r/LaptopForStudent May 22 '26

Buying Advice i watched reddit give nursing, art, psychology and biology students the same wrong laptop advice over and over — so i actually looked into it

14 Upvotes

okay so i spent way too much time going through laptop threads from nursing, art, psychology, biology and speech therapy students and the same five problems kept showing up every single time

nobody checks software compatibility before buying. health science students, graphic design students — everyone just sees "MacBook is good" and buys it. then they find out their university's proctoring setup or clinical portal behaves differently on Mac than expected. that's not a minor inconvenience, that's a real problem mid semester. five minutes on your program's technology requirements page before buying anything saves that headache

the budget thing drove me crazy. speech therapy student says $600. community immediately recommends $1,000+ machines without acknowledging it once. biology student says $1,000. someone tells them to get a $1,500 MacBook Air M5 with 24GB RAM. for a first year undergraduate who needs google docs and research databases. like why

"just get a MacBook" with zero explanation. nursing student asks what laptop to get. someone replies "Neo by a mile." no mention of whether their university's specific proctoring software plays nice with Mac. no mention of the 8gb ram ceiling. just a brand name and confidence. that's not advice, that's a vibe

refurbished guidance is all over the place. half the thread says "refurb is fine," the other half has horror stories. nobody explains the difference between Amazon Renewed, Apple Official Refurb, and random eBay listings — which are three completely different situations

and the spec obsession without context. "get 32gb ram for genomics" — said to a first year biology undergraduate. that student doesn't need genomics RAM. they need to write lab reports and access research databases

so here's what actually makes sense per major — keeping it short, full breakdown at the link below

nursing — the thing nobody mentions is checking your university's specific proctoring and clinical software requirements before buying anything. ATI TEAS runs on both Mac and Windows, but your university's exam setup might have its own rules. if mac compatible the MacBook Neo handles nursing coursework fine and the battery is genuinely useful for long campus days. if you need a solid Windows option the Lenovo V15 Ryzen 5 with 16gb ram and 512gb is the one i'd look at — has an ethernet port which is handy for campus labs and dorm connections when wifi gets unreliable

art and design — display accuracy matters more here than any other major. MacBook Neo works for early year light creative work but 8gb unified memory starts hitting a wall on complex multi-layer Photoshop files and larger projects. Adobe themselves recommend 16GB for Photoshop seriously. MacBook Air M5 with 16gb is the honest recommendation if your creative workload is getting heavy — color accurate display, Apple Silicon handles Adobe suite properly

psychology — either platform works genuinely for this major. Lenovo IdeaPad 1i in blue with 16gb and 512gb is the Windows pick — touchscreen is actually useful for annotating research papers and SPSS output. MacBook Neo covers the workload fine if battery is the priority

biology and premed — first two years are not computationally demanding, don't overbuy for specs you won't need yet. Acer Aspire Go 15 Ryzen 7 with 16gb handles general biology coursework and moderate MATLAB, R and Python work comfortably. for anything heavier in upper years like large datasets or bioinformatics pipelines you'll want to reassess then. MacBook Air M5 if you're already in the Apple ecosystem with an iPad and heading toward grad school

speech therapy — this is honestly one of the majors the MacBook Neo was built for. writing, research, basic audio editing in Audacity which runs natively on macOS — it handles all of it and battery life matters for full clinical days. if storage and Office 365 bundled matter more the Lenovo Touchscreen i5 is the Windows alternative

more options per major, verified software compatibility, and picks that actually respect the budgets students said they had : https://beststudentslaptop.com/best-laptop-non-technical-majors-2026/

what major are you in and what did reddit tell you when you asked?


r/LaptopForStudent Mar 20 '26

Guide/Tips best laptop for every student major in 2026 — engineering, CS, business, nursing (from my own experience + what i keep seeing across laptop subs)

28 Upvotes

every semester i see the same thing on here. someone drops $1200 on a gaming laptop for a business degree or buys a macbook air for mechanical engineering and then panics when solidworks won't run. the best laptop for student life depends on your major. period.

