Technology and Gadgets Online

The laptop has become an ever present site pretty much anywhere you go these days. Most restaurants and hotels, and many other businesses, now have “hotspots” that have a wireless signal allowing people to more freely use wireless devices like laptops. Laptops have always been more expensive than a PC of comparable quality and this has been the stopping point for many potential laptop owners. The good news is that unless you are planning to play video games that require a great deal of power to play it is not at all difficult to find laptops under $400 and even less.

A great example of this is the Compaq Presario CQ61G laptop. This bargain laptop uses Windows 7 and has a 15.6” LCD display that does not wear your eyes out trying to pick up images from a tiny screen. HP gives customers the option of customizing the notebook to get the price as low as possible. You have a choice between sever different AMD processors, keeping in mind that for this low price you will get a single core processor and you can get from 2-4 GB of ram and still get laptops for under $400. There are also several different sized hard drives available ranging from 160GB to a big 500 GB. The video capability is sufficient but does not have enough power to run games like Doom III or F.E.A.R. The basic card is the ATI Radion HD4200 Graphics with 128 MB display cache memory. You do have the option of adding both a 5 and 1 media reader and an HDMI port to expand your video capability. This compact model has an integrated microphone but you will have to purchase a separate video cam.

Another great choice for laptops under 400 dollars is the Toshiba L505-T6500. Retailing at $399 this laptop computer has a 16” screen and an Intel Duel Core T6500 processor. Toshiba starts the laptop out with 3GB of RAM but you can easily upgrade to as much as 8GB. You should be using Windows 7 however as XP will run slow in this model. You still cannot play any high res video games with this model because the graphics capability is not really up to par. The card is an Intel Graphic Media Accelerator4500 MHD, which cannot really handle 3D applications.

There are several other laptops for less than $400 available and you can easily find a model available that is perfect for your needs. Most of these devices are the best laptops for college students but the low prices make them even more attractive to all people who are trying to shop on a tight budget.

When looking for the best student laptops, a lot of people get lost trying to read through review and review and comparing specs from multiple models, only to sit there confused and unsure of exactly what is the “best laptop for college students“. Don’t get stuck reading and trying to understand all the details and inner workings on laptops, it won’t help you find the best one, it might help you find a more expensive one however. And if you’re like I was in college, you’re looking for an afforable laptop for college, not the most expensive model you can find.

So how do you find some of the best laptops for college students? Easy, ask the college you are going to. Every college now has minimum requirements for what laptops will work with their network. It includes everything from the processor speed, hard drive, memory, and even the operating system. The requirements aren’t very strict, but are important to pay attention to. One of the more important requirements is the operating system however. Microsoft has been switching operating systems rather quickly over the past few years. Specifically from Windows XP to Vista and now to Windows 7. A lot of schools prefer to have either Windows XP or Windows 7.

Here’s a little secret; almost every laptop available today will be a good laptop for school and will meet their requirements. Manufactuers have made great advances in the technology inside laptops and it’s now at a point where even the entry level laptops you see for $399 are going to fit the bill and work great for most college students. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule such as a photography or graphic design student, but you’ll most likely find yourself looking around the Apple store for those majors.

Instead of worrying about the specs, spend some time looking at the other options like speakers, the color of the laptop, or even a remote. Yes, even some multimedia laptops now come with remotes. Some of the best laptops for students are the ones that you actually like and will enjoy using. Check out the models at the local electronics store, give the keyboards a try, pick them up, and use the trackpad. Make sure you like the feel of the laptop and will enjoy using it through college.