Alright, so you are a college student who needs a laptop for multiple uses. There are a few things to factor in when choosing the best laptop for college. First of all it has to be small and portable so that it fits inside your backpack. Next, we want something that is not too loud. You don’t want to be that guy with a full blown gaming machine that sounds like an aircraft taking off during your lecture.. or maybe you do?
Im not saying that its not possible to have a laptop for college and gaming, but its going to have to be on a smaller scale. I know for a fact that a lot of college students enjoy gaming and that is our biggest priority at gaming laptops under 1000 dollars.
As a college student you are limited on money so what we want is a hybrid between cheap gaming laptops and professional use. Our criteria is a little different for the best laptop for college compared to cheap gaming laptops. One huge difference is battery life, you are going to be in class all day and you need a laptop that can handle that. Although in order to get a hybrid professional gaming laptop its going to cost you a little over 1k.
I decided on a budget of $1200 dollars plus or minus $100. I feel that most students can spend $1200 on a laptop that will last them for four years of college. Taking into consideration of what I said, lets find the best laptop for college!
What we are looking for: 13-14in Display, Slim and Light, Good battery life, and some gaming capabilities. Additional things that would be nice: backlit keyboard and touch screen.
Ok, this task ended up being a little bit more challenging then I thought it would be. It turns out that there’s not to many ultrabooks with dedicated graphics. However, I did manage to find a couple within our budget.
BEST LAPTOP FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS
ASUS Zenbook UX303LB at $1298 has pretty much everything that we desire. A 5th gen cpu, plenty of ram and most importantly dedicated graphics. It even has a 512gb ssd which is not to shabby. But how is the battery life? Well Asus claims up to 7 hrs but keep in mind its going to be less if you plan on gaming.
Asus Zenbook UX303LB Overview: $1298
-Intel i7 5500U 2.4ghz Dual Core
-12Gb DDR3 1600mhz
-GT 940M 2GB Graphic card
-512GB SSD
-13.3in 3200×1800 IPS Display
Yes, the Asus Zenbook is the best one I found. But for a little cheaper you can get a lenovo u31-70 which retails at $1049 and is on sale at the moment for $699! However, the battery time is quite disappointing at only 4.5hrs. In the end its still a great choice for part time students considerings the specs of this machine.
Lenovo U31-70 Overview: $1049
-Intel i7 5500U 2.4ghz Dual Core
-8GB DDR3 1600mhz
-GT 920M 2gb GPU
-500GB 5400rpm Hard drive
-13.3in 1920×1080 IPS Display
This one is going to surprise you. I even managed to surprise myself haha. Alienware r13 r2 at $999 is a great addition to our best laptop for college. Even though I am not a big fan of Alienware I have to say this laptop makes sense. The hardware specs for the price are very good, and the battery at 10.5hrs is impressive. The down side.. its not a slim laptop, its bulky. But then again slim and light are not for everyone. Im sure the nerdy college students will appreciate this machine and its GTX 960M Graphic card.
Alienware R13 R2 Overview: $999
-Intel i5 6200U 2.3ghz Dual Core
-8GB DDR3 1600mhz
-Gtx 960M 2GB GPU
-500GB 5400rpm Hard drive
-13.3in 1366×768 TN Display
If the i5 is not good enough for you, you can upgrade to the i7 6500U keeping all the other specs the same. This will bump up the price to $1199.
Ok, so you are wondering why the Alienware is not in the Gaming laptops under 1000 list. The reason is because its a 13.3in and I cant game on such a small screen. The minimum for me is 15.6in and a 17.3in is even better. Don’t get me started on the 18.4in ohhh baby. But, that is the main reason why it does not qualify.
There are many more ultrabooks with integrated graphics that you can choose from. Some have cool features like 360 degree display tilt, touch screens, and more. If you are not planning on doing any intensive gaming or 3d gaming for that matter.. check them out. The integrated graphics should be enough for occasional gaming. But, be aware that your FPS will be shit, unless you plan on just playing league and 2d games. Ok maybe you can play a few 3d titles as well.
Thanks for reading and keep on gaming!
