Tips For Finding The Best Laptops For Students

Whether your kids are off to University or they are starting their course in college, you’ve decided to buy a new laptop to support them in their studies. Choosing the best laptops for students require careful consideration. With a plethora of laptops available on the market today, how do you decide on which laptop represents the best deal for students?

There are a number of key factors you should be considering in your decision process, irrespective of whether you’re the parent choosing a laptop for your kids or a student looking for a laptop deal. Listed below are some important aspects to consider when deciding what are the best student laptop deals:

• Price
• Portability & Durability
• Performance
• Battery Life
•  Warranty

Student Laptop Price

Laptop price of course is often a prime consideration. Many students and parents want to find cheap laptops for students in order to save money, after all, there will be many other substantial costs in a student’s academic life.  People recognise that laptops will be subjected to wear and otherwise become outdated in a few years, and so want to find the lowest priced laptop to meet their needs. Whilst, this is understandable, this aspect needs to be considered with the other points discussed to achieve a good balance.

Laptop Portability and Durability

Most students will use their laptop on the go, using them in-between the classroom and their accommodation, as well as in other locations like the library and yes the local coffee shop! This will mean carrying the laptop around and taken out of bags multiple times a day. Thus the portability of the student laptop as well as its durability will be of prime consideration.

When determining the best laptops for students, you want a laptop that can stand up to some abuse, something that doesn’t feel like it’s going to give at the hinges every time you open or close it, you want a laptop that feels firm when you handle it. At the same time, as the student laptop will be carried around, it should feel like you’re carrying the Bank safe on your shoulders!

You will also need to determine what size laptop you need. This will largely depend upon how you are going to use your laptop in University or college.  Here, the trade off is always between having a laptop with a decent sized screen versus one that is the most portable. Whilst we recommend a laptop screen size between 13” and 15”, this will vary for different people and their exact needs.

The thought of a nice 17” screen may be very appealing to look at, it won’t feel so nice if you are having to carry it all day.  Also, while mini notebooks and netbooks with screens as small as 10” are available, they are usually not up to the task of being the best for a student’s laptop needs.

When considering durability and portability, this is where your High Street retailers like PC World and Comet will be extremely useful. Also consider the supermarket retailers like Tesco and Sainsbury’s who stock laptops in many of their larger stores. Visit these retailers and browse the laptops on offer, checking the different makes and models available together with how they feel to pick up, how sturdy they are on opening and closing the laptop. Make a note of the brands and models you are comfortable with, also make a note of the weight and decide the max weight you would be happy carrying around. Remember that this won’t be the only item in your bag – don’t forget the reference books and folders, oh yes, and there is the lunch box!

Checking the student laptops in these offline retailer stores doesn’t mean you’re limited to purchasing from them – but by all means, if you find a bargain laptop deal whilst you’re in the shop then even better! Armed with details of the laptops you have assessed, you can now check the prices of these with the online retailers. Further, if you do decide on a different laptop, your hands on experience will help decide which brands and models were of a better build quality.

Laptop Performance

When you’re shopping for a student laptop, the laptop speed still needs to be considered. You don’t want to buy the cheapest student laptop to find that machine is slow to turn on or slow in opening applications or pages on the Internet. Equally, you don’t want to pay a high price for a laptop with processor speeds that are usually associated with gaming functions.

This will be a balance between the price, the processor speed and the memory. The exact specification is again dependent upon the type of work you envisage the laptop will primarily used for. The best laptops for students will have a range of features and configurations. Most will offer Wi-Fi, Ethernet port, and USB ports but not all laptops come with Bluetooth or fingerprint reader, for example. Thus ensure you check all the specifications to ensure they meet your requirements and the requirements of the subjects you are studying.

Laptop Battery Life

If you plan on undertaking research or writing up the thesis at the coffee shop, the laptop battery life will be important. Battery life will vary depending upon the brand and model of the laptop, thus check the specifications given for the battery life of the student laptop. This figure is usually the optimum battery life and will vary depending upon your laptop usage activity. Also remember that the battery will degrade over time and thus the battery life will also reduce.

Student Laptop Warranty

When purchasing a new student laptop, it should come with a 12 months warranty. This covers the laptop if it becomes faulty due to electronic or mechanical failure but these standard warranties do not cover accidental damage nor do they cover the eventuality of the laptop becoming faulty after the first 12 months.

Many retailers offer extended warranties when you are purchasing the new laptop. These usually cover electronic or mechanical failure, with prices varying depending upon the price of the laptop and the extended warranty duration. Some of the points to consider are identifying exactly what is and is not covered by the warranty and also the process involved in the event of a claim. For example, do you have to send or deliver the laptop to a repair centre or does it include collection and delivery.

Laptops For Students at Cheap Laptops Centre

Cheap Laptops Centre lists a range of the best student laptop deals. Browse through the range of laptops for students or use our search facility to filter down the choice of laptops and then click through to the individual laptop to view the prices on offer from the range of online retailers.