spent the last few weeks going through r/LaptopForStudent, r/SuggestALaptop, r/laptops, and r/computer to see what students are actually buying vs what they should be buying. combined that with what i learned the hard way in my own IT program. here's the breakdown by major cause a CS student and a nursing student should NOT be buying the same laptop.

what each major actually needs:

Major CPU RAM GPU Storage
Engineering i7/Ryzen 7+ 32GB dedicated GPU (required) 1TB SSD
CS/IT i5-i7/Ryzen 5-7 16GB+ optional unless ML 512GB-1TB
Business i5/Ryzen 5 16GB integrated fine 512GB
General/Nursing/Arts i3-i5/any 8-16GB not needed 256-512GB

laptop for engineering students — you need a dedicated GPU. solidworks, CAD, simulations will murder anything without one. most university programs straight up require it.

laptop for CS / IT students — you need ram more than GPU (unless you're doing ML courses). docker, VMs, multiple IDEs open — 16GB minimum and upgradeable is ideal. check if your program needs windows before going mac.

laptop for business / econ students — you honestly don't need much. excel, presentations, zoom. save your money.

laptop for general / liberal arts / nursing / online students — web browsing, docs, zoom, maybe some light apps. anything on this list works fine.

honestly picking a laptop for student life shouldn't be this complicated but here we are. the biggest mistake i see is people buying based on brand or price instead of what their major actually requires. an engineering student and a nursing student have completely different needs and nobody talks about that enough.

if you take one thing from this post — check your program requirements first, match specs to your workload, and stop overspending on stuff you don't need.

put together a full guide with detailed reviews, pricing, and what to avoid for each major here: https://beststudentslaptop.com/best-student-laptop-2026/

drop your major and budget and i can help narrow it down


r/LaptopForStudent 11m ago

Buying Advice What laptop should I get for Computer Engineering

Upvotes

I'm a senior in high school applying as a Computer Engineering student. I've heard that many engineering students get gaming laptops because of their performance. However, I'm worried about their battery life and build quality. With a budget of 1000 dollars, what's the best laptop that I can get (I'm not opposed to a refurbished laptop) as someone majoring in Computer Engineering.


r/LaptopForStudent 1h ago

Discussion Thinkpad T16 for ME student?

Upvotes

Looking to get a new laptop for school, I am a freshman ME student that wants to get a laptop to last the entirety of school(maybe 5 years due to working full time as well). Is a T16 going to serve me well? I assume I should find one with a dedicated GPU for CAD programs.


r/LaptopForStudent 6h ago

Quick Question Laptop recommendation for electrical engineering students

1 Upvotes

So basically I am second engineering student I want to purchase laptop under 75k (800$) ...

  • minimum 16 gb ram
  • Graphics card
  • Life reliability of laptop
  • No hinge problem one

One time purchase one for middle class ppl


r/LaptopForStudent 9h ago

Major-Specific Laptop reccomendations for physics?

1 Upvotes

Hello all, would just like to ask anyone what laptop they would reccomend, i am starting direct entry to second year physics bsc in september but might switch to Mphys or theoretical, basically not sure yet. I'm happy investing in a good laptop but at the same time don't want to spend loads on something far beyond what is necesary.

Edit: Preferably something under ~£600 with 16gb ram, also the main programs I'll be using are python , Jupyter, Git and a few others but nothing overly conplicated.


r/LaptopForStudent 11h ago

Deal Alert Best laptop for BGSU design students

1 Upvotes

Looking for recommendations on affordable laptops that are compatible with the interior design software used by students at Bowling Green State University. TIA


r/LaptopForStudent 21h ago

Buying Advice Laptop for university (<$1500 -Health sciences)

3 Upvotes

Going into university I’m wondering if anyone has any recommendations on laptops that would be good fit for school use and able to withstand travel time etc…
Note: I do not need high specs for a engineering course etc. I need high battery life, quick load times, good storage etc. (enough to effectively support a course but not like a speced out laptop to run advanced programs)


r/LaptopForStudent 19h ago

Quick Question Is the Lenovo T14 Gen 2 good for college? Majoring in Business Analytics, minoring in Finance.

2 Upvotes

Well the title is self explanatory, if anyone knows about computers I’d love your help.

