Recommend good laptop for college student

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Bird222

[H]ard|Gawd
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Not looking for a gaming laptop but something pretty good that will last 4 years of college. Needs to be a PC. What specs do you recommend? What brands?
 
This has more than enough performance and ram for basic office and web browsing for several years.

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=ZA3ET1DR2T6YA62V9TK3

If you need an SSD and more ram and much faster processor for $200 more, there's this.

https://www.amazon.com/F556UA-AS54-...p-Windows/dp/B01M08DL26?tag=hardfocom-20&th=1

Asus makes a solid device. I'd recommend a 15" model for maximum utility, as 13" or smaller keyboards can be a little cramped. Also, dedicated number pad is a must for anyone in the sciences.
 
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Also - will this be the ONLY computer? Or just a computer to take to college classes and study sessions?
 
ugh.. gaming laptops... I don't but it. Hot as hell, crappy battery life, crappy over all life, too big.. Its just not worth it IMO, especially for a colleague staten that will really be mobile for long periods of time with it.

Macbook + PS4 or Xbox.. done..

Edit: just saw the needs to be a PC part... Well, I don't get the argument, a Mac can do it all as well, and better :) But check out the newest Dell XPS 13/15. I actually considered the new XPS13, but then the new 2016 MacBook Pro 13 came out :) I love it!
 
s10010001 said:
ugh.. gaming laptops... I don't but it. Hot as hell, crappy battery life, crappy over all life, too big.. Its just not worth it IMO, especially for a colleague staten that will really be mobile for long periods of time with it.

Macbook + PS4 or Xbox.. done..

Edit: just saw the needs to be a PC part... Well, I don't get the argument, a Mac can do it all as well, and better :) But check out the newest Dell XPS 13/15. I actually considered the new XPS13, but then the new 2016 MacBook Pro 13 came out :) I love it!
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I think you replied to the wrong thread.
 
whateverer said:
I think you replied to the wrong thread.
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umm no? They asked for a recommendation a gaming laptop... Im giving my opinion on gaming laptops and good solutions for colleague students. The priority should be school not gaming. Hence the MacBook + Console. He doesn't need his school laptop failing early or battery not making it thru class or study session in the cafe. Not to mention Windows updates, crashing, weekly GUI changes, new "features", crappy sleep modes and telemetry.

But I guess that because I'm comping from the side of a parent buying for my kids to go to school.
 
s10010001 said:
umm no? They asked for a recommendation a gaming laptop... Im giving my opinion on gaming laptops and good solutions for colleague students. The priority should be school not gaming. Hence the MacBook + Console. He doesn't need his school laptop failing early or battery not making it thru class or study session in the cafe. Not to mention Windows updates, crashing, weekly GUI changes, new "features", crappy sleep modes and telemetry.

But I guess that because I'm comping from the side of a parent buying for my kids to go to school.
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I don't know why you insist on bringing consoles into a discussion about college productivity laptops. They are two different animals entirely. Stop making confusing posts combining the two.

Second, NEW 15" Macintosh laptops start at THREE TIMES THE PRICE of the Asus I linked above, and you'd still need to pay for a copy of Windows.

The Asus I linked has a Core i5 processor, 256GB SSD, 8GB ram, 1080p screen, USB C port. What's not to love, for well under $600? And Asus build quality is solid, as I can attest from my girlfriend who is currently a (very mobile) student.

I wouldn't spend more than that on a college laptop, because students don't tend to respect property as much they didn't pay for. That way you can buy a replacement without breaking the bank when they inevitably spill a beer on it, or drop it when packing up from class.
 
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s10010001 said:
umm no? They asked for a recommendation a gaming laptop... Im giving my opinion on gaming laptops and good solutions for colleague students. The priority should be school not gaming. Hence the MacBook + Console. He doesn't need his school laptop failing early or battery not making it thru class or study session in the cafe. Not to mention Windows updates, crashing, weekly GUI changes, new "features", crappy sleep modes and telemetry.

But I guess that because I'm comping from the side of a parent buying for my kids to go to school.
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You missed a word. He specifically says, as the first sentence in the initial post, that he is NOT looking for a gaming laptop.

I might consider something like that entry level Razer Blade (the not-really-for-gaming one). I'm not really a laptop guy, but all the reviews I've seen of those have been pretty complimentary - more so than the reviews of Razer's overly gaming oriented models.

