The development of technology is a higher speed for engineers. Computer science students, programmers, application developers, and software developers need an excellent personal laptop to help them complete essential tasks, such as programming, editing, etc.
There are so many laptops in the market, and it is overwhelming when anyone goes to buy a new laptop. You can buy any laptop you like, but that might not be the best for you. So you have to know which one is good for you. For a computer science student, that laptop needs to be powerful enough to work all day. Besides, that laptop has to be lightweight so you can carry it to college or any other place.
The laptop industry has undergone so many changes over the past decade. There’s bound to be more confusion in the laptop aisle now more than ever. Unfortunately, while the laptop changes are for the better, they might be confusing. This is true especially if you’re looking for a laptop for a niche profession like computer science. In this article, we take a look at the uncharted waters that are the best laptops for computer science students or computer science majors.
List of Best Laptops for Computer Science Students
- ASUS ZenBook 15 Ultra-Slim Laptop 15.6” FHD NanoEdge Bezel, Intel Core i7-10510U, 16GB RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, GeForce GTX 1650, Innovative ScreenPad 2.0, Windows 10 Pro, UX534FTC-AS77, Grey
- 2020 Apple MacBook Air Laptop: Apple M1 Chip, 13” Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, Backlit Keyboard, FaceTime HD Camera, Touch ID. Works with iPhone/iPad; Gold
- Microsoft Surface Pro 7 – 12.3″ Touch-Screen – Intel Core i5 – 8GB Memory – 256GB SSD(Latest Model) – Platinum (PUV-00001)
- HP Pavilion 15 Laptop, 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 Processor, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD Storage, Full HD IPS micro-edge Display, Windows 10 Pro, Compact Design, Long Battery Life (15-eg0021nr, 2020)
- Acer Swift 3 Thin & Light Laptop | 14″ Full HD IPS 100% sRGB Display | AMD Ryzen 7 5700U Octa-Core Processor | 8GB LPDDR4X | 512GB NVMe SSD | WiFi 6 | Backlit KB | FPR | Amazon Alexa | SF314-43-R2YY
Below you will find our selection of the best laptops for computer science students. The list starts with the high-end models that give you killer performance for school and gaming and gradually moves towards more budget-friendly. If you are not doing any gaming or photo or video editing, a mid-range to the budget laptop will do on our list below. If you are a computer science student looking for the absolute best, consider these laptops which are recommendations.
1. ASUS ZenBook 15 Ultra-Slim Laptop
The Asus ZenBook 15 is a reliable laptop for computer science students. While the notebook features several bells and whistles, it is also beefed up when processing components and firepower are concerned.The 15.6-inch UHD display is a showstopper, courtesy of the slimmer bezels, wide viewing experience, and overall resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. Other functional attributes for the computer science students include a standard backlit keyboard and a reliable 5.65” ScreenPad 2.0, which also doubles down as a reliable touchpad.The reviewed variant of the Asus ZenBook 15 is pretty light at 3.6 pounds and even features the famous ErgoLift technology. These physical enhancements add to the heat-dissipating and typing capabilities of this intuitive notebook.
Key Features
- Windows 10 Home
- Sleek and lightweight 3.6 pounds for comfortable portability
- MIL-STD 810G military standard for reliability and durability
- 15.6 inch wide-view 4K UHD 4-way NanoEdge bezel display with 92% screen to body ratio
- Latest 10th generation Intel Core i7-10510U Quad Core Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.9 GHz) with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q discrete graphics
- Fast storage and memory featuring 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD and 16GB RAM
- Works with Amazon Alexa Voice Service that helps you with tasks, entertainment, general information, and more.
