The “Study Right” Laptop

A laptop is often a necessity when it comes to higher education. I have found, since having started at university, that in this sort of environment most teachers will communicate with their students via email, that many of the assignments are handed in and assessed online, that many study groups and out of class activities are arranged on the university website and that you’re even given your grades online.

A laptop is often a necessity when it comes to higher education. I have found, since having started at university, that in this sort of environment most teachers will communicate with their students via email, that many of the assignments are handed in and assessed online, that many study groups and out of class activities are arranged on the university website and that you’re even given your grades online.

This is why choosing the right sort of laptop to help with your studies is extremely important.

For my first laptop, I invested in a netbook. I had many reasons for doing so, the main one being that it was a small and compact device that could be carried in my school bag, without adding that excess load that results in back pain! However there were a few other factors that I had to consider. Another big draw to buying a netbook was their general price; at the time I was only 16, I had a small Saturday job to work around college and therefore I wasn’t getting rich any time soon! Like most things, there’s quite a price range for Netbooks, depending on the make, model, memory, guarantee, etc., but in general they are quite a bit cheaper in comparison with your standard laptops. The other main reason that I decided to go with a Netbook was their battery life; they seem to have a reasonably long battery life in contrast to other types of laptop. My Netbook was known to last anywhere up to 8 hours without needing to be charged, a characteristic which can be very useful when doing long days at university. Nowadays Chromebooks are considered the modern Netbooks and share all the same benefits. Some good choices are the Asus Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook and the HP Chromebook.

There is however one other style of laptop which I think could be fitting to a studier’s lifestyle, that being the Ultrabook. Generally designed to be thin and light, although more expensive than the Netbook, is still an affordable laptop. For those of you who hate to work on a small screen and keyboard, these laptops are of a general laptop size. However one key point to consider is performance; Ultrabooks are faster and more powerful than Netbooks, whilst also able to multitask. Some good choices are the Dell XPS9350 13.3″ and the Sony Vaio Pro 13.

I’ve always felt that portability for a student is the priority when hunting for a laptop, as the lifestyle centres around going to classes, going to study groups, going to the library and a hundred other little journeys done on a daily basis. Therefore a light and compact laptop is essential, which is why I consider a choice between these two styles of laptop the obvious way to go. Beyond this point the decision depends entirely on what you plan on using your laptop for. There are many quality makes and models to choose from … so you’d best get researching!

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