A laptop is one of the most essential buys you can make as a student – it’s essentially your degree in your backpack! Not only can it help you make notes or do work on the go, whether that’s in your lectures, the library, or even a coffee shop, but it can help you access online content, books, and videos with just the touch of a button. But what do you need to look for in a laptop? Here are our top three.

Budget

As a student, the amount of money you’re spending on a laptop is without a doubt your biggest priority. It’s likely that as a student, your money might be a little more stretched than it normally would, and so choosing a laptop that is both affordable but also cost-effective is essential. 

When we say cost-effective, we mean that whatever you buy is worth your money. It might be that a certain laptop comes incredibly cheap, but it might be missing key functions or lacks functionality that you need as a student. It’s definitely worth weighing up quality over price and deciding on one that works well for you. Here’s a top tip from us – especially from September to December, many companies are offering student discounts, so it’s worth waiting until then to make your purchase and get yourself a good deal!

Good Graphics

Graphics are also essential when buying a laptop, as they affect all your interactions as well as the quality of your experience. Graphics are essentially about the way your laptop looks – good graphics means vivid colors and sharp images, essential for online workspaces and videos. Especially if you’re planning on using your laptop for fun outside of college – Netflix or video games for example – graphics are really important to prioritize.

However, this can come at a cost – it can cause your laptop to slow down, heat up quickly, or run out of battery fast. This is problematic if you want to access things fast (especially when running short on deadlines!) or need your laptop for a full day of lectures, but it only lasts two hours. It’s important to find a graphics card like those from Intel (often integrated into laptops) that manage to balance the two, making sure your laptop runs quickly, smoothly, and vividly. You can read more at the following link: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/faqs/intel/intel-graphics/.

Storage

Storage is our final category but certainly not worth forgetting. Storage is one of the biggest factors that you should ensure with your laptop to make sure it has the capacity and functionality that you need. Storage matters for two reasons – one, most obviously, it’s important that your laptop has all the space it needs to store your files, college work, lecture content, and reading materials, or else you’ll end up losing valuable data.

However, storage is also key for performance. Having a laptop that either has too little storage, or where the storage is almost full, is a guarantee for lag, slow loading times, difficulty opening and accessing files and apps, and many more issues. It’s really important, therefore, to choose the storage size you need to avoid these problems. For students who plan on using their laptop mostly for work, 128GB should be good enough. However, if you plan on doing more than loading word documents or using your web browser (such as playing games or downloading videos), then at least 256GB is a must to avoid delay, lag, or even lost data.

Budget, graphics, and storage are your three biggest considerations to make as a student when buying a laptop. By having these things in mind when you buy, you can be certain you’ll have a laptop that serves you well.