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Best Laptops For High School and College Students $1000 and Under

Naazir2010 | Mar 9, 2011 |

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Best Laptops For Your Money

Portability, affordability and durability, these are the most important attributes of a laptop for student. Below is a short compilation of the top 5 student laptops available in the market today, highlighting their specs with their pros and cons for a student:

HP Pavilion dm4

$709.98

Specs:

CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-450M Processor 2.40GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.
RAM: 4GB DDR3 SDRAM up to 8GB
Hard Drive: 500GB (7200 RPM) SATA
Display: 14" HP BrightView LED (1366 x 768)
Optical Drive: SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics with up to 1696MB total graphics memory
WiFi: 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth: 2.1
Built-in Webcam: HP TrueVision Webcam with integrated digital microphone
Audio: Dolby Advanced Audio with Altec Lansing speakers
Ports: 3 USB 2.0, 1 HDMI; 1 VGA, 1 (LAN); 1 Headphone-out; 1 Microphone-in
Card Slot: 5-in-1 memory card reader
Size (lwh): 13.42 x 8.98 inches x 1.27 inches
Weight: 4.41 lbs
Battery Type: Li-ion up to 6hrs

Pros: Well, the looks of it, stylish with a kick, this laptop offers a very powerful and processor and hard drive. At a very affordable price, this could be the most recommendable student laptop there is. Display is not that too big and not that too small.

Cons: Touchpad is not that smooth, better use this laptop with a mouse. A lot agrees as well that keyboard is stiff, better get used to it. Ports are all on the side and nothing on the back, could be a little irritating at times. Weak speakers, not good enough for playing tutorials

ASUS UL30A-X5K Thin and Light

$689.91

Specs:

CPU: 1.3GHz Intel SU7300 Core 2 Duo Processor

RAM: 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 2 slots, 4GB Max

Hard Drive: 500GB SATA (5400 RPM)

Display: High-gloss 13.3" LED HD 1366 x 768 resolution (16:9 aspect ratio)

Optical Drive: (not included)

Graphics Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD

WiFi: 802.11b/g/n

Built-in Webcam: 0.3 MP

Audio: Altec Lansing speakers enhanced with SRS Premium Sound

Ports: 3 USB 2.0, 1 HDMI, 1 VGA, 1 headphone, 1 microphone, LAN

Card Slots: 5-in-1 memory card reader

Size (wdh): 12.9 x 9.28 x 0.98 inches

Weight: 3.74 lbs

Battery Type: 8-cell battery(4400mAh)

Pros: Very portable laptop; small and light even the adapter, can fit in your school bag and your books might be even heavier than this machine. Battery can last up to 10hrs, can definitely do more research. Small notebook with loud speakers, enjoy researching while sound tripping.

Cons: This is a small notebook, not ideal for students with big fingers as the keys and touchpad is small. Bunch of ASUS bloatware installed, could be annoying for those who are not tech savvy. No built-in optical drive, have to purchase an external one separately. Video is just the basics, not ideal for students who are gamers as well.

Toshiba Satellite T135-S1305RD

$649.99

Specs:

CPU: Intel® Pentium® Processor SU4100

RAM: 3GB DDR3 1066MHz memory

Hard Drive: 320GB (5400rpm)

Display: 13.3" HD TruBrite® LED Display Resolution 1366x768

Optical Drive: (none)

Graphics Card: Intel GMA 4500M Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0

WiFi: Realtek® 802.11b/g/n

Built-in Webcam: yes. With mic

Bluetooth: V2.1 + EDR

Audio: built-in

Ports: 1 VGA, 1 HDMI, 1 Microphone, 1 Headphones, 2 USB 2.0, 1 x LAN

Card Slot: 5-in-1 memory card reader

Size (wdh): 12.7 x 8.8 x 1.3

Weight: Starting at 3.88lbs

Battery Type: Li-Ion (5600mAh, 6-Cell) Up to 9.37 hours

Pros: Could be the most affordable laptop that can definitely meet what a student needs. Cheap yet proven to be durable. Portability at its best, small and lightweight, this machine could last up to 9hrs. Brag the style and color amongst those common student laptop looks

Cons: Hard drive storage is not competitive against other student laptops, you might need an external drive for all of thesis work. Tends to heat up when overused, a cooling pod might help. Not recommended for student/gamers, video card is just the basic.

HP G71-340US

$647.99

Specs:

CPU: 2.2GHz Intel Core2 Duo T6600 Processor (2MB LS Cache, 800 MHz FSB)

RAM: 4 GB DDR2 RAM (2 Dimm), Max supported 8 GB

Hard Drive: 320GB (5400RPM) SATA

Display: 17.3" HD+ HP LED BrightView Resolution 1600 x 900

Optical Drive: LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support

Graphics Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD (shared) with up to 1.7 GB total available graphics memory

WiFi: Intel WiFi Link 1000BGN

Built-in Webcam: yes

Audio: Altec Lansing built-in speakers

Ports: 3 USB, 1 VGA, 1 HDMI,1 Microphone, 1 Headphone, 1 LAN, 1 Modem

Card Slot: 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader

Size (wdh): 1.65 x 5.35 x 8.07 inches

Weight: 6.72 lbs

Battery Type: 6-cell lithium ion

Pros: Great display for such a low price, zoom no more if you are having a hard time reading on your screen. Enjoy Skype with the built-in webcam and widescreen. Very powerful laptop enough for a students need, great deal.

Cons: Not ideal for students/gamers, having only the basic video adapter. Speakers are weak, might need an external speakers/headset for listening to your tutorials. If portability is a big issue for you as a student, this is not recommended as having a big screen, this might not fit in your bag together with your books. Battery could have been upgraded considering the power consumption of having a widescreen.

Apple MacBook Pro MC374LL/A

$1,078.99

Specs:

CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

RAM: 4GB DDR3 RAM

Hard Drive: 250 GB SATA 5400RPM

Display: 13.3 inch LED 1280x800 resolution

Optical Drive: 8x DVD/CD SuperDrive

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256 MB of shared memory

WiFi: 802.11b/g/n

Bluetooth: 2.1

Built-in Webcam: FaceTime HD

Audio: stereo speakers with subwoofer

Ports: 1 MagSafe power, 1 LAN, 1 FireWire, 2 USB 2.0, 1 Thunderbolt, 1 Audio in/out, 1 SDXC card slot, 1 Kensington

Card Slot: none

Size (wdh): 12.78 x 8.94 x 0.95 inches

Weight: 4.5 lbs

Battery Type: Built-in 63.5-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery up to 7hrs

Pros: Well, if you are used to Macintosh Operating System, this is the most advisable student Mac laptop for you. Could be the most affordable MacBook yet powerful there is. For those students who value style seriously, Apple never fails to deliver that smart and luxurious style on their products. Powerful processor for your tasks and great video quality if you are into video editing degree.

Cons: As always, pricey for an average student. Can get a more high-spec’ed student notebook at the same price. There could be some issues when it comes to hardware/software compatibilities as Windows is still the common OS. If you are not a Mac user, this laptop is not a recommended especially if you are a student.

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