Best To Get For College Portable Picks If

Buying Options 1,200 from Dell Recommended configuration Processor: Intel Core i5-1035G1 Screen: 13.4-inch 19201200 non-touch Memory: 8 GB Weight: 2.65 pounds Storage: 256 GB SSD Tested battery life: 10.5 hours Who these are for: If youre willing and able to pay more, get an ultrabook.

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Learn more Photo: Michael Hession Electronics Laptops The Best Laptops for College Students Updated August 5, 2020 Weve updated this guide with our new budget Windows pick, the Acer Aspire 5 A515-55-378V.

Your guides Kimber Streams Andrew Cunningham Share this review College is expensiveincluding tuition, housing, and textbooks, not to mention food and other miscellaneous costsso students need a reliable laptop thatll last for years of taking notes, writing papers at 3 in the morning, and editing slides for a group project.

But choosing the right laptop can be more challenging than writing a thousand words on Proust.

We test dozens of laptops every year, and for this guide weve rounded up the picks from our other guides that are the best for students.

A laptops price-to-performance ratio is the most important factor, followed by battery life, size and weight, keyboard and trackpad, and good-enough performance.

Our top pick offers the best balance of all those factors for most high school and college students, whether theyre attending classes remotely or schlepping it to a physical classroom.

Best To Get For College Portable Picks If

We also have more portable picks if youre able to spend more, and for anyone on a tighter budget, we have less expensive options that are also well suited for younger kids who are learning remotely.

To achieve their more-affordable price tags, these cheaper options all make serious trade-offsin shorter battery life, bulkier size, or more-limited functionalityand theyre not likely to last as long as our picks.

If youre a film or photography student and you need a laptop for photo and video editing, or if you want a laptop that can also play games, we have picks for you, too.

The research Collapse all Our pick: Lenovo Yoga C740 (14) A Windows upgrade: Dell XPS 13 (9300) A Mac upgrade: MacBook Air (2020) Budget Chromebook pick: Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 (13) Budget Windows pick: Acer Aspire 5 Budget tablet pick: Apple iPad Our pick: Lenovo Yoga C740 (14) Our pick Lenovo Yoga C740 (14) An excellent laptop for the price The Yoga C740 is the best laptop you can get for the price.

It offers performance similar to that of more expensive ultrabooks, but its larger, heavier, and saddled with shorter battery life.

Buying Options 820 from Lenovo Recommended configuration Processor: Intel Core i5-10210U Screen: 14-inch 19201080 touch Memory: 8 GB Weight: 3.09 pounds Storage: 256 GB SSD Tested battery life: 9.5 hours Who these are for: Budget ultrabooksthin and light laptops with good performance and long battery life and a price tag in the 700 to 800 rangeare ideal for high school and college students because they provide the best value.

These cheaper ultrabooks tend to make minor trade-offs compared with ultrabooks in the 1,100 to 1,300 range: They may be a bit larger and heavier, may not last quite as long on a charge, may have worse build quality, or may lack convenient features such as a fingerprint reader or USB-C charging.

But even with those drawbacks, budget ultrabooks still provide far better performance and overall quality compared with 500 laptops.

Its powerful and portable enough to use for a full day of classes, and it has a solid keyboard and trackpad.

Unlike most cheap ultrabooks, the C740 is sturdy and equipped with a fingerprint reader, and it comes with a USB-C charger, which you can use to charge more devices and is generally cheaper to replace than specialty nonUSB-C chargers.

Spending around 500 more for a better ultrabook like the Dell XPS 13 (9300) gets you a lighter, more compact laptop with longer battery life and a more enjoyable keyboard, but those small differences arent worth 500 for most students.

You can read more about the Lenovo Yoga C740 and our other picks in our guide to Windows ultrabooks.

A Windows upgrade: Dell XPS 13 (9300) Upgrade pick Dell XPS 13 (9300) The best ultrabook The Dell XPS 13 is thin and light, and it offers long battery life, a great keyboard, a reliable trackpad, and a spacious screen.

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