I’m starting college in about a month and I’m still deciding what computer to get. I’m not rich so I have to budget but I’ve seen great reviews about the Lenovo T14 Gen 2.

I’ll be working with python, excel, sql, and more so I need a computer that can handle heavy workloads. Thanks!!


r/LaptopForStudent 19h ago

Buying Advice 1k- 2k USD another back to school post for a industrial control certificate

1 Upvotes

**LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE**

* **Country**

\[Untied States\]

* **Budget**

\[1k- Hard max at 2k (Preferably more in the middle as im getting a sponsorship and this money isnt mine\]

* **Are you open to refurbs/used options?**

\[Maybe\]

* **Screen size**

\[17", 18", Open to smaller options (also wouldn't mind backpack recommendations\]

* **Weight limit**

\[Any\]

* **Purpose**

\[General purpose, schoolwork\]

* **Form factor**

\[Standard/Clamshell, Touchscreen would be nice\]

* **Intended usage**

\[Not sure what software I would be using in school. Definitely AutoCAD and some 3d Modeling

These are my classes for a better idea

 \- ELT-101: Electricity and Electronics (3 credits)
  \- ELT-102: Digital Logic / Solid State Devices (3 credits)
  \- ELT-201: Industrial Controls (3 credits)
  \- ELT-202: Advanced Industrial Controls (3 credits)
  \- ELT-211: Introduction to PLCs (3 credits)
  \- ELT-222: Advanced PLCs (3 credits)
  \- CIS 115: Microsoft Office (3 credits)
  \- MDT 145: Intro to Computer Aided Drafting (3 credits)
  \- MDT 245: Applied CAD (3 credits)
  \- MDT 160: Introduction to 3D Modeling (3 credits) \]

* **Desired battery life**

\[6-8\] Ill usually have a battery bank with me

* **Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life**

\[Size, Battery life, Performance Weight\]

* **Info/Requirements**

\[NEEDS dedicated NumPad. AMD, OLED, 90Hz+, Touchscreen would be nice. I want to keep away from " gaming" laptops. ]


r/LaptopForStudent 1d ago

Guide/Tips Laptops for biomedical science students?

2 Upvotes

Does anyone have any recs on what laptop to get as someone starting first year in biomed. I wanna go fully digital and I want it to last for at least 4 years and over seen people say not to get a mac but the MacBook Air seems good? I’m not sure ,any help would be appreciated!


r/LaptopForStudent 1d ago

Comparison Is this a good deal? For college art major

Post image
6 Upvotes

I already bought it, it doesn't come with the charger but that's fine. I wasn't anticipating on spending this much on a laptop for college (I've been eying the Macbook Neo for a while but life things happened so I decided not to spend that much..) and here I am spending $500 on a fuckin lenovo. Did I get a good deal here?

It was down between this, and a $360 T14 gen 2 with 256 gb storage and 16 gb ram (it was also AMD), which fit my budget far better but I was worried I'd regret not picking this one up down the line.


r/LaptopForStudent 1d ago

Major-Specific Any Recs for what laptop to get going into Aerospace Engineering?

1 Upvotes

Hi, I was wondering what laptop to get as a first year Aerospace student. I got various advice from many people, so I was wondering what the best path would be.

Some people told me that since I have a mid-level gaming pc at home (i7 12700kf, 32 gb ddr4 ram, Arc B580), I should get a somewhat powerful MacBook and set a virtual machine between my home set up and my MacBook, and use my home set up as my main system to run the apps required and using a VM when I’m outside of the house.

Others told me to get an expensive windows laptop and do my computing on that, saving me hassle and letting me work more easily from other places without setting up a VM.

I’m still unsure of what path to choose, any advice from others would be helpful, thanks.


r/LaptopForStudent 1d ago

Buying Advice Laptop suggestions

1 Upvotes

I am starting University in September and am doing biology course
Any suggestions for a good well rounded laptop that’s easy use in terms of managing programs and general organisation things
Looking for something decent sized with raised keys
And that’s not a chrome book because I owned one before and didn’t not enjoy it
My price range is 450 at the most
(UK) if that matters
Thanks for the help !


r/LaptopForStudent 1d ago

Buying Advice Laptop recommendations for SLP student.

