A laptop is as necessary for students as textbooks and a school ID, and it’s not just for taking notes and writing essays. It should be able to handle your extracurricular activities as well, including streaming movies and music, keeping up with social media, sharing pictures, playing games, and video chatting with your parents. A portable laptop is necessary as more schools and universities combine on-campus and online study.
What Are The Things To Consider While Buying Your College Computer?
In addition to being budget-friendly, a college laptop should last for four years of undergrad study and possibly one or two years of graduate study. Luckily for you, we’ve compiled our top picks from recent evaluations of notebooks that not only meet the aforementioned requirements but are also (for the most part) less expensive than $1,000.
What’s The Best Computer To Get For College?
- MSI Modern 14
The MSI Modern 14 has the following drawbacks: Although the 128GB solid-state storage is sufficient for four years' worth of documents and spreadsheets, it is too small for many large things like films. For a fairly affordable $449.99, the Modern delivers you a lot in a sleek 2.8-pound body, including an aluminum chassis rather than plastic, 8GB of RAM rather than the inferior 4GB, a backlit keyboard, and decent display quality and battery life.
- Who It Is For
Although this MSI laptop isn't a gaming or speed demon, it is competent, very portable, and reasonably priced. It's a backpack addition that you may wear without feeling guilty.
- Pros
- Wonderfully light in appearance and made of aluminum
- Backlit keyboard
- Good array of slots and ports, including microSD and USB Type-C
- Cons
- A battery's eight-hour life Despite being typical at this price
- 128GB SSD is limiting
- In conclusion:
- With a fair battery life, a nice variety of ports, and good build quality, MSI's under-$500 Modern 14 is an appealing budget laptop for everyday chores.
- Best Overall Value Laptop for Most College Students
· Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i weighs 3.3 pounds, which is a bit much for a 14-inch ultraportable. The Flex 5i hits the sweet spot if you're torn between a laptop and tablet or anticipate annotating documents, sketching, or writing with a stylus (though not all configurations do; our test unit came with one, though not all configurations do); this is because it's a convertible whose screen flips and folds from laptop to tablet mode, pausing in between for kiosk or easel modes. It costs less than $1,000 and comes in a number of variants with AMD and Intel processors.
- Who It Is For
Convertible laptops are popular among business users because they can be raised for PowerPoint presentations. Although you might not throw as many things at the IdeaPad Flex 5i, it can handle practically anything you throw at it and offers both pen and keyboard input for a fair price.
- Pros
- Convenient keyboard
- Enough memory and storage capacities
- Two HDMI and USB Type-A ports
- Fingerprint reader and webcam privacy shutter for College.
- Cons
- Dim 250-nit display
- Relatively heavy for a 14-inch ultraportable
- In Conclusion:
- The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 is a midsized convertible that does the essentials well while still being inexpensive and capable.
- Best 2-in-1 Convertible practical and robust design
· Apple MacBook Air (M1, Late 2020)
The new MacBook Air for 2022 has Apple's more potent M2 processor, which makes it speedier and more appealing. If you can afford its $1,199 beginning price or a more expensive premium setup, don't look back. However, the $999 M1 model of Apple's lightest portable is still a fantastic laptop. It has a 13.3-inch Retina display, a sleek unibody metal design in Space Gray, Gold, or Silver, one of the best keyboards and possibly the best touchpad on any laptop, quick performance and unrivaled interaction with the iPhone, and an exceptional battery life. It weighs only 2.8 pounds (29 hours in our video-playback test).
- Who Is It For
It's challenging to criticize Apple, the company that created the ultraportable category, other than its continued insistence that touch screens belong only on tablets and phones. With the exception of intense gaming, the MacBook Air continues to be a fantastic grab-and-go productivity partner for practically every around-campus computer work.
- Pros
- Good price, particularly for a MacBook
- Thanks to Apple's new M1 CPU, performance has significantly increased.
- Long-lasting battery
- Sleek, portable metal construction
- Superior touchpad, keyboard, and display
- Several color choices
- Cons
- There are just two USB Type-C connections available for ports.
- No touch-screen option yet
- In Conclusion:
- The M1-equipped MacBook Air performs far better than its predecessors and may occasionally compete with the M1-based MacBook Pro. It is the most affordable macOS notebook at $999.
- Best Affordable macOS Laptop.
· HP Pavilion Aero
The HP Pavilion Aero weighs only 2.2 pounds and boasts a stylish magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis that comes in a variety of colors, making it one of the lightest laptops available. The Pavilion has powerful performance to go along with its cozy keyboard and lovely display, and it lasted an astounding 12 hours in our battery depletion test thanks to an AMD Ryzen processor. Even better, it offers USB Type-A connectors and an HDMI display port that the venerable Dell XPS 13 does not.