That said, I'm also not really a believing in the whole "laptop for college" thing. Even ten years ago, there were computers literally everywhere on a college campus. The idea that every student needs to carry one around with him is ridiculous, in my opinion. Source: I have gone to school and subsequently worked on a major university campus continuously since 2001.

Another thing to consider: College kids treat stuff pretty roughly. Cheap and replaceable would be two things pretty high on my list of requirements for any laptop I was buying for my hypothetical child "for college."
 
THE OP never stated budget......I Got my Boy a Lenovo Ideapad Y700 Touch (although it says gaming laptop)...Had the cheapest HD and least amount of Memory put in it. on Lenovo site I upgraded the Video card from 2G to 4G.
From 3rd party-- I ordered the Max Memory(16 G) I could put in it also a M2 SSD(500G) and 1 TB WD HD (used Crucial website to tell me what was Compatible) used Utube for the How to and did it all my self..EZ
$1300 when all said and done. He has been using it in classes all this last year.
 
RazorWind said:
You missed a word. He specifically says, as the first sentence in the initial post, that he is NOT looking for a gaming laptop.


"
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ohh lol, I did, this all makes more sense now.. Not sure why someone would start a sentence like that but ok.


So yea.. the Razer Blade laptops are pretty sweet for sure and I highly recommend the Dell XPS13. Very nice machines both of them if you have to have Windows. I have used each for about a week. I say stick to 14" or down.

However my vote is still on a MacBook, it will last 4 years and then some, and then still sell for 500$ if its still clean. Best battery life if a huge plus for a student.
 
1) Macbook Pro (Yes I said it)
2) Dell Latitude
3) Lenovo ThinkPads
 
Would suggest getting also getting an external hard drive and a copy of Acronis or Macrium.

This way, if they're required to do anything to their systems during the school year, they can restore from a clean image whenever it becomes an issue.
 
Honestly I'd go for a fairly inexpensive (~600) asus and replace it on the second year if it needs to be. The second post in this thread I think has the right idea.

I wouldn't go for a mac if you're going to install windows on it. Battery life and driver support are generally shit in my experience if you slap windows on there.
And +1 for Asus consumer PC build quality.
 
Ohh god don't cheap out on a college kids laptop. 1000s of $$ to go to school but you won't spend 1k on 1 laptop? it needs to be reliable and have a easy place for wareently work "cough, Apple Store"....

1x 1000-1400$ laptop that lasts 4 years and does a great job the entire time or 2x crappy laptops for 4 years that is only "ok at best" the whole time.

The 600$ laptops ugh... thicker, heavy, slow, hot, crappy low res screens, needs ram and sad upgrades on day one.

As for a MacBook. If you do want to run windows on it get a "intel" only GPU, not a amd. Theses latops do amazing with Windows. The problem with running windows on the 15" rMBP is it uses the nivida/amd gpu the entire time so it runs hot and kills the battery. But the inter only 13", air or the tiny MacBooks run windows better than any actually Windows laptop in the same class. Sort of maybe the latest a nice ultra books like the xps13. I guess the touch pads can be weird in native windows too. But if you have a mac, just use macOS. Better long term anyway IMO. I have never had a 15" intel only to test this, but I have used all the others.
 
s10010001 said:
the tiny MacBooks run windows better than any actually Windows laptop in the same class. Sort of maybe the latest a nice ultra books like the xps13. I guess the touch pads can be weird in native windows too. But if you have a mac, just use macOS. Better long term anyway IMO. I have never had a 15" intel only to test this, but I have used all the others.
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You can keep living in your dream world. Apple entry-level devices don't have a spec advantage on any of their peers.

http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook

That's the same spec as the "child's toy" I linked above: 256GB SSD, 8GB ram. Perfectly usable no matter what OS you choose to run.

In addition, Apple actually ripped off this beautiful Asus model when they released the Macbook.

Same size, same processor, same 256GB SSD, same 8GB ram, same passive-cooled aluminum chassis. HALF THE PRICE, at $700 on release. Released a month before Apple.

Original release date of the Macbook:

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2015/03/09Apple-Unveils-All-New-MacBook.html

Original release data of the Asus:

https://www.asus.com/us/News/OaYu0qixmSoQqcJU

That Macbook actually looks like an overpriced toy. The only distinguishing factor is the higher-resolution screen, and that's not much different. Your average joe couldn't tell the difference between 1920x1080p IPS and 2304x1440 IPS unless you listed the spec sheets in front of the machine.
 
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Three years ago I bought an i5 with a 15.6" IPS touch panel, <1 inch thick that cost around $450-$500 during holiday deals. It was perfect for school productivity and watching youtube videos/twitch. It had a 6.5 - 10 hour battery life, so I could stay on campus to study without having to bring a charger unless I was going to be there until midnight. The only downside was that it didn't have an ssd, so sometimes I could hear the hard drive seeking. I sync my school folder between my laptop and desktop. However, when I moved, I used my laptop exclusively for a semester and the only thing I was missing was having a full desktop monitor and keyboard (which you could still do with a laptop). My point is, you don't have to spend a lot to get an i5. You will be happy with the performance of any i5 or i7 as long as there aren't any issues with that particular laptop model.
 
As a hardware geek, I'd almost always say buy the most maxed out laptop you can afford - in this case, maybe an Dell XPS (unless you webcam, then don't, since it uses a low mounted cam that shoots up your nose) or Lenovo Yogas, or HP Specter - but without knowing the usecase (needs of a social sciences major would be much different than a science / engineering major).

Alternatively, I'd go the medium cheap route (not bottom of the barrel but a little step up) and upgrade maybe every year / year and half or so as needs warrant.
 
Specs are a matter of use case, nothing more. When I say it will run windows better I means the performance will be the same compared to other like spec machines. No a core m MacBook will not performance like a i5 Dell. However the apple natice PCIe ssds make up for a lot.

Theres more to it that simple performance. I'm talking about battery life, thermals, ergonomics, the keyboard, trackpad, noise.

There's no way around it, there are just a hand full of laptops in the same class as the MacBook and apple sets the bar. Apple has a option for just about every scope of use. So one has to ask themselves why not just go Apple for their mobile needs?

I'm a Windows guy btw... but my laptop is a MacBook Pro, my desktops are higher end pcs. my home server is a 2012 quad core i7 Mac mini running windows. Why because it's got the lowest power consumption to performance I could find! Transcode full BD content on demand and idles at 11 watts.
 
There some sweet deals on the 2015 xps13 laptops with the 1080p screen. Pre "infinity" display but still great machines. My aunt just picked one up for like 700 out the door.
 
s10010001 said:
There some sweet deals on the 2015 xps13 laptops with the 1080p screen. Pre "infinity" display but still great machines. My aunt just picked one up for like 700 out the door.
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This is the first sane post you've made the entire thread!
 
Haha, well some people just fight apple for the sake of doing it. Fact is there great machines and work great in many scenarios, like collage. I get to play around with literally every new high end business and ultra book laptops from dell, Lenovo, hp and Apple for work evals so I'm not just basising my recommendations on preference.

You all are free to do what you want and hear whatever you want hear. Merica!

That xps13 is a nice machine for sure but I guarantee a MacBook Pro 13 will outlas it but at least 2times the life. Most of the 2 year old xps13s at work are already havin battery problems, where my own 2013 MacBook Pro 15 still lasts a good 4 hours of real use. Better investment in the long run. It says a lot when a late 2013 MacBook Pro ( haswell) is selling for more than new of laptops.
 
As another PC guy, I would have to agree w s10010001. Apple hardware was tough to beat (circa 2013). However, nowadays (circa 2016) there are quite a few makers of similar quality hardware.

I'm typing this on a i7/500gb Macbook Air from 2013 that I loaded Windows 10 on via Bootcamp. Works great as an Ultrabook. I hate the OSX junk but the hardware itself is well designed / put together and if you can stomach the price bump over similar PCs, its the way to go. Though there are quite a few good lappies nowadays on the PC side from HP, Lenovo and Dell - no need to go the Apple + bootcamp route.
 
The problem is the other worthy PC ultra books will set you back the same green as a MacBook, maybe a tiny bit less but when you factor in the life span it's a no brainer...

Plus you can easily run either OS giving you great versatility.

However remember you have to buy Windows, but a student should get it for free.. dreamspark? I'm still a student, but I haven't looked as I have MSDN from work.
 
The plus on the PC side though is that Apple doesn't let you play with options or configs that much. Either you take it or you leave it. On the PC side, usually the manufacturers will give you a few more spec options / SKUs.

I would take a look at both in a configuration I like - on both sides and see where the money total ends up.

If you think about the resale value, Apple will always win hands-down, but if you are going to use / abuse it for 4 years then give it away / donate / pass it along, a PC will do just fine.
 
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