- Built-in IR camera for facial recognition sign in with Windows Hello
- Extensive connectivity with HDMI, USB Type C, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.0 and SD card reader (USB Transfer speed may vary. Learn more at ASUS website)
- Innovative ScreenPad: 5.65” interactive touchscreen trackpad that adapts to your needs for smarter control and multitasking
Technical Specifications
| Display Size | 15.6 Inches |
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Max Screen Resolution | 3840X2160 Pixels |
| Processor | 4.9 GHz core_i7_10510u |
| RAM | 16 GB SDRAM |
| Memory Speed | 4.5 GHz |
| Hard Drive | 1536 GB Hybrid |
| Graphics Coprocessor | NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 Max Q |
| Chipset Brand | NVIDIA |
| Card Description | Dedicated |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ac |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 5.5 Hours |
Pros
- Sharp display
- High-speed RAM
- Innovative ScreenPad 2.0 for better task management
- Handles most programming interfaces like R Studio and Netbeans with ease
- GTX 1650 graphics card manages most graphics-intensive apps like a pro
Cons
- Expensive
- Average battery life
Recommendations
The laptop also has a FHD resolution screen so you can see everything with great clarity. With that being said, the laptop only has a short battery life so this is something you should keep in mind. Overall, if you are looking for a performance-focused laptop, this Asus ZenBook 15 is worth trusting, courtesy of the reliable processing consortium and a top-shelf display.
2. Apple MacBook Air Laptop
MacBook’s are one of the most popular laptops among computer science students because of their developer-friendly workspace. However, in 2020, Apple released their new MacBook that is powered by the M1 chipset. It is an Apple-made chipset and comes with eight cores based on TSMC’s 5nm processing node. As a result, you will most likely get up to 3.2GHz of clock speed. Meanwhile, this laptop comes with a 16 core neural engine which will give higher AI performance.An HD Webcam is further integrated to help you with online classes, video conferencing, streaming videos, and working from home if you are also doing a part-time job. Seeing the beautiful panel, some students would be thinking of using it for entertainment. This is a perfect machine to do so, whether watching movies, Netflix, Youtube or listening to music. Its dual front-firing setup produces adequately loud audio output. As we know, MacBooks have never been so good in the I/O department, and there is no exception with the latest Macbook Air.
Key Features
- All-Day Battery Life: Go longer than ever with up to 18 hours of battery life.
- Environmentally Friendly: MacBook Air is made with a 100% recycled aluminum enclosure and uses less energy for a smaller carbon footprint.
- Stunning Display: With a 13.3” Retina display, images come alive with new levels of realism. Text is sharp and clear, and colors are more vibrant
- Fanless Design: Your MacBook Air stays cool and runs quietly even while tackling intense workloads.
- Powerful Performance: Take on everything from professional-quality editing to action-packed gaming with ease. The Apple M1 chip with an 8-core CPU delivers up to 3.5x faster performance than the previous generation while using way less power.
- Superfast Memory: 8GB of unified memory makes your entire system speedy and responsive. That way it can support tasks like memory-hogging multi tab browsing and opening a huge graphic file quickly and easily..
- Why Mac: Easy to learn. Easy to set up. Astoundingly powerful. Intuitive. Packed with apps to use right out of the box. Mac is designed to let you work, play, and create like never before.
- Simply Compatible: All your existing apps work, including Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, and Google Drive. Plus you can use your favorite iPhone and iPad apps directly on macOS. Altogether you’ll have access to the biggest collection of apps ever for Mac. All available on the App Store.
- Easy to Learn: If you already have an iPhone, MacBook Air feels familiar from the moment you turn it on. And it works perfectly with all your Apple devices. Use your iPad to extend the workspace of your Mac, answer texts and phone calls directly on your Mac, and more.
- AppleCare: Every Mac comes with a one-year limited warranty and up to 90 days of complementary technical support. Get AppleCare+ to extend your coverage and reduce the stress and cost of unexpected repairs.
