What kind of laptop does a college student need?

[blackrain]

I used to think the chromebooks were junk. My high schooler just got 1 (for free to borrow from the school) and the school claims it will last him 4 years. It got me thinking....should I consider a chromebook for my college bound student?

Which options should I be looking at for non-gamer that just needs it for schoolwork?

I know that there is this deal too, but Acer's quality scares me:
https://www.staples.com/acer-aspire...zen-3-2200u-1tb-hdd-8gb-ram/product_24328318?

This college student is also impatient and wants speed...haha

 

[UsandThem]

I'm personally not a fan of Acer, as I am 0 for 2 on their products (it was the first PC I bought back in 1997 or, and it died on day 16. Laptop was defective out of the box they next time I tried them around 2011). I personally won't give them a 3rd chance.

Chromebooks are fine for classes, but they may be more used to Windows PCs, so maybe watch for a deal on a Dell laptop on their consumer site, and outlet site.

I'd say I'd personally be looking at 8th gen i3 (or a 7th -8th gen i5), 8GB of RAM, and a smaller form factor if they are going to be always carrying it around.

 

[Christopher Bohling]

If you're on a low budget, look for used computers on ebay. I just bought a Dell Latitude E5430 with a dual-core Ivy Bridge i7 and 8GB of RAM for $130 preinstalled with Linux Mint 19. I bought it from a company that buys business laptops that have been used in corporate settings and refurbishes them. For basic web browsing, web editing, and basic programming it's great. It's a tad slow when opening some programs (like 10 seconds to open Firefox) but I think that's just because of the old 5400RPM HDD; I'll probably buy a 250GB SSD for $60 and it'll run really quick after that.

Of course the student might have a class that genuinely requires a program that's only available on Windows (or MacOS) but this is relatively rare and in my experience 95% of the time you can save money by going for a used/refurb machine with a good beginner Linux distro like Mint or Ubuntu preinstalled.

 

[bbhaag]

What kind of laptop does a college student need?

A laptop with a nice screen and a good keyboard is essential for a college student followed buy enough cpu grunt for basic tasks like web browsing for research purposes and word processing programs like Microsoft Office. I'd personally skip anything that has any resemblance to a gaming laptop because it will just become a distraction.
The Acer you linked to doesn't look bad. The specs are decent overall especially for the price but that screen resolution would kill it for me. 1366x768.......c'mon Acer it's 2018 not 2003.

 

[blackrain]

A laptop with a nice screen and a good keyboard is essential for a college student followed buy enough cpu grunt for basic tasks like web browsing for research purposes and word processing programs like Microsoft Office. I'd personally skip anything that has any resemblance to a gaming laptop because it will just become a distraction.
The Acer you linked to doesn't look bad. The specs are decent overall especially for the price but that screen resolution would kill it for me. 1366x768.......c'mon Acer it's 2018 not 2003.

The screen resolution seems key and I dont see too many cheap laptops that offer that.

 

[blackrain]

If you're on a low budget, look for used computers on ebay. I just bought a Dell Latitude E5430 with a dual-core Ivy Bridge i7 and 8GB of RAM for $130 preinstalled with Linux Mint 19. I bought it from a company that buys business laptops that have been used in corporate settings and refurbishes them. For basic web browsing, web editing, and basic programming it's great. It's a tad slow when opening some programs (like 10 seconds to open Firefox) but I think that's just because of the old 5400RPM HDD; I'll probably buy a 250GB SSD for $60 and it'll run really quick after that.

Of course the student might have a class that genuinely requires a program that's only available on Windows (or MacOS) but this is relatively rare and in my experience 95% of the time you can save money by going for a used/refurb machine with a good beginner Linux distro like Mint or Ubuntu preinstalled.

Any suggestions on a laptop in the budget range with a better resolution than 1366x768? I am trying to avoid that but I think that everyone complains about that resolution but there aren't many options below a certain cost to improve that resolution.

 

[Christopher Bohling]

Any suggestions on a laptop in the budget range with a better resolution than 1366x768? I am trying to avoid that but I think that everyone complains about that resolution but there aren't many options below a certain cost to improve that resolution.

This is pretty similar to the one I just got and it's 1600x900, so still not 1080p, but to my eyes it looks pretty good at 14":

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Latit...AOSwe6xbKCIj:sc:FedExHomeDelivery!66045!US!-1

The pictures show it with Linux Mint 18.3 but the description says it's ZorinOS. But that doesn't really matter because you can just install whatever distro you want on top of it.

Now obviously buying this comes with caveats - it's still a 5+ year old computer, it's not running Windows and people might find that to be a problem, it's a dual-core/4-thread processor instead of a true 4-core like most current-gen laptops, it doesn't have an SSD, there's no warranty or support, etc. That said, I did buy mine from that seller and it works like a dream (I sound like a shill lol). I'm posting from it right now.

So yeah, those are a few things to keep in mind. However, if you're trying to get a laptop on a very low budget and you want something that's more full-featured than a Chromebook, buying a refurb laptop with a good "beginner" Linux distro like Ubuntu or Mint can be a very cost-efficient solution.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Refurb business-class laptops can be a good deal, although prefer ones with an SSD, if possible. Linux can make them cheaper.

I would likely personally stay away from Acer. They tend to have poor build quality (lots of plastic parts, seems to die prematurely).

I'm currently rocking a Lenovo. I thought that it had died, from being left out in a hot car, but it revived. Still using it these days.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Decent size screen. Resolution for 99.9% of users doing homework is irrelevant. Gaming is another issue. Speed and ssds are also irrelevant for homework. Battery life is much more important.

 

[lxskllr]

Personally, I'd rate battery life over anything. Everyone managed with low res displays for forever, and anything >Core2 is fast enough. If you're on a budget, you don't have the choice of anything you want. That's life. Smaller SSDs are affordable, so that makes a nice upgrade to a lower end processor with good battery life.

 

[JustMe21]

Look at Dell Outlet or Lenovo Outlet for refurb deals. They tend to have the same warranty as a brand new laptop and are cheaper than new. I generally suggest to go with an Intel i5 quad core or Ryzen 5 processor, but quad core minimum. Battery life is also important as well.

Another thing to consider for cheap note taking is a prepaid LG Stylo phone and a Bluetooth keyboard so they can use a keyboard or stylus.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

When I was a student these are the things I wished for:

- lightweight laptop
- long battery life + quick charge
- laptop with stylus and OneNote - I preferred to type my notes during class but often you have to draw a diagram. If most of your notes are on the computer but you have to use paper for all the accompanying drawings, it screws everything up and you might as well just do everything on paper. So get a laptop with an active pen for drawing. You can type notes in OneNote and add drawings seamlessly to the side and the notes are automatically synced to all devices like phones and such, so you never lose a thing even if your laptop dies. And if it's not comfortable studying your notes on a screen, you can always print off your notes and recycle later.

I have a Lenovo X1 Yoga 3rd Gen which might be a bit out of price range but hear me out:

- lightweight
- drop tested to high specs
- SSD, integrated GPU, dual channel DDR good for anything that might require video editing or 3D design
- easy dual-boot into Linux for programming
- active stylus built-in and can be used for OneNote for typing notes and drawing at the same time
- can be used as a tablet
- great keyboard
- good battery life with fast charge, charges via USB so even a battery bank can power it

I would advise against a Microsoft Surface simply because they don't survive drops very well and they are constructed such that repair is very expensive (very tight tolerances and glue everywhere).

IMO the ability to type and draw notes at the same time is the most important, along with battery life and durability. Anything with an SSD and Core-whatever will be totally fine for anything a basic student would need. Dual channel RAM, fast CPU, fast GPU are only needed if their major requires that kind of oomph.