Best Laptop Computer for College Students 2013

The best laptop to buy for college students really depends on the particular wants, needs, and future needs of the individual. A student firmly set on studying digital photography has a very different set of priorities than a hopeful philosopher and/or literature critic. Thus, before you start looking at laptops, write down all the features you need in a laptop and list them in the order of importance. Depending on your intended major, you will want a laptop that caters to your specific needs. Since buying a laptop is a big investment for a college student, I suggest you take your time to find the perfect one for you.

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In today's world, a laptop is more than just a productivity tool, it is also a fashion statement and an accessory. Like your smartphone, your laptop is a machine that you will not only use at work, but at home as well. It is critical that you find one that fulfills all your needs. In addition, you will need to also think about the ideal dimensions and weight of your laptop. If you hope to study abroad and travel during your summers, you might want a light and portable one. If you are all about gaming and being in the comfort of your dorm, you might want to look at bigger ones that can serve as a substitute for a desktop in terms of speed, power and size. Read on for a list of laptops that cover a wide variety of capabilities and features.

For the student who has class on the other side of the mountain range that divides the lecture halls and the dorm rooms, a MacBook Air would be an excellent choice. Weighing just a few pounds and thinner than a poor students' wallet, these notebooks are designed for ultimate portability while still retaining the features of a full laptop capable of all basic computing needs. After an honest assessment of how one spends his/her time on a computer, it'll usually boil down to web browsing, word processing, message sending, and YouTube watching.

If you do not want to purchase a MacBook and want to stick with a PC and Windows 7, I suggest the VIZIO as an alternative. One of the biggest complaints at Apple laptops is that they're very expensive. Even though I love my MacBook Air, I also do think they they're are a bit overpriced and they should be sold at a price that is 5 to 10% cheaper than what they are right now. However, I only purchase refurbished ones, so I actually manage to save a lot on my purchases. The VIZIO looks amazing in its clean and minimalistic design. On top of that, it is less than $700! With soaring college tuitions, it is imperative that your money wisely.

If you are planning on moving into the dorm rooms with a huge collection of DVDs and CDs, the MacBook Pro might be your computer. The emerging trend away from physical media and towards all things wireless and digital is only going to accelerate in the coming years as hard drives get smaller while storing more bytes, the Internet speeds speed up, and transistors are shrunk to impossibly tiny sizes. The MacBook Pro still has a CD/DVD optical drive for those who really do still need to pop in those shiny circular disks. However, you might want to pick one up before Apple decides to mercilessly axe that design feature from its laptop line altogether.

HP computers have evolved over the years from being decent to excellent machines. The HP Pavilion has several advantages over the MacBook Pro that many diehard PC fans will enjoy. First of all, it comes with the powerful and brand new Windows 8 software, which looks very clean and improves upon a lot from its predecessor. Armed with a 750 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive, Intel Core i3-2370M 2.4 GHz and 17.3-Inch Screen, this HP Pavilion will allow you to do any task, whether it is gaming or crunching numbers on Excel, with relative ease.

Unequivocally, one of the best displays ever squeezed into a laptop, the MacBook Pro with Retina Display is one expensive piece of machinery built for those who need the highest levels of pixel density. The display enables professional video and photography editing and contains more pixels than most of those massive high-definition big screen televisions on the market right now. If you really need a high quality laptop display or simply want to walk into a lecture hall with the latest and greatest piece of Apple technology (although this laptop is pretty indistinguishable from the other Apple laptops, they even removed the "MacBook Pro" moniker beneath the display, without the owner loudly proclaiming, "Oh man I love my new MacBook Pro with Retina Display!" to anyone in earshot), you might like this black and gray machine.

The Dell Inspiron is under 1000 dollars and is quite an impressive machine that comes with everything an Art student needs. It comes with a 15.6" HD (720p) screen with LED with Truelife u2122, 8GB DDR3 memory, Intel HD Graphics 3000 (IB) and a Microsoft Office Starter 2010. I've actually had the change to run Photoshop and Final Cut Pro on this laptop and I was amazed at how well it worked. I experienced no lags or unnecessary freezes when I loaded up my projects for edits. While you many not be as "cool" or as "hip" as your fellow peers, it helps to know that you've saved a lot money on a machine that pretty much has the same capabilities as the far more expensive MacBook.

College is often the first time for many young adults to live away from any parental eyes or daily adult supervision for an extended period of time. If you love gaming and plan to spend many hours in your room accompanied by nothing but your computer and an incessant, unending series of rapid-fire mouse clicks, the ASUS Republic of Gamers brand of notebooks would interest you. A line of laptops specifically designed for the hardcore gamers, these ASUS machines are great gaming computers and solid laptops in general.

If money is really an issue and you want to purchase the cheapest laptop that will get you through college, you'll find a lot of great deals on eBay. Just make sure to take the time and research everything they offer. Only purchase from sellers that have sold a lot of items and have great ratings. If a deal seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. Online shopping for laptops is fun and convenient, but also have to be careful as well.