National College of Ireland (NCI) will provide eligible students with a laptop to assist them in completing their chosen course.
The Best Laptops 2020
- Razer Blade Pro 17.
- HP Spectre x360 13 (late 2019)
- MacBook Pro 13 (2020)
- Acer Chromebook Spin 713.
- Gigabyte Aero 15. A great laptop for creative work.
- Dell XPS 15 (2020) A great laptop for video editing.
- Dell G5 15 SE. The best affordable gaming laptop.
- Dell XPS 17. The 17-inch laptop to buy.
4GB of RAM has been standard for a few years now but mainstream computers have been moving into 8GB territory. Higher end laptops and gaming PC's are now even using 16GB. IS&T recommends 8GB. That's more than enough for doing anything, including SolidWorks and virtualization.
Topics:
- Decide on your budget.
- Choose the operating system.
- Select the processor and RAM.
- Figure out how much storage you need.
- Choose the graphics card.
- Choose battery.
- Choose the one that is portable.
- Must-have laptop accessories.
So, Which Laptop to Buy for College?
| Our Pick | Rating |
|---|
| Asus VivoBook S15 (S533) | Editors' Choice Excellent (4.5) Review |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7000 (7490) | Editors' Choice Excellent (4.5) Review |
| Acer Chromebook 514 | Editors' Choice Excellent (4.0) Review |
| Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch (2020) | Editors' Choice Excellent (4.0) Review |
A Chromebook is a good choice for a student that is primarily using the computer for web browsing, word processing, or streaming video and audio. Storage isn't a problem if Google-focused students can store their files with Drive. The Chromebook is also just a hard device to break.
Best Laptops with Intel 8th-gen Processor
- ASUS S510UN-BQ217T. User Rating: 5/5
- Acer A515-51G. Acer A515-51G falls in the same price range as HP NOTEBOOK 15-BS146TU.
- HP PAVILION 15-CC129TX.
- Dell Inspiron 5570.
- HP NOTEBOOK 15-BS146TU.
- Dell Inspiron 15 7570.
Performance, portability, and versatility come together in a 2-in-1. These devices contribute to our overall collection of the best Windows laptops, and in some cases they'll make a great choice for your student headed back to college.
Yes, Your iPad Can Replace Your Desktop or Laptop. But if you really want to use your iPad as your primary computing device, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Here are five tips for replacing your PC or Mac with one of Apple's tablets, whether for work, school, or just day-to-day usage.
The best way to find out is to visit a local Best Buy and look at 13 and 15 inch laptops (if you're buying it online). Go for 13. The size is better and there's really no difference between how they function. If you don't need the graphics don't have to spend the extra money for a bigger laptop.
Our scores reflect that expensive laptops provide more for your money. The $800 to $1,000 range is where you'll find the best laptop value. This amount of money can't buy you everything, but it can buy you a laptop that's excellent in important areas. You only have to spend more if you want a gaming laptop.
For anyone looking for the bare computing essentials, 4GB of laptop RAM should be sufficient. If you want your PC to be able to flawlessly accomplish more demanding tasks at once, such as gaming, graphic design, and programming, you should have at least 8GB of laptop RAM.
Well SSDs are much faster than regular hard drives, so that's a plus right there. Regardless, for papers and stuff 512gb should be just fine. However, in the event you need more storage, you can just buy an external hard drive.
If you only require basic needs such as typing, editing, note-taking, web browsing, video streaming, and the like, the Apple iPad can easily replace your laptop for school use. However, if you perform more productivity, audiovisual editing, and coding tasks, you might find the iPad wanting.
For most students, the 2020 MacBook Air is the best choice. It has enough power to face most any academic challenge you come up against, while still offering up to 12 hours of battery life.
Compare SpecsThe Best Budget Laptops for 2020
| Our Pick | Rating |
|---|
| Lenovo Chromebook Duet $289.99 at Lenovo | Editors' Choice 4.0 Review |
| Microsoft Surface Go 2 $399.99 at Microsoft Store | Editors' Choice 4.0 Review |
| Acer Chromebook 714 $449.99 at Amazon | 4.0 Review |
| Acer Nitro 5 (2020) $702.49 at Amazon | 4.0 Review |
Best laptop under $500 of 2020 in stock from HP, Lenovo, Acer and more
- Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook. Chrome OS. $249 at Walmart.