Technical Specifications
| Product Dimensions | 11.97 x 0.63 x 8.36 inches; 2.8 Pounds |
| Item Weight | 2.8 pounds |
| Manufacturer | Apple Computer |
| Language | English |
| ASIN | B08N5M7S6K |
| Item model number | MGND3LL/A |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Polymer batteries required. (included) |
| Date First Available | November 10, 2020 |
Pros
- Outstanding Performance
- Aluminum Build Quality
- Adequate Audio Output
- Long-Lasting Battery Life
- Color Accurate Display
Cons
- Only Two USB Ports
- Limited Room for Repair
- Restricted 256GB Onboard Storage
Recommendations
The laptop includes only two Thunderbolt 4 capable USB Type C ports with DisplayPort and charging support. Additionally, it gets a headphone jack. So you will have to use a dongle to get more functions, especially if you tend to use external devices more often. Apart from that, this laptop has Wi-Fi 6 technology along with Bluetooth 5 support. The laptop is framed with solid Aluminium construction regarding the build quality, weighing less than 3 pounds. Speaking of the overall design, this is outstanding with great portability. Overall, this is a multipurpose device best suited for Computer Science students by just costing under $1000.
3. Microsoft Surface Pro 7
A new version of the Microsoft Surface Pro 6, the Surface Pro 7 is a befitting option for computer science students craving the convenience of a hybrid laptop. With sturdy Intel 10th Gen performance, a USB-C port, sharp display, and a design to die for, this machine will significantly boost your academic productivity while also allowing for a generous dose of entertainment.The performance is further boosted by the 256GB SSD. With SSD You can quickly transfer large amounts of files and still enjoy fast, stable speeds. Although we cannot categorize the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 with high-end, fast gaming models, the integrated Intel Iris Plus graphics can handle mid-range titles and some creative tasks. With integrated Intel Iris Plus graphics, you can use this machine for your school projects like web or mobile app development without experiencing any significant graphical hiccups.
Key Features
- Free Upgrade to Windows 11 when available.
- Next-gen, best-in-class laptop with the versatility of a studio and tablet, so you can type, touch, draw, write, work, and play more naturally
- All-day battery life upto 10.5 hours, plus the ability to go from empty to full faster about 80% in just over an hour
- Standout design that won’t weigh you down ultra slim and light Surface Pro 7 starts at just 1.70 pounds
- Faster than Surface Pro 6, with a 10th Gen Intel Core Processor redefining what’s possible in a thin and light computer.Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology
- More ways to connect, with both USB-C and USB-A ports for connecting to displays, docking stations and more, as well as accessory charging
Technical Specifications
| Display Size | 12.3 Inches |
| Screen Resolution | 2736 x 1824 |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1280 x 800 Pixels |
| Processor | 8032 |
| RAM | 8 GB DDR |
| Hard Drive | 256 GB flash_memory_solid_state |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Intel Iris Plus Graphics |
| Chipset Brand | Intel |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 1 GB |
| Wireless Type | Infrared |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 1 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 8 Hours |
Pros
- Sleek design
- Sharp display
- Comes with a USB-C port
- Impressive overall performance
- Great integrated Intel Iris Plus graphics
- Comfortable keyboard for speedy typing
Cons
- Average battery life
- Underwhelming audio performance
Recommendations
The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is an all-rounder. It’s one good deal because it takes up one bit of everything and excels at it really well. I’m talking about great design, impressively bright display, good NVME SSD storage, good daily productivity/performance, high portability, a comfortable keyboard, and long battery life.
You get a few extras like the digital pen, which is the best, compared to the Microsoft Surface Pro 6, a touch screen display, and a healthy port system. If you benefit from all this by having one of the best 2-in-1 in your lap, then make sure you choose this laptop/tablet.
4. HP Pavilion 15 Laptop
HP’s Pavilion 15 series is known to all. They have maintained an undeterred reputation putting out power-packed machines over the years. The 2020 HP Pavilion is a serious performance-packed machine for under $1000. Without any doubt, the HP Pavilion is one of the best choices for programming students.One thing to keep in mind about this laptop is that it’s an entirely plastic body with no metal casing anywhere, so if you’re a regular user of MATLAB or VB Studio which are known to heat most systems that do not use assisted cooling, this could be a point to vet over incessantly. Although the HP Pavilion is not exactly portable because of its weight (3.86 pounds) and size (15.6-inches). This shortcoming can be traded off for all the other amazing specs.
Key Features
- FULL-SIZE KEYBOARD: Work comfortably with a full-sized keyboard, integrated numeric pad, and a Precision Touchpad
- IMPRESSIVE GRAPHICS: The Intel Iris Xe Graphics gives you a new level of graphics performance with crisp, stunning visuals, plus the convenience of a thin and light laptop
- WORK ON THE GO: Get work done on the go with a long battery life of up to 8 hours while HP Fast Charge lets you go from 0 to 50% charge in approximately 45 minutes
- OS AND WARRANTY: Do more with better peace of mind thanks to the HP 1-year limited hardware warranty and the seamlessly integrated Windows 10 Pro operating system
- ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY: Stay energy-efficient and sustainable with a laptop that is Energy Star certified,EPEAT Silver registered and built with a low halogen display
- INSTANT GRATIFICATION: Experience a laptop with premium performance, so you can spend less time getting more done; it’s like a small PC that’s compact enough to go where you go with a long-lasting battery to power you through your day
- EPIC ENTERTAINMENT: With audio by B&O, a larger screen-to-body ratio, and a 15.6” Full HD micro-edged screen to maximize your view, entertainment on your laptop feels like bringing the theater home
- UNSTOPPABLE PERFORMANCE: Get things done fast with the 11th Generation Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor, which delivers instant responsiveness and best-in-class connectivity
- MEMORY AND STORAGE: Enjoy up to 15x faster performance than a traditional hard drive with 512 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage and experience improved multitasking with higher bandwidth thanks to 16 GB of RAM
- EFFORTLESSLY CONNECTED: Enjoy a smoother wireless experience with Wi-Fi (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.0 combo all your connections are solid and up to 3x faster file transfer speeds than Wi-Fi
Technical Specifications
| Standing screen display size | 15.6 Inches |
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| Max Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 Pixels |
| Processor | 4.7 GHz core_i7 |
| RAM | 16 GB DDR4 |
| Hard Drive | 512 GB SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Intel Iris |
| Chipset Brand | Intel |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Wireless Type | Bluetooth, 802.11ax |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 8 Hours |
Pros
- Edgy looks
- Affordable
- Good battery life
- Great for multi-tasking
Cons
- Plastic body
- Lack of portability
- Lack of SSD could make complex coding trickier
Recommendations
One thing to keep in mind about this laptop is that it’s an entirely plastic body with no metal casing anywhere, so if you’re a regular user of MATLAB or VB Studio which are known to heat most systems that do not use assisted cooling, this could be a point to vet over incessantly. Although the HP Pavilion is not exactly portable because of its weight and size . This shortcoming can be traded off for all the other amazing specs.
5. Acer Swift 3 Thin & Light Laptop
Acer is a well-renowned brand and best-known for its affordable budget laptops. The Acer Swift 3 is also a budget laptop. At this price, you will get a lot of value and performance. At first, this laptop features a 14-inch FHD display which is based on the IPS LED technology. It offers 1920 x 1080 screen resolution with 100%sRGB color coverage. Although color accuracy is not that important for a computer science student. Meanwhile, it gets 300 nits of max brightness, which is necessary for a computer science student.Inside, this laptop uses the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U processor. For a budget and low-cost notebook, this is a mighty processor. Speaking of that, it is a 7mn designed latest 5000 series processor. There are eight Zen 2 microarchitecture-based cores, all of which can offer 4.3GHz of max clock speed. Other than that, this laptop is powered by the AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 graphics card. It is integrated onto the motherboard, but it offers impressive performance. Moreover, the laptop packs 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and a 512GB SSD drive. So it has enough memory to do a lot of things.
Key Features
- Internal Specifications: 8GB LPDDR4X on-board memory; 512GB NVMe solid-state drive storage to store your files and media
- Windows Hello with Fingerprint Reader: Biometric fingerprint reader and Windows Hello sign-in options help keep your Acer PC secure
- Connections: 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 Dual-Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz featuring MU-MIMO technology; Bluetooth 5.2
- Using Alexa on your PC is as easy as asking a question. Just ask and Alexa can check your calendar, create lists, play music, answer questions, read the news and more.
- Acer’s Purified.