- Who Is It For
Although most are half a pound heavier than the Aero, it's not difficult to find a take-it-anywhere ultraportable, and it's not difficult to get a solid laptop for $1,000. However, finding both in a single machine is difficult. For highly mobile campus dwellers, the Pavilion Aero is a shockingly high-end product from HP's modest consumer brand.
- Pros
- Aggressive pricing for the given specifications
- Powerful Ryzen 7 CPU with eight cores
- Attractive and lightweight metal chassis available in four colors.
- USB-A, USB-C, and HDMI ports
- Cons
- Not having a touch screen
- Although a $20 option, the keyboard in the test setup is not illuminated.
- No slot for SD or microSD cards
- In Conclusion
- The lightest and quickest laptop to bear the HP consumer brand, the Pavilion Aero, weighs just 2.2 pounds.
- Best Light Laptop for College
· Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
The Surface Laptop Go 2 sits in between Microsoft's mainstream clamshell and its small tablet (the Surface Go 3). (the Surface Laptop 4).
With a screen that is squarer and has a 3:2 aspect ratio, it starts off at a low price of $599.99 ($799.99 as tested), but it is more elegant and well-made than many budget notebooks. This allows you to view more of a website or word processing work without scrolling.
Even if the PixelSense display is only 12.4 inches wide and has a resolution that isn't particularly sharp, the Laptop Go 2 weighs only 2.5 pounds and has a battery life of more than 12 hours, so it's difficult to find fault with it.
- Who Is It For
The Surface Laptop Go 2 is a reasonably well-equipped winner if you're on a low budget and portability is important to you in your search for a college laptop.
It provides you some of the style of a MacBook and even has replacement parts for sustainability and endurance. It is available in four stylish hues.
- Pros
- Performance from new CPU that is competitive
- Stylish and vibrant style
- Exceptional construction and a cozy keyboard
- Affordably priced
- For longevity, use swappable SSD and chassis components.
- Cons
- Unusual resolution on a panel that is lower than 1080p
- Updated (but still ho-hum) webcam
- In Conclusion
- The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 doesn't completely revolutionize the first model, but a few modest improvements and a new CPU return this elegant, economical laptop to your list of top low-cost choices for 2022.
- Best Small Laptop for College
· MSI Katana GF66
A student who spends all of their time working is boring. You can buy a laptop from MSI: In terms of 1080p gaming laptops, the Katana GF66 offers great value because to its powerful Intel Core i7 CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, and spacious 1TB solid-state storage. With a 144Hz screen refresh rate, it will play the most recent, demanding games with frame rates that are comparable to those of far more expensive machines.
- Who Is It For
This 15.6-inch laptop weights 5 pounds, making it not especially portable, and few gaming systems advertise their long battery life (the MSI just cleared four hours in our tests). However, the Katana GF66 will outperform practically everything in its price range if playability is your top concern. Yes, it is acceptable for writing, researching papers, and responding to emails as well.
- Pros
- The component mix is priced aggressively.
- 144Hz display
- Solid 1080p gaming performance,
- Roomy 1TB SSD
- Cons
- The display isn't extremely vivid or bright.
- Unimpressive CPU performance
- Battery life is brief
- In Conclusion:
- The MSI Katana GF66 is a reasonably priced, feature-rich, and affordable gaming laptop.
- Best Budget Gaming Laptop for College
· Dell Inspiron 16 Plus (7610)
The majority of laptops with 15.6-inch screens are classified as "desktop replacements." The Dell Inspiron 16 Plus costs less than $1,400 as tested and offers a little larger panel with an astonishingly sharp 3K resolution (3,072 by 1,920 pixels), as well as a graphics card quick enough for gaming (NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3050). It weights 4.4 pounds, which makes it less convenient to transport from dorm to classroom than other desktop alternatives but still a fantastic middle option.
- Who Is It For
We adore 13- and 14-inch ultraportables just as much as the next person, but if you're working long hours or staying up late to write a report, it's okay to use a larger screen to rest your eyes. The Inspiron 16 Plus is a fantastic all-around computer and one of Dell's best deals.
- Pros
- High-performance computing and graphics
- A small chassis with simple upgrade access
- Large-scale 3K display
- Massive touchpad
- Affordably priced
- Cons
- Blue chassis hue looks a bit dull
- No touch-screen option
- In Conclusion
- In a growing market for laptops with 16-inch displays, competent Intel H-series CPUs, and Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics, the Inspiron 16 Plus (7610) offers excellent value.
