With each graduating class, parents and their son or daughter begin planning for college and with that comes the quest to find one of the best laptops for college students to take off to school with them. Questions include “what is the right model”, “what features do I need”, “do I need a laptop or will a desktop work”, and “what are some of the best laptop brands“.

Obtaining one of the best laptops for college students is much harder that you’d expect. The market is flooded with literally thousands of models all claiming to be the best. Hopefully there tips will help you find the best laptop for you.

If you grew up with a PC, you’ll say that PC’s are the best laptops for college students

Some of the more popular PC’s include companies like Dell, HP, Gateway, and Toshiba. PC’s are a great general use computer that can handle most tasks with ease. They’re also the go-to laptop for students when you’re on a budget because they tend to be very affordable compared to their Apple counter parts. You can pickup a good PC laptop for around $550.  If you want to stick with a PC, but are tired of having the boring grey colored computer, then you might want to look into some of those cool pink laptops that are available.

Note: Even the best laptops for college students usually don’t come with a license of Microsoft Office. While Open Office is a free alternative, most students will want to purchase a copy of Microsoft Office, the good news is students get a discount.

Students that grew up with Apple or Mac’s will say they are the best student laptops

If you were introduced or have used Apple computer before you will say the Macbook, Macbook Pro, and Macbook Air are the best laptops for for students. Their simplicity, reliability, and trendiness has done well for them. Now that Mac’s can run Windows if needed, they are becoming a great choice for a college laptop. They do however cost a bit more money than a comparable PC laptop.

If you are planning on spending over $800 on a student laptop then the Macbook is a great choice. It has everything a student could want is one of the best laptops for students. It has a Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB’s of RAM, Bluetooth, a webcam, DVD burner, and a great graphics card. Apple even helps students out by giving them an additional discount on not only Apple laptops, but also all Apple products including the iPod. Last time I checked you could get a Macbook with the student discount for between $840 and $900 dollars.

When the best laptop for college students means the thinnest, lightest, most ridiculous laptop for college students.

That’s when you buy the Macbook Air. This laptop isn’t the most budget friendly, but it definitely fits into the category of best student laptops. It’s just over 13 inches in size and has a total weight of under 3 pounds. It’s also extremely thin…and I mean thin. It’s just over 3/4′s of an inch thick. It also includes all the normal features and then some. So Bluetooth, wireless, a webcam, etc are all part of the package. It’s the complete package that unfortunately comes at a bit of a price. Although in the past 6 months the price has come down quite a bit. Make sure you notice and plan for the fact that the Macbook Air doesn’t come with a built in CD-ROM. They do offer an external USB CD-ROM though so don’t worry.

Laptops are an excellent tool for post secondary students due to their excellent portability, and the convenience that they offer. Students no longer have to spend their evenings inputting their hand written notes into their home desktop computers; instead they can easily take notes with their computer placed comfortable on their laps during class lectures, while cross-referencing terms or ideas with internet resources in order to clarify hard-to-understand concepts.

The best laptops for students are lightweight and easy to fit inside a school or book bag. They should have comfortable keyboards to facilitate regular and large volumes of typing, and screens that are large enough to provide comfortable viewing without being cumbersome or adding to the computer’s weight. Most modern computers are now constructed to include a wireless card, allowing internet access with the touch of a button and the input of a password. This feature will prove invaluable to students, who will easily be able to perform research, check online class schedules, or chat with classmates, from virtually anywhere.

The best laptops for students should also have adequate RAM and hard drive capabilities. In lay terms, they should have fast processors and enough internal memory to store necessary programs and files. Frequently students will also use their laptops to collect and listen to music, play games, or watch movies. The best modern computers have the capacity to perform all of these functions without compromising performance, speed, or quality.

Although students’ laptops do not need to be of the highest quality, they do need to be durable in order to sustain long days of wear and tear, and they should last at least for the duration of the degree program. Students should be sure to inquire about warranties or guaranties offered by various companies, manufacturers and retailers, in the off chance that the computer system should be compromised in any way. At the very least, look for companies that offer technical support for their products, either in person or over the phone.

With the right laptop, students can increase their productivity exponentially, while having access to the internet, and a means of communicating with friends and family. The best laptops for students will allow them to perform all of the above functions, and so much more, quickly and easily.