3 Main Factors to Consider Before Choosing Your College Laptop

If you are going to college soon, then one of the biggest purchases that you are likely to make for your time as a student is your laptop. Students need a laptop for all kinds of tasks including taking notes in class, writing essays and assignments, completing projects, working together with other students and much more. Along with that, you might want to get a laptop that you can use in your spare time for things like watching TV shows and movies, browsing the web, gaming and online shopping. Here are some of the main things to consider when choosing the right laptop for you to take to college.

Your Program

The degree you are going to be getting might play a part in determining the type of laptop you will need for college. Consider the type of work that you are going to be doing as part of your program and think about what kind of specs you might need from a laptop in order to complete it successfully. For example, if you are taking an English Literature program then you’ll probably spend most of your time browsing and using word processing programs, so you won’t need anything hugely powerful. On the other hand, if you are studying a subject that is going to require a lot of computing power like video editing or computer science, you might need to spend more on a better CPU, RAM, storage and graphics card. Check out these excellent laptops for computer science students to get started.

Your Budget

Of course, how much money you have to spend will also play a part in which laptops are available to you. If you are on a tight budget, it might be worth waiting until you have enrolled on your program and have your student ID card so that you can take advantage of student discounts on laptops offered by manufacturers and retailers. Wherever you can, it’s worth spending as much as possible on features such as durability, processing power, and RAM since this will serve you well throughout your degree program. You may want to consider applying for monthly finance for a better laptop to spread the cost.

Your Spare Time

For many students, laptops are just as much for play as they are for work. Once you’ve completed your revision for the day, or written the last assignment, you might want to use your laptop for things like playing games or streaming TV shows and movies. What you want to use your laptop for in your spare time might have an impact on the machine that you choose. For example, if you do a lot of gaming as a hobby and want a laptop that you can use for this, then you will need to think about specs such as an additional graphics card, resolution, and other features that may or may not be important for your college work.

A laptop is likely to be one of the biggest purchases you’ll make for college, so keep these factors in mind to help you choose the right one.