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Back to school: How to choose the right laptop for your needs

Posted on by Gerres
Back to school: How to choose the right laptop for your needs

The academic year begins with thousands of students entering various universities and disciplines. However, they have one common need – a laptop, currently a basic tool for students of various faculties.

However, not all laptops are created equal. Choosing the right one to meet your academic requirements can save you both money and frustration. An unsuitable laptop can slow things down, especially if it doesn’t support the software your program requires.

Whether you study engineering, graphic design, social sciences, or natural sciences, each field has specific requirements for performance, display, weight, and portability. So how do you make a choice?

Avichay Ne’eman from Israel’s Dell Technologies shares everything you need to know about choosing the perfect laptop.

Key criteria for choosing a laptop for a student

Portability and Weight: As a student, you’ll likely move your laptop between classrooms, the library, the cafeteria, and your home. A heavy or bulky laptop can be cumbersome, so portability is key. Laptops weighing between 1.2 and 2 kg are ideal for everyday use.

Battery life: A big advantage of the laptop is its long battery life, allowing you to work all day long without having to connect it to electricity. Students who often study in different places should look for laptops that have at least 10 hours of battery life. Please note that battery life depends on screen brightness, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth usage, and background music.

Efficiency: It is essential to ensure that your laptop can handle demanding software. An Intel i5 processor with at least 8GB of RAM will serve most students well.

Storage: Today’s laptops come with SSD memory, which provides greater performance than traditional hard drives. At least 512 GB of memory is recommended. If you need more space, consider cloud storage options.

Screen size and display quality: For students pursuing graphics, video editing, or programming, screen size and quality matter. The 15-inch screen strikes a good balance between portability and usability. Full HD resolution will ensure sharpness and color fidelity. Many screens range in size from 13.3″ to 17.3″ and can be connected to external monitors for even more workspace.

Budget: Not every student has an unlimited budget, so balancing cost and efficiency is important. High-quality laptops in the NIS 1900-2390 range can meet the needs of most students.

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Artificial Intelligence Features: Artificial intelligence is also doing its part, thanks to the latest generation of Intel processors (AR Gen 1) and Microsoft’s CoPilot operating system, which make tasks smoother, faster and more intuitive.

Dell Vostro 3520 (source: PR)

The most popular Dell laptops for students

Dell offers several models in the Vostro 3520 series to suit different student needs:

  • I3 processor: 256 GB SSD memory, 8 GB RAM, operating system – 1990 NIS
  • I5 processor: 512 GB SSD memory, 8 GB RAM, operating system – NIS 2,390
  • I7 processor: 512 GB SSD memory, 16 GB RAM, operating system – NIS 3,290

Vostro 3530 (source: DELL)

Here’s a roundup of recommended laptops for various uses.

Engineering and computer science

Students of fields such as software engineering, computer science and electrical engineering need powerful laptops with Intel Core i5/i7 processors, at least 16 GB of RAM and an SSD with a capacity of at least 256 GB. For tasks such as graphics processing or 3D software, a dedicated graphics card such as NVIDIA GeForce GTX/RTX is necessary. Look for long battery life (8-10 hours), a high-quality 13-15-inch Full HD screen, and portability for easy use in class or in the library.

Graphic design, animation and video editing

Graphic design, animation and video editing students need high-quality screens, preferably OLED or Retina with 4K resolution, a powerful graphics card such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX, and at least 16 GB of RAM for software such as Adobe Creative Suite, Blender or After Effects . SSD storage ranging from 512GB to 1TB will help you manage large files, and fast processing is more important than longer battery life.

Social sciences and economics

Students of social sciences, sociology, psychology and economics benefit from lightweight, portable laptops with long battery life (8–10 hours), especially when there is a shortage of space in libraries or lecture halls. A reliable laptop for document management, data analysis and tools such as Power BI, SPSS or Excel is essential. An Intel Core i5 processor with 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD will meet most needs. The 13-14-inch Full HD screen ensures comfortable reading and creating documents.

Avichay Ne’eman (source: DELL)

Education and Teaching

Students in education and teaching need flexible, reliable laptops for classroom work, lesson planning, and online learning tools like Google Classroom and PowerPoint. A lightweight laptop with at least 8 hours of battery life allows for all-day use. An Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB RAM and a 13-14-inch Full HD screen should meet their needs, and the touchscreen functionality could be beneficial for classroom presentations.

Architecture and Civil Engineering

Architecture and civil engineering students rely on resource-intensive 3D design and modeling software such as AutoCAD, Revit, and SketchUp. Laptops with dedicated graphics cards like NVIDIA GeForce RTX, a solid Intel Core i7 processor, at least 16GB of RAM (32GB for complex designs), and a 512GB or more SSD are ideal. The 15-17-inch Full HD or 4K screen ensures accurate viewing of plans and drawings.