If you are a student at a university, you’ll most definitely know how important a laptop could be for your studies. Everyone will have different specifications for laptops as your requirements can vary as per your subjects; however, we can all agree that carrying a very expensive laptop might not be the best thing as student laptops, much like business laptops, need to be rugged and dependable. More so, because these laptops will be opened and closed much more frequently.
With that said, the laptops listed here might not have the most high-end specifications, but we picked them mainly because of their dependability and rugged nature. So, in no particular order, here are 5 our picks for best student laptops that won’t break the bank.
1. Acer Travel Mate P2 Core:
Travel mate series from Acer is actually one of my personal favourites when it came to picking a dependable workhorse. It was actually my personal laptop when I went to university. It’s good to see that this series is still going strong and has been update with times. Speaking of updates, the Travel mate P2 Core has a 7th gen Intel Intel i5 7200U, which can boost to a max frequency of 3.1GHz, 8GB DDR4 RAM and an NvidiaGeforce GTX 940MX with 2GB VRAM. The GPU in particular might seem like a boom, but it isn’t really meant for gaming as it is a low tier chip. However, the benefit of having this is CUDA supported applications like Photoshop and video processing, which can make a huge difference to the overall smoothness of the workflow. Coming to I/O, let’s just that it’ll humiliate and Apple MacBooks at this price point as it has all the necessities like 1x USB 2.0 & USB 3.0 Type-C, 2x USB 3.0 Type A, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, SD Card Reader, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, HD Webcam and a DVD R/W. As a bonus, it also gets a backlit keyboard which is a feature that so many other laptops miss out on in this price bracket. The travelmate is a dependable, rugged workhorse that won’t break the bank and well happily see you through your university classes with minimal effort.
2. Dell Vostro 3000:
As it turns out, Dell’s business laptops can actually be quite decent student laptops as it combines the same ruggedness in a professional and minimalistic design. The Vostro series is renowned for their business oriented features and rugged dependability as they are built to last. The Vostro 3000 is one of the mid rangers in the series and is purpose built for corporate individuals and students who want a powerful laptop at a decent price. The Vostro 3000 gets the following specifications – Intel 7th generation i5 7200U, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB Hard Driveand an AMD Radeon R5 M420 with 2GB GDDR3 VRAM. The feature, however, that sets it apart is the inclusion of a fingerprint reader for biometrics recognition and TPM 2.0 module for commercial-grade hardware protection and storage for encryption keys. Other than that, it also gets a healthy mix of I/O with 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and a DVD R/W. The price to features of the Dell Vostro is quite amazing as it can be had for just under Rs.40,000 making it an affordable option for everyone looking for a solid laptop with a healthy mix of security.
3. Asus Vivobook X541UA-DM1358D:
There were a lot of reservations while choosing this laptop over a few others. The Vivobook isn’t really a powerhouse like the travelmate or the Dell but, in the end, since price was a deciding factor, we ended up choosing this one over the others. The Vivobook X541UA-DM1358D is more of an ultrabook rather than a bulky laptop and as such has a very slim form factor. What’s surprising is that despite its dimensions, it still has a DVD drive, which is a real surprise because you wouldn’t expect it to have any in the first place and yet weighs just 1.9 kilos which is really ultrabook territory. Apart from the slim profile, the Vivobook also has a very classy brushed metal finish on the exterior, which makes it look like a far more expensive laptop than its price would suggest. Coming to the specifications, the Vivobook max is powered by an Intel core i3 7100U processor coupled with 4GB DDR4 Ram and gets a 1TB Hard Drive for all storage requirements. The Asus doesn’t come with a dedicated GPU but for the price, it’s really hard to complain. The Vivo is positioned to be a light productivity cum multimedia playback device as it gets a dedicated DAC for audio processing and has dual top firing onboard speakers. Also last but not the least, the Vivobook has a full HD display which makes it an absolute steal considering that it retails just under Rs.30,000.
4. Acer Swift 3:
The Swift 3 is an ultrabook from Acer, and it might be a hit or miss depending on your needs. It weighs in at just 1.5 kilos which is right up there with some high end flagship ultrabooks but costs just under Rs.35,000 depending on the type of specification that you get. Cutting straight to the chase, the primary reason for selecting the Swift 3 was the type of storage that you got for the price, which happens to be an 128GB M.2 SSD. Now, if you aren’t familiar, SSDs are a new medium for storage that is significantly faster than conventional Hard Drives and is really essential for a smoother overall performance in daily applications like web browsing and documents. Not just that, it can also accelerate loading times for heavy applications like Adobe Photoshop 2018. As far as the rest of the specifications goes, it gets an Intel i3 7100U processor and 4GB DDR4 RAM. Another USP of this laptop is that it also gets healthy mix of I/Odespite the slim form factor which includes 1x USB 3.0 Type-C, 1x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0, SD card reader, HDMI and a 3.5mm Headphone jack and Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac for universal compatibility.
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