- Best 15- or 16-Inch Desktop Replacement for College
- Asus VivoBook 17 M712
There are no standard laptop displays larger than 17.3 inches diagonally, speaking about resting your eyes. The Asus VivoBook 17 M712 not only costs significantly less, with our test unit at $550 at Amazon, but also weights less than other laptops of its size—five pounds, which may be difficult to carry to class but beats the seven- and eight-pounders we've seen. Its AMD Ryzen 3 processor, which is a couple of generations behind the most recent and greatest, contributes to its low price, but its speed is more than sufficient for regular programs, and its matte-finish screen reduces glare without reducing color brilliance.
- Who Is It For
Despite the VivoBook's poor seven-hour battery life, 17.3-inch laptops are rarely seen being carried about campus (and seven hours is enough to get through two or three classes in a day if you do decide to take it with you). As far as budget laptops go, it's somewhat of a huge deal if you require the biggest screen but don't have the space for a desktop monitor. However, you won't mistake it for a high-end workstation or gaming setup.
- Pros
- A big, sunlit screen
- Elegant, contemporary style
- A microSD card reader and an HDMI port
- Cons
- Older AMD CPU generation
- Older USB 2.0 ports even
- Unsatisfactory battery life
- In Conclusion
- The 17-inch screen and sleek silver casing of the Asus VivoBook 17 M712 conceal a very competitive pricing, and its AMD Ryzen-based processing power makes light work of routine tasks.
- Best 17-Inch Desktop Replacement for College
- Microsoft Surface Pro 8
The majorities of 2-in-1 portable computers or PCs that allow you operate in either laptop or tablet mode, are convertibles with pivoting but permanently attached keyboards. The best Windows detachable is Microsoft's Surface Pro 8, a 13-inch tablet with no folding keyboard cover for times when you only want to carry the 1.96-pound slate and a stylus pen for quick notes or sketches. It's pricey, especially considering that Microsoft charges extra for the keyboard and pen, which are otherwise included in the price of the device, but it offers a full-featured, high-performance alternative to the usual clamshell. Full laptop capability is provided via a well-designed kickstand and the snap-on keyboard, however, like all detachables, it is a little unsteady when seated in your lap rather than being set down on a desk or table.
- Who Is It For
The Surface Pro 8 is a brilliant mobile computer that makes a paper pad or notebook look archaic. It is similar to Apple's iPad but has an even bigger software library (the entire world of Windows programs). It will serve you well with unmatched tablet/laptop adaptability for in-class note-taking, outside-of-class video watching, and many other tasks around campus if you can purchase a well-equipped Core i5 or Core i7 model.
- Pros
- Larger (13-inch) display and narrow bezels in a contemporary design
- Excellent 1080p webcam
- Two Thunderbolt 4 compatible USB-C ports
- A well-designed kickstand
- SSD with user access
- Vibrant performance on the Core i7 configuration that was tested.
- Cons
- Lower entry price reduces attraction of entry-level products
- Costly upgrades to configurations and accessories
- Keyboard base still sold separately
- USB-C ports only
- In Conclusion
- The classic 2-in-1 isn't completely transformed by Microsoft's Surface Pro 8, but it does offer the most significant update in years thanks to a larger display, a stylish chassis redesign, and enhanced performance.
- Best 2-in-1 Tablet for Note-Taking
- Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 Chromebook
There are many benefits to choosing Google's Chrome OS, such as lower costs, seamless automatic upgrades, and the lack of the need for antivirus software, if your college or university does not require specific Windows or macOS programs (especially demanding apps like computer-aided design for engineering or the Adobe Creative Cloud suite for graphic design and video editing). The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 Chromebook weighs only three pounds and is a lightweight convertible with a snappy Intel Core i3 CPU that is faster than other Chromebooks' slow eMMC flash storage. It's a fantastic platform for cloud-based work when combined with Gmail and the Google Workspace apps (or the online or Android versions of Microsoft Office).
- Who Is It For
The 13.3-inch Flex 5 is a helpful buddy for anything from YouTube and Netflix to videoconferencing and teaming up on Google Docs because it has a quick keyboard and a nine-hour battery life. Before you purchase, make sure to check your school's software requirements, but you might find it to be a fantastic all-around deal.
- Pros
- Favorable performance
- Attractive design weighs less than 3 pounds
- Adaptable keyboard
- Cons
- No HDMI port
- Slightly dim display
- In Conclusion
- The market is dominated by Chromebooks with sluggish processors and limited flash storage, but Lenovo's reasonably priced IdeaPad Flex 5 demonstrates how a Chromebook can benefit from an Intel Core CPU with a "real" onboard SSD.
- Best Chromebook for College
