Buying a Computer for College

You can't go to college without a computer. In many senses, your computer is your lifeline. You complete homework projects on it, take notes, read emails, stay in contact with parents, and so much more. However, buying a computer can be a very confusing, and expensive process. I have worked with computers for eight years, fixing, building and buying them. I hope to use my experience to provide you with some advice in regards to buying a computer for college.

Mac versus PC

Many people would rather die over this issue than stop to even try the opposing laptop. Many Windows users will claim that you simply have to have a PC if you want to be able to use the software required at college. This is simply not true and is a plain lie. I am an engineering major , yet I didn't hesitate to buy a MacBook Pro. AutoDesk, the company responsible for many programs utilized by engineers, has made their programs Mac compatible ages ago. So have other companies. In fact, when I went to an engineering fair at Stanford, most of the students were programming and controlling their robots with Macs. Heck, I can even run Auto Desk on my iPad 2! Compatibility is not an issue anymore, so the real question is, which computer will fit your needs and how much can you afford?

Apple Computers

I will begin by running through the available Apple products. As nice my iPad is, I would not recommend it as a computer replacement solution. It was not meant to be one and will not function as one. That leaves us with the MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros, since you need a portable solution. 

The MacBook Air is a beautiful creation. Both sizes are thin, sleek and very light. The biggest drawback to them is their limited hard drive space and lack of an optical DVD/CD drive. Now you may not need a large hard drive, in which case, the solid state drive included is perfect. SSD's are incredibly fast and much more reliable than regular hard drives. Unfortunately, they are still very expensive and have not reached the sizes of regular hard drives. Think of a solid state drive as a collection of SD cards, or flash drives. Think of a hard drive as a spindle of DVD's on a platter. In essence, that's the difference. So can you manage without a CD drive? Well, you can always buy the add on CD drive and use it when needed. Lots of software are found online now, so you can simply download and install rather than using a disc to install. That does leave you with problems if you still buy your music on a CD or like to watch movies. But again, the additional drive is a viable option. The MacBook Air is very light and you'll love using it and carrying it around. It only goes up to a 13" inch monitor, so if you want a larger laptop, you'll have to go for the Pro series. If you are only going to be using your laptop for notes and the internet, and don't need much power, then the Air is perfect for you.

The Pro series starts at 13 inches, the same size as the largest Air. The difference is power, being able to add additional ram, the CD/DVD drive, more ports and the larger hard drive. There are other differences, but these are the major ones. I chose to go for a 15" Pro because I wanted the extra power. I do a lot of video and photo editing, so the Core i7 was very useful. I also wanted the larger screen and work area, as I have very large hands. For most people, the 13 inch Pro is perfect. It's also $600 cheaper than the 15" which is a significant amount. I would not recommend the 17 inch for college purposes.

Windows PCs

There are hundreds of Windows laptops so I won't be able to go through all of them. I would not recommend buying any brand other than Dell or Lenovo. Acer products tend not to last and HP just removed itself from the consumer market. One thing to remember when you're buying a laptop is that you get what you pay for. You buy a $600 laptop, and it's going to treat you a lot poorer than a $1500 laptop. Of course, if you can't afford to get anything better, then that's fine. But if you want your laptop to last all four years of college, I would recommend spending around $800 or more. Click on the computers to go to sites that have them for sale.

I would highly recommend the Dell XPS 15. This 15 inch laptop has some great specs and starts at $799. The base model is already quite impressive and I see no reason to add anything more onto it. You may be able to get it cheaper since you're a student, but Dell student discounts can get tricky. This laptop, nevertheless, is great. The Dell XPS series is wonderful and reliable. You will be running Windows 7 Home Edition.

The Lenovo that I would recommend is the Ideapad Z560. This laptop has very similar specifications to the Dell XPS 15, and is also $150 cheaper. It has Windows 7, 4 gigs of ram, 500 GB hard drive etc. Lenovos are pretty solid machines. This computer also has a card reader built in, which is very nice and useful. Of course, it also has a webcam for Skype! 

I hope this post helps you figure out what computer will suit your needs. With the rapid growth of technology, all laptops will be out of dates in four years time, no matter what brand they are. Comment if you have any questions, I'll be sure to get back to you.

~ Jason