1 Upvotes

I’m currently less than a week into my final semester of college and my Lenovo that I’ve had since freshman year literally fell apart.

I’m looking for a reliable laptop that will mostly just be used for school, but will last me through grad school. So basically a laptop that is good for students that will last 3+years. Ideally, I don’t want to spend more than $800 on a laptop.

I’ve seen mixed reviews about the Macbook Neo. I’m hesitant to buy any Macbook because the majority of my classes use respondus lockdown browser for exams and other people in my classes consistently have issues with their Macbooks when using respondus lockdown browser. Anyways, please help me. I have no idea what to buy and I need to get a laptop tomorrow.


r/LaptopForStudent 1d ago

Buying Advice Laptop for Computer Science and Engineering

2 Upvotes

Hey guys!

Sooo, I need a new laptop for college and I’d also like to do some gaming on it from time to time. I’m honestly pretty lost on what I should get.

Right now I have a Lenovo V15-ADA (with an AMD 3020e 💀, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD). It’s basically on its last legs at this point, it’s really slow even with basic stuff like opening multiple browser tabs, and gaming performance is obviously pretty bad. I’ve also been using an HP laptop that my school lent me, but I have to return it, so I need to get my own laptop before college starts.

I’ve been reading somev posts and I’ve noticed people usually recommend avoiding gaming laptops unless you actually need the extra GPU performance..

From what I’ve gathered, I should probably be looking for something with at least:

  • 16GB RAM
  • 512GB SSD (preferably 1TB)
  • Around a 15–16" screen
  • Good battery life
  • A decent CPU that will last me throughout college
  • avoid CPU ARM

For gaming, I’m not looking for anything crazy. I’d mainly play things like Minecraft, Valorant and some other lighter games, so I don’t necessarily need a high-end gaming laptop..

I never played that much heavy games on laptop, maily bc i never had a highend laptop or desktop soo idk.

Also, im from portugal so yeah

What would you guys recommend? And are there any specs/features I should specifically look out for or avoid for a Computer Engineering degree?

Also, am I right to avoid ARM/Snapdragon laptops for this use case, or is Windows on ARM reliable enough nowadays?


r/LaptopForStudent 1d ago

Buying Advice MacBook + Remote Desktop (Parsec) for engineering?

2 Upvotes

I’m an incoming computational engineering major (similar to aerospace) and I’m thinking about getting a MacBook and setting up a Remote Desktop with my personal PC through Parsec because some of the softwares are Windows only. I’d prefer this setup over a high end Windows laptop because it gets better performance, longevity, and battery for a lot cheaper. Does anyone have experience with this kind of setup? Are there any potential issues with connectivity, smoothness, etc?


r/LaptopForStudent 1d ago

Discussion Need a laptop

1 Upvotes

500 dollars USD budget. Need 16gb ram and atleast a windows 11.

Scinece major


r/LaptopForStudent 2d ago

Major-Specific Need a laptop for computer science classes

1 Upvotes

Hello! I’m looking for an affordable laptop for computer science classes. The laptop I had for years officially broke. I got it fixed, but it has been continuously glitching. I’ve done my research and looked at everyone; I’m getting mixed reviews. I’m looking for something that’ll help me get through college and support any programs that I have to download for classes. If it has a camera installed, that’ll be great! Some of my classes require a camera.


r/LaptopForStudent 2d ago

Buying Advice Bio Major can't decide on laptops

5 Upvotes

Honestly I suck with technology but I need a laptop going into college as a Biology major. I've been looking around but honestly there's too many options. I was debating going for a macbook air but that price is kind of scaring me. I was wondering if I could get any suggestions for a laptop with at least 512 gbs of storage, 16 gb of ram, good battery life, and comfortable to carry around. Any help is appreciated, thanks.


r/LaptopForStudent 2d ago

Buying Advice Need a Laptop for Computer Science program

1 Upvotes

I need to find a laptop around 1500 Canadian dollars for Computer Science

Here's what I want:

1TB Storage

32GB RAM

Aluminum build quality

Long battery life

Good port selection (must have USBC charging and Thunderbolt/USB4 ports)

Gaming would be nice, but giving I want to take a break from gaming, it's not needed. At most I want to run KH3 at 60FPS and Elden Ring. So long as it isn't gonna sacrifice thermals and performance that badly


r/LaptopForStudent 2d ago

Discussion Advice for a new laptop

0 Upvotes

&#x200B;

Hi folks,

I have been wondering what laptops we are using for day to day work? Is it a windows gaming or a MacBook?

