The 5 Best Laptops For CS Students In The USA
Choosing the best laptop for CS students can be tricky, since you’ll need to balance price with power, portability, and of course, whether it’s right for you as a student or not. That’s why we put together this list of the 5 best laptops for CS students in the USA; it includes laptops that are not only powerful enough to handle all your programming needs, but also portable enough to easily move around campus and fit inside your backpack or briefcase.
The Top 5 Best Laptops For CS Students In USA
1) Lenovo ThinkPad E595
Think pads are probably the best laptops for the money! We have always been big fans of everything Lenovo has produced. Even their older models like the T530 and T430 are killer machines that we still use today. A notable feature of the Lenovo Think pad E95 is its 15.6 Full HD (1920*1080) display! That’s great news for students of computer science. You need something between a laptop and a desktop screen, because bigger screens are more productive. There is no point in scrolling up and down a million times.
It comes with a refreshingly efficient processor and a long-lasting AMD Ryzen 7 3700 APUs processor. You should really upgrade from the previous AMD Ryzen 5 (3500 APUS) since this new model totally knocks it out of the park in our opinion. So, if fast processing power was not enough for you, this laptop also comes with a 512 GB SSD drive. Who wouldn’t want more space! Technology is one of those areas where you’ll always have to teach yourself something new. Whether you want to install Python or some other type of programming language, you’ll always appreciate the extra space that will allow you to experiment.
2) Dell XPS 15
With a third party hard drive, the XPS 15 can be the exception for Dell! A question might be if it’s worth purchasing a refurbished machine. All that to say, you’re really getting a bargain with a Dell certified refurb with a 90-day Amazon guarantee. In that case, you might want to consider this machine if you’re in the market for something with a high level of power and don’t want to spend too much.
The XPS 15 is an excellent workstation which can run different development tools at the same time. It has a 15.6-inch 4K screen, ultra-precise colors, and does wonders in a well-lit classroom. A dream for any computer science majors. With a busy workload as a CS student, this laptop will allow you to efficiently finish all your work in one go! In addition to a large screen size, it has six to eight hours of battery life when being used optimally, which should be enough for a full work day!
Compared to the rest of the machines at this price, this computer is distinctive because it has a 9th Generation Intel Core i7 Processor, 16 GB of RAM, a 256 SSD hard drive, a fingerprint reader, and a NVIDIA graphics card. There is very little flex on the screen and keyboard due to the high-quality aluminum casing. They’re not perfect and quality control is often sketchy, but Dell has really nailed it with this one. This device does come at a hefty price, but its features and longevity will more than make up for it.
3) Razer Blade 17 (2022)
Razer is a big name in PC gaming, and this laptop has Nvidia’s latest GeForce RTX GPU, the 3080 Ti, which is extremely powerful. You can work with complex 3D games that use cutting-edge tech, like ray tracing, and play your game afterwards to see how it runs.
It isn’t just a gaming laptop, though, since it is designed for creative professionals, so if you are a programmer working on heavy projects, this laptop is a good choice. For your money, you get some of the best mobile technology available today. If you need a lot of power, this is the perfect workstation. Read our Razer Blade 17 review for more information.
4) MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021)
Some coders may find a larger 16-inch or 17-inch screen on their laptop makes programming more comfortable, but other people may find those laptops too big and bulky to easily carry around. A 14-inch MacBook Pro is a great choice for those who want a powerful laptop for programming that’s also more easily portable.
With a choice of either the M1 Pro or M1 Max Apple chips, which come with the 16-inch model, this laptop offers a similar level of performance to the bigger laptop. So, if you want a powerful laptop for programming, but also want something that’s easy to transport, you can select this laptop without compromising performance.
In spite of its smaller size, it has the same number of ports as the 16-inch model. It comes with the same number of ports, including an SD card slot, an HDMI port, and three Thunderbolt 4 ports.
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Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
In order to revitalize, the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) introduced a series of new and great features which made it one of the best laptops for programming.
Even though the MacBook Pro on this list is more powerful, the lighter and thinner MacBook Air, which is also more affordable, now comes with the same Apple-made M1 chip as the Pro, so it can’t be accused of slacking when it comes to programming.
So you’re getting a big performance and battery boost for the same price!
In this review, we discuss the effect the new M1 chip has on the compiling of code – an integral part of programming – which, if you’re a programmer who does a lot of travelling, will make the power of the new MacBook Air laptop – the sleek and portable MacBook Air – irresistible.
The M1 chip is not just powerful – it is also efficient. And so the new MacBook Air has an excellent battery life as well. You can find out more in our full MacBook Air (M1, 2020) review.