Things to Consider Before Buying a Laptop for a Grad Student

Are you looking for a laptop for a grad student? Here we have got you covered. There would be many confusions and questions in your mind as to what should be the specs and features and which company is good for you from a study perspective. Undergraduate and graduation are a stage where you need a laptop with more than the basic features.

There are a lot of choices available in the market with many sorts of operating systems, from basic to high-end laptops with many advanced features. Modern laptops work faster as they come with a 2TB NVME solid-state drive. Many technical experts suggest buying a 2TB NVME SSD from Australia is worth your money.

But which is the right one for you? We are addressing it in this article below.

A detailed buyers guide is underway that will let you get a suitable laptop for grad schools for your studies.

Let’s cater to this problem of yours and get into the details of things to consider before buying a laptop

Screen Size

Screen size is an important spec to look into. This depends upon you. If you are a graphic designer or anyone who designs things, you need a big screen. A screen of 14 to 15 inches is ideal for designers. A bigger screen would let you design and make illustrations in a better way. This would also let you make assignments and do different projects easily. It provides a clear vision and images.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The laptop that you are buying should have an ergonomic design. If your laptop is not ergonomic, then it is not a good investment. The laptop should have a good-quality, sturdy keyboard offering a solid tactile body.

This would allow you to use the laptop in a better and easy way. There should be enough key travel (the distance that the key travels down when pressed, should be 1 to 2mm).

Backlighting of the keys is also important, buy a laptop with Backlit Keys, it will help you to type in dim lights.

Moreover, the distance between the keys should also be good so that you can type easily.

The touchpad of the keyboard should be smooth and at hand. It should be of the appropriate size that lets you move the cursor and control the screen easily. It should have the touchpad drivers installed in it, otherwise, the touchpad itself won’t be useful.

Decide the Specs

Always check the specs of the laptop. They should be reliable. The components included in the laptops are processors, RAM, GPU, Hard drive or SSD, etc. Let’s see how these components should be so you know better before buying any laptop.

Processor

The processor of the laptop is also known as the CPU. It is the most important component of the laptop or any PC. It has a huge influence on the performance. It processes the info so it should be from a good company and of good quality. The available companies which offer the best processors are INTEL, AMD, etc.

RAM

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is the storage component. This one holds and reads the programs so it should have enough capacity and bytes to handle the programs or files you want to work with on your laptop. They range from 2GB to 512GB. The ideal RAM for a student is 4GB however if you are a graphic designer and you use different software then you can go for 8GB or 16GB.

Graphics Card

A graphics card is the most needed thing for graphics designers. It provides clear visuals and if the GPU is good then it provides lag-free visuals. If you are not playing video games, do not create 3D objects, or do not do high-quality video editing then you can use the integrated graphics card given with the laptop.

If you have some graphics work then you can go for the AMD or NVIDIA graphics cards. The NVIDIA graphics cards maintain the CPUs from high to low end or quality. If you play games too, then you should not opt for Macbook rather go for AMD or NVIDIA graphics cards.

Ports

Different types of ports are necessary for a laptop but the absence of ports should not be a decision-maker when buying a laptop. It is necessary to get all the connections but one won’t want a slew of dongles attached.

The laptops usually have Type A and Type C ports which are important for many things like charging the phone and attaching different hardware devices like a keyboard, mouse, etc. Moreover, some other connectivity ports are also available.

Slots for SD cards, headphone jacks, and ethernet ports are also available in some laptops. You should check and choose according to your preference.

Operating System

You should know which operating system is good for you. The beginners usually go for Chrome OS. It is simple but it is not versatile. The other operating system like Windows, LINUX, or MAC, there are some advanced-level operating systems but once you get hold of them, they are the most useful.

The MacOS does not deliver the touchscreens and they do not provide that feature. While the Windows OS allows the touchscreen features, many laptops having this OS are available in the market with touchscreens.

Display Quality

The display is a very important feature. The more pixels you have the better is the display quality. It would let you have clear and crisp visuals. More pixels also let you fit more content on your screen and sharper the videos and images. Full HD or 1080p display runs at 1920 x 1080 resolution. This is the display quality provided by most business laptops.

Display quality includes much more than just the resolution. It also involves the IPS panel range. These panels range in color and brightness. If you want high-quality color quality and brightness, you should not care about the battery life.

Performance

A high-performing laptop is also high in price. The choice of a laptop mainly depends upon how you use the laptop. A powerful laptop would be needed if you are a designer or do some multimedia work. The processor should be of good quality, fast, and a good company like INTEL, etc.

Storage

Storage is also very important to notice. It should be high enough to store all the data, programs, files, etc. The storage can be in the form of a hard drive or it can be an SSD. The hard drive is the older version and a bit slow but the solid-state drives are the newest things. They are faster and better due to enhanced thin-film materials. They do not make noise too. They come in various storage capacities. Both hard drives and SSDs can be used on the same laptop.

Entertainment Features

Being a student does not mean you only have to study. On need enjoyment and entertainment too. Also, the laptop is not a workhouse only. It also includes many applications, songs, programs, games, video training, etc for entertainment. The entertainment also includes good quality speakers so also make sure that the speakers are good. The audio should be clear.

You can download music files, play games, and watch videos, on a laptop which provides sheer entertainment. Consider the screen size display quality and processing power for viewing 4K videos. The online games or other high-end and big games would also be with clear and crisp visuals if the above-mentioned specs are of a standard.

Portability

The laptop with all the specs and features should not be such that it becomes so heavy to carry around. It should be thin and light as the student have to carry their books and bag as well. The laptop should be a burden on them. This should do more than just a laptop for the students. It should go miles with the students like in lectures, at home, in coffee shops, etc. So, do not go for a heavy laptop as it would make your wrists and arms painful.

Battery Life

The battery life of the laptop should be more than 8 hours. You can survive a day without recharging if you do not work a lot but you would need a laptop with good battery life if you have a lot to do on your laptop like writing essays, taking notes, watching videos, etc.

Price

Always keep the budget in your mind when buying a laptop. Check your preferences, secs, and features, and then just go for the ideal laptop.

Final Conclusion

After reading this you better know about the nitty-gritty of the laptops and how to choose. This way you would be able to make the right choice of a laptop for yourself. A laptop is a basic thing that should be of high quality and no feature of it should be compromised. From the operating system to battery life, all the aspects should be of advanced level and your choice.

At the graduation level, the basic features won’t work instead you need software and applications of an advanced level. With this guide, you would be able to choose which features you need on your laptop.