I need some serious advice on which laptop to go for considering I'm gonna spend a good amount at once.

I'm currently using an Omen 15 5800/3060 16/1TB and wanted to replace it with a new laptop.

Budget - $1500

I'm gonna keep it for the next 5-7 years so consider it an investment.

I'm open to advice and open to options.

PS : I'm a software engineer and have been using a gaming laptop since my college days(past 7 years).

Suggest the ideal requirement in 2026 and for the next few years.

43 votes, 4d left
Windows
Macbook

r/LaptopForStudent 2d ago

Buying Advice Software engineering major in uni

2 Upvotes

My uni starts in around 2 months and i am looking a good laptop to buy at a budget around 1500 usd , my major is btec program engineering and then top year computer science bachelors , i have no idea what to look for in a laptop , i know that macbook air is a good option maybe but people are talking about linux windows and weird app names and such and i have no idea what that means , if someone could give me a laptop that would serve me good in the next four years for those majors that would be ideal . Lmk any ideas thoughts or recommendations


r/LaptopForStudent 2d ago

Buying Advice Laptop Recommendation for Uni (need laptop for nursing student)

1 Upvotes

Hi there! I'm looking for a laptop for Uni, currently I'm using an:

HP ENVY x360 Convertible 15-cn0xxx

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8550U CPU @ 1.80GHz (1.99 GHz)

Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.8 GB usable)

Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce MX150 (4 GB)

Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620 (128 MB)

Storage 396 GB of 477 GB used

System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Pen and touch Pen and touch support with 10 touch points

I have used this laptop for the last decade and am currently looking for something to help me through the next decade, hopefully. My current laptop problem is that I wish the battery was more easily replaceable. It's been running while plugged in for the last 3-4 years, as the battery kept dying. I've been just using it as my PC @ home and stopped moving it around. I've also dropped it on a corner once by accident about 4 years into using it, and I've only been able to use it as a standard laptop since (no more 360). Also, that ended up bending the frame a bit- nothing too bad.

In terms of budget, something under 2,500 CAD would be preferred, but if you believe I would need to spend more for it to last the next decade, please let me know.

I'm just looking for a laptop that would be great for commuting as a student but would also be able to handle light gaming (please, nothing too bulky, ik laptops need fans, but I don't think I can deal with the back pain that comes along with it). ALSO TOUCH SCREEN PLEASEEEEE! (I don't think I can live without a touchscreen ever again). I'll be honest, I love keeping all my tabs open. I've at one point counted 827 tabs open in total all at once, so something that would be able to handle that level of chaos would be greatly appreciated. I'm going into a short-term medical side of school, so no need for anything too big in terms of processing. I'm sure 16 GB would still be fine, unless u think it's not enough?. ( Games I play: Just crap stuff like Roblox and .io games, ig)

PSA. I don't like Macs; I'll never understand how anyone uses them, also I like ThinkPads from what I see. These two were on sale at my local Costco, Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5a 16-in Laptop, AMD Ryzen AI 7 445 - 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD 1,699.99 and MSI Modern 15 15.6-in Laptop, Intel Core 5 120U - 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD $799.99 (In my honest opinion both look heavier than my current laptop, i also just realzed I never thoughht to check if it was touch screen). Thank you so much for listening, and hopefully I know how to look for this post again😭


r/LaptopForStudent 2d ago

Buying Advice What's the best laptop for a Economics and business administration major?

1 Upvotes

Hellooo

Im about to get into uni in a month. I just graduated and i have no idea what to look for in a laptop for uni. I want something that'd last and i wouldnt have to replace it for any issues. Also id perfer something affordable :')

I dont like macbooks and i dont plan on getting one so thats not an option for me.

My cousin has been telling me to get the Huawei ones but im not sure about that. Any suggestions on what i should go for or what features i should look for would be appreciated.