- Acer Chromebook 715. Chrome OS. $495 at Walmart.
- Acer Aspire 5. Windows. $365 at Amazon.
- Lenovo IdeaPad Chromebook Flex 5 2-in-1. Chrome OS. $415 at Amazon.
- Samsung Chromebook 4. Chrome OS. $367 at Amazon.
Best cheap laptops for under $350 in 2020: Asus, Dell, Lenovo, and more
- Asus VivoBook 15.6-inch. Great all-rounder.
- Dell Chromebook 3100 Education. Rugged enough for students.
- Dell Inspiron 15 3580. Plenty of ports.
- Lenovo Chromebook C340-11. Budget can still feel premium.
- Dell Inspiron 11 3195 2-in-1.
6 Tips for Buying a Laptop
- A smaller screen means better portability.
- Get a resolution of at least 1080p.
- Choose a laptop with at least 8 hours of battery life.
- Chromebooks are good for kids, but Windows or macOS is better for everyone else.
- Get a 2-in-1 only if you need a touch screen.
- Key specs: Core i5, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD.
Final Verdict. Hands down, HP laptops, in general, are more feature-rich and are known to have better performance than Dell. HP laptops have a longer battery life than Dell laptops and if used well, the battery can last several years of use without any significant reduction in capacity.
The Best Websites for Buying the Best Laptops at the Cheapest Prices
- Amazon.com. Find all the great names in laptops, including Apple Macbooks, at the world's largest online retailer.
- Overstock.com.
- TechBargains.com.
- eBay.com.
- NewEgg.com.
- Walmart.com.
- PCMag.com.
- TigerDirect.com.
Chromebooks are laptops and two-in-ones running on Google's Chrome operating system. The hardware might look like any other laptop, but the minimalistic, web-browser-based Chrome OS is a different experience from the Windows and MacOS laptops you're likely used to.
How to Get a Laptop for Free
- Contact Computers with Causes.
- With Causes.
- Get a complimentary or discounted laptop from World Computer Exchange.
- The National Cristina Foundation.
- Check out the On It Foundation.
- Join an Online college.
- Check with your local Salvation Army Chapter or Goodwill.
- Check out PCs for People.
We've rounded up our favorites in multiple categories to help you narrow it down a bit.
- Best overall: Dell XPS 13.
- Best MacBook: Apple MacBook Air.
- Best Chromebook: Google Pixelbook Go.
- Best value Chromebook: Samsung Chromebook 4+ (15-inch)
- Best 15-inch laptop: LG Gram 17.
- Best 13-inch laptop: HP Envy 13t.
If all you're doing is taking notes in class, writing up papers, and basic internet browsing, the latest tablets should do the trick. You'll notice very little difference in these simple apps between a nice laptop vs tablet.
The main reason for the larger profile is that the keyboard and trackpad take up additional space. Laptops that include more powerful components require additional cooling, which adds to the size. Because of their smaller size and weight, a tablet is much easier to carry around than a laptop, especially for travel.
The new iPad Pro got a nice upgrade, and it makes a tempting laptop replacement. Apple's new 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros are great. Apple's new added mouse support for iPads makes these, and other iPads, much more powerful work machines that really can replace your laptop.
Run Proprietary or Desktop SoftwareThe iPad can't run Windows or Mac software, which means no access to software that requires Windows or macOS, which includes many of the most popular games. Beyond gaming, many people bring their work home with them, and work often involves proprietary software.
An Android tablet can make a good alternative to a laptop, provided that you don't need to do a lot of computer-based work. Android tablets are limited by their mobile OS and the Google Play store, and it can be difficult to switch between Android apps the way that you might flip between windows on a laptop.
The iPad Pro is the better option for those who want to travel light and who want a touch-first experience with a superior display. Bottom line: The iPad Pro is the best tablet you can buy that can double as a laptop for some people, and the MacBook Air is the best laptop for most people.
