Top 5 Back to School Laptops for Students

Laptops are practically an essential for students today, so much so that many schools are even including them as part of the core curriculum and tuition. If your school does not but you need a great laptop for back to school, here are my picks for the top five back to school laptops for students.

Dell Inspiron R Series

We have two of these in our house and they are fantastic. Created specifically for students, they are small but with a large widescreen in your choice of 14-inch, 15-inch or 17-inch. They are lightweight, making them easy to carry around but sturdy and durable for long-lasting use. They come packed with a speedy processor to handle all of your needs and up to 6GB of memory. They feature a built-in webcam, up to 13 hours of battery life and other great features that make it an excellent choice for students. We have one in blue and in pink. These can range from $400 and up, depending on size and features. We got our two 15-inch models for $399 each at a Best Buy sale.

ASUS U41JF-A1 14-Inch

This is a thin and light laptop that packs all the features you need and a quality battery life of up to 10 hours. These features are important to a student, likely on the go often, who won't have time for charging throughout the day. On Amazon starting at around $600, it has a built-in webcam, 14-inch screen, three USB connectors for your accessories, and standard VGA, Audio, HDMI, Ethernet ports. ASUS is a great company and this laptop is a solid, dependable choice for students.

Apple MacBook Pro

Here is a higher priced option but it's a winner for Apple fanboys and it's likely to last you a long time as well. It ranges in options from 13-inch to 17-inch and starting prices from $1199 to $2499. The 13-inch MacBook Pro now features a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 processor or the fastest dual-core processor available '" the 2.7GHz Intel Core i7. It's fast, handy, lightweight and durable.

Toshiba Satellite T655D-S5085 TruBrite 15.6" Laptop

My first laptop was a Toshiba and it was very handy. I used it as my main computer for years until I upgraded. This model is a great pick for students and starts at around $450, making it reasonably priced as well. This model features a large screen and while it's slightly heavier than some laptops, it's durable and still light enough to carry around between classes and study sessions. It has all the features you want in a good laptop.

Acer AS1551-4650 11.6-Inch Notebook

I love Acer products. I have an Acer netbook myself and they also have many great laptops for students. This model is small and handy and gives you a more affordable option for your basic computing needs. It has an AMD Athlon II Neo Dual-Core K325 Processor(1.3 GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache) and 2GB memory. It operates very quickly for a netbook/notebook and it's lightweight and easy to toss in a bag and go. The battery life is great allowing a lot of time for surfing and word processing. All in all, it's a good solid option for the student on a budget.