In a few months, the newest wave of college freshmen will be getting ready to hit the classrooms, and if you’re among that wave, now is a good time to think about choosing a good laptop that will see you through your college years. Buying a new laptop doesn’t have to be an exercise in budget-busting – in fact, you can find a great laptop for well under the $600 mark if you choose to do so. So here are five top laptop choices for college students. These laptops are big on portability, battery life and style, and are well suited for the college environment.
The MacBook can be called the quintessential notebook for students, and since this laptop’s biggest customers are college students, it’s no wonder. The combination of quality, reliability and style makes this laptop #1 on most students’ list. The newest version of the 13 inch MacBook is built on a “unibody” aluminum chassis that lends it a tremendous amount of structural integrity, with a new “buttonless” touchpad that makes the entire surface a click button and edge-to-edge glass on the 13 inch display. The aluminum body MacBook starts out at $1299, with the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, 160 GB hard drive and nVidia GeForce 9400M graphics. You can check out other specs at www.apple.com.
Dell Studio 15
The Dell Studio 15 is probably one of the best laptops for the money, with a well-optioned model sporting the Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM going for under $1000. The Studio 15 also comes in 7 vivid colors with 4 customizable trim options. Better still, you can also choose from over a hundred unique designs from Dell’s Design Studio for the ultimate customized look. The Studio 15 is no heavyweight when it comes to size – it comes in at about 6 lbs, and the 6 cell battery provides good battery life.
HP Pavilion dv4t Special edition series
This laptop has what it takes for both work and play, with excellent specs for most college work and the ability to play TV shows, display photos and play music with excellent quality. This laptop comes with the HP Intensity imprint finish, with color-matched keyboard and touchpad. Under the hood is the latest in Intel Centrino processor technology, with discrete graphics from nVidia’s 512MB GeForce G 105M graphics card. At just under $750, this is a very good deal for a very good laptop.
Gateway MD7818u
The Gateway is another good choice at a great price. Starting out at around $799, the MD series laptop offers a classy shell that can also be seen on the more upscale MC series laptops. Under the hood is the Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 2 GHz, along with an ample 500 GB hard drive, Intel 4500MHD graphics and 4GB RAM, giving this laptop the punch it needs for most tasks. At15.6 inches, its size may turn away those who are looking for a more compact computer, but it is still relatively easy to carry around. Battery life is also good, at a maximum of 5 hours of worktime.
Asus Eee PC 1000HE
For the college student looking for an ultraportable netbook that won’t rip a hole in the budget, the Asus Eee PC is the way to go. With the Intel Atom processor at 1.66 GHz, 1 GB of RAM and 160 GB of hard drive space, this netbook is well equipped for most tasks. At $379, it is also a very good deal.
