For students entering college, having a laptop is no-longer a luxury. Students, in today’s mobile world, will fare best with a laptop computer that is small enough for travel, yet powerful enough to handle the necessary tasks associated with high-level academics. The best college laptop will need a good hard drive, RAM, graphics for small-scale gaming, and more. Besides, students in colleges pursue different fields such as computer science, law, design, art, engineering, architect, animation, medical, science, etc. and for the different fields, laptops having varying features are needed.

Luckily, when you know where to look, it is possible to obtain a sleek and impressive notebook even without taking yet another student loan (or blowing through your savings). To get primed for back-to-school season, we’ve selected best laptop for college after thoroughly checking all specs, student budget, durability and features. The comprehensive buying guide of-the best laptops for college students is aimed to serve all kinds of students’ needs. Do check them out below!

Dell XPS 13

The Dell XPS 13 puts both portability & power in a punchy, flexible package. Packing serious processing power and a high-resolution screen, there is more to this laptop than being a surprisingly small Ultra-book.

There is a 13-inch Full-HD Infinity display crammed in to an 11 inch body, a really worthy competitor to a particular aluminum laptop-line ideal for any basic coursework scenario. It’s able to keep up even with the most-demanding tasks, whether it’s using tools like AutoDesk 3DS Max and Photoshop, or programming software like Eclipse and Android Studio.

Fast & portable, this revised XPS13 features 4GB of RAM and 128GB SSD. It has a long battery-life and its display is so brilliant displaying one of the sharpest images. It’s perfect for the media professional, although also great for watching TV shows, movies, and even doubles up as a half-way decent gaming laptop. It is best for a student taking a Computer Science Degree.

Apple Macbook

Students on a budget are always happy to know that they-can get started straight away with the Apple MacBook Pro w/ Retina display. It’s an excellent option for students needing more power than a MacBook Air or a Chromebook without sacrificing portability, thanks-to its high resolution display, relatively light-weight, and long battery-life.

Although Apple and its ubiquitous Macbook-line of laptops might not be the dominant force amongst college students nowadays, the company still understands how to make a solid machine which will go the distance when it-comes to software integration & unique hardware tweaks.

Apple still makes the Macbook-Pro in both 13-inch and 15-inch flavors. This laptop ships with free copies of Numbers, Pages, and Keynote out-of-the-box as well as Photos, iMovie, and GarageBand for-basic, creative projects. OSX continues to be the operating-system of choice amongst college departments dedicated to the creative arts, though it’s a dependable all- around laptop that is perfect for any sort of project.

HP Stream 13

HP Stream 13 laptop tries to appease students by offering reasonable power for reasonable price. With price that is under $300 and features which include 2.16-GHz processor, an Intel Celeron N3050, a 13.3-inch display, 2GB of RAM & responsive 32GB SSD, this laptop computer will surely be a best laptop for college students with great quality for the price. It’s cheap, but it’s guaranteed not-to perform below par.

But what makes the-HP Stream 13 one of-the best college laptops is its ultra portability and also the fact that it does come with one free year of Office 365, which costs almost as much as this laptop itself. For classwork, this laptop computer is ideal for college students because of durability coupled with its low cost as well as simplicity in its use & maintenance while iffering the access to nearly every major service and app an undergrad would need.

Microsoft Surface Book

Microsoft Surface Book is one of the best laptops for the college students featuring Microsoft office. It has the-best Intel 4th-Generation Core i5 Processor, 128GB SSD, 13.5-inch display for the base unit (and 12” HD touchscreen for Pro 3 version). Windows 8.1 Pro is its operating system.

With a lightning-fast, 2.4-GHz dual-core processor, a detachable hybrid tablet, and an impressive 12-hour battery life, the Surface Book is rather powerful and ergonomic. It comes with a satisfactory RAM of 8GB, which can be up-graded to a full 16GB. The ability to transform this laptop into a tablet is another great aspect as it removes the-need for another device.

A thinner design, a higher resolution screen & a move to Intel’s more-powerful Skylake processors have all helped to make this portable laptop a great choice. It’s truly one of the best college laptops for those pursuing degrees in Graphic Design and/or those using demanding software tools such as CAD and Photoshopliberal arts is no performance powerhouse, but Chrome OS’s speediness, combined with a funky blue case, makes this one fun notebook to use.

Acer Chromebook 15  Best Chromebook for College

If you are convinced that each and every Chromebook on the-market has to be less than 14-inches, then you’d be dead wrong. Acer Chromebook 15, for instance, not only boasts a whopping 15.6″ screen, but it also does pack an equally-impressive range of processors.

It’s light weight for perfect portability, features a 2.16GHz processor, & falls just below $500. Add this to its sleek, modern design and you’ve a solid all- around machine suitable for any college student.

Despite some slight discomfort sometimes experienced during prolonged use, you can get the Acer 15 at a much reasonable price now than when it was released originally, making it well-worth the sacrifice.

Conclusion

Need something powerful and that can better handle the demands from CAD and/or Photoshop? Then the Dell XPS 13 AND Microsoft Surface Book are machines that are right up your alley.

On the other hand, if you are looking for something more-humble for doing your everyday tasks at college & maybe a little entertainment consumption when you’ve some time off, then the HP Stream 13 and ASUS X551MA are both laptop computers to consider. So select the best laptop for college from above list.