Student Laptop: 6 Amazing Features To Look For
Are you a student looking to buy a student laptop? Or maybe you are a parent looking to buy a student laptop for your child? However, due to the range of choices available online, you are confused on which laptop is right.
By the end of this blog post, you will have the knowledge required to choose the right student laptop.
Meet Timi, a high-performing University student with a GPA of 3.75. His GPA dropped from 3.9 last semester due to struggles to keep up with his assignments and projects. His old laptop was slow and outdated, making it difficult for him to complete his work efficiently. He needed to purchase a new one but due to the abundant options online, he was indecisive.
Besides being an exceptional student, he loves football and was in the school team. They had an upcoming football match with another university and were preparing for it. While preparing, their coach introduced them to a concept called “scouting.”
To scout, they had to watch the other university team play and figure out each players strength and weakness. Timi had an epiphany during this exercise. He realized that selecting the perfect laptop was similar to scouting the other university. Just as he needed to identify the strength and weaknesses of his opponent, he needed to identify the requirements of his schoolwork and find a laptop that met those needs.
The next day, Timi researched online to identify the key requirements for his schoolwork – processor, RAM capacity, storage capacity, battery life, portability, and affordability. Armed with this knowledge, Timi was able to narrow down his list of laptop choices.
After several hours of research, he finally found the perfect laptop for his needs: a lightweight, powerful machine with ample storage capacity and a long-lasting battery. The laptop also had a feature-rich operating system that allowed him to easily access all his school resources.
With his new laptop in hand, Timi began downloading PDF’s for the following semester courses. Needless to say, he got his grade back up.
What You Need To Purchase The Right Student Laptop
As a student, your number one priority is GETTING GOOD GRADES. This expression means different things for different students. How do I mean?
An architecture student using AutoCAD or rendering 3D projects has a different laptop need compared to an agriculture student. The agriculture student doesn’t need so much technology power and would therefore be wasting resources buying a laptop that an architecture student is using.
Now, let’s dive into the key requirements you need in your student laptop:
Processor
There are different processor types which is one of the most misunderstood laptop features. Most people simply opt for Core i5 and above as those are the most famous processor’s. They disregard the Core i3, however, depending on your NEEDS, the Core i3 can work just fine.
Who needs the Core i3 processor in a student laptop? Students who need to download files, study, watch YouTube, movies etc. A Core i3 processor laptop will handle tasks like this efficiently.
If your needs are higher than this, then you can definitely go for Core i5 and above. For example, accounting students can go for a Core i5 processor laptop and beginner architecture students can also go for this.
RAM Capacity
This is another confusing laptop feature for most people. Your RAM is the working memory of your laptop. This means that when you open anything, it opens on your RAM. Therefore, if you will be using different applications/software at the same time, you need a big RAM size.
There are 2GB, 4GB, 6GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and so on RAM sizes.
When considering the RAM size to go for, there are two things to keep in mind.
- How many applications will you use at the same time?
- How heavy are those applications?
The answer to these two questions will point you in the direction of the RAM size you need. A student who simply needs to do basic tasks on his or her student laptop doesn’t need more than 8GB RAM size. In fact, if you are simply using your laptop to read or watch films or things of that nature, a 4GB or 6GB would meet your needs.
Storage Capacity
While your RAM is a temporary memory, this is the permanent memory. This is where your files and documents are stored. It can either be HDD or SSD – HDD stands for Hard Disk Drive and SSD stands for Solid State Drive.
These range from 120GB HDD to 32TB HDD and 128GB SSD to 100GB SSD. However, the most common you will find for the two are 500GB HDD and 256GB SSD.
Again, if you do basic tasks, go for the least but we recommend you opt for at least 500GB HDD or 256GB SSD for more storage capacity. The main difference between the HDD and SSD is that SSD is faster.
Battery Life
As a student, you need a laptop with a strong battery for long study sessions. You should go for a laptop with a battery of 2 hours minimum and above.
Portability
Having a portable student laptop is a non-negotiable as a student. This is due to having to carry it in your bag and trekking to class. You don’t want to deal with shoulder pains every time you carry your laptop now, do you?
Affordability
Most students have to manage their finances as there are lot of unforeseen financial commitment in school. Therefore, it’s important for your student laptop to be within the limits of what you can afford, without getting into debt or breaking the bank.
We wouldn’t have you read all of this without giving you some recommendations. That would not be professional. Here’s our recommendations:
For students doing basic tasks, we recommend Dell Latitude 3340
For students doing medium tasks, we recommend HP Elitebook 820 G3, HP Probook 640 G3, HP Elitebook 840 G2,
For students that require high computing power, we recommend HP Elitebook 840 G3, HP Elitebook 840 G5
