750H processor and 16GB of RAM that will let you chew threw homework, and can perform well in any video editing or engineering classes you might have. There’s also an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti contributing to that performance and driving the gaming experience home. All that power will really come into play when you’re trying to run that latest games on this laptop’s 1080p, 120Hz display.
7. Acer Swift 5
Best Lightweight Laptop for College
The Acer Swift 5 has a 14-inch display with impressively thin bezels, and an overall footprint that will easily fit inside your backpack. And you’ll barely feel it in your bag thanks to its incredibly minimal 2.18-pound weight. The base model is priced at $899, but you can find it for a little less before the next school year begins. For the price, you’re getting the latest, 10th Gen Intel Core i5, 8GB of low-power memory and a spacious 512GB SSD. Plus, there’s a fingerprint sensor for added security
8. Asus ZenBook Flip S
Best 2-in-1 Laptop for College
The ZenBook Flip S is a pretty sweet piece of kit. The 2-in-1 laptop features hinges that allow the screen to rotate nearly 360-degrees, going from laptop to tablet in a matter of seconds. Currently priced at roughly $1,300, you get a fingerprint reader built into the side of the housing, a 13.3-inch display, 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 512GB of storage and 16GB of memory. Asus claims the ZenBook Flip S will power through 11 hours of use.
9. Dell XPS 13
Most Portable Laptop for College
Dell’s XPS 13 line never fails to impress. It’s been a staple workhouse among students and business users for a while, and somehow Dell continues to figure out ways to make it better. The latest version of the XPS 13 starts at $979 for a 13.4-inch display, 11th generation Intel Core i3, 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage. That display is a little larger than the earlier models’ because it’s been stretched to a 16:10 aspect ratio, giving you more vertical room to work.
It’s not the most impressive entry-level model, but it can do the job when it comes to schoolwork, especially thanks to the increase to 8GB of RAM over the 4GB of its predecessors. If you need more, Dell has plenty of upgrade options as well.
10. Google PixelBook Go
Best Chromebook For College
Leave it to Google to set the standard for a device running on its operating system. Chromebooks stand out for their effiency and affordable, and Google nails that with the PixelBook Go. This compact device offers up a 13.3-inch display that offers up ample sharpness with a Full HD resolution.
It’s powered by an 8th-Gen Intel Core m3 processor, which may not boast much horsepower but has efficiency on its side to offer up to 12 hours of battery life. And, with 8GB of RAM, this Chromebook is ready for multitasking. Google Assistant is also baked right in, so you can easily set reminders for due dates and school activities.
What to look for in a Laptop for College
You may have noticed that the laptops for college I’ve chosen aren’t bangers that are going to wow you with incredible performance and the most premium designs and this is all on purpose. When you’re in college, you won’t need the absolute best laptops available on the market. Rather, what students need is a reliable, entry- to mid-level machine with enough computing horsepower and battery life to get you through the day.
For everyday schoolwork, basic web browsing and word processing, most students can even get away with a Chromebook. But if you want a machine capable of more than running web applications and Android apps, a Windows laptop or MacBook is what you should buy.
Once you’ve decided on which OS you want to work on, your processor is what you should be looking at next. Intel Core i5 and AMD Ryzen 5 processors are mid-level mobile CPUs equipped with mobile graphics, which should be more than capable of any school projects you take on. That said, students enrolled in visual and creative classes will want a machine powered by at least an Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 processor.
Those working with 3D modeling, video editing and other graphically intensive programs should also look into a laptop with discrete graphics options. The integrated graphics built into mobile CPUs are just not capable of keeping up with these demanding applications—though AMD’s integrated Vega graphics have proven to be surprisingly powerful.
In terms of memory and storage, almost always go for a machine with at least 8GB of memory (or RAM) and some amount of SSD storage, the latter of which will make your machine run so much faster than a hard drive. If the notebook you’re looking at only has room for one storage drive and it happens to be a solid-state drive, ensure that you chose a configuration with at least 256GB of storage space, which should be more than enough room to get through a semester. Once again those enrolled in a more creative curriculum that has them producing media should configure or upgrade their machine with larger SSDs and hard drive storage.
Should you start running out of capacity before the school term is over, there’s always the option of offloading your older data to an external hard drive or upgrading your machine with a larger drive yourself.
Jason Cipriani has covered technology full-time for the past 8 years. During that time he has freelanced for the likes of CNET, Fortune, Time, ZDNet, Macworld, Wired, and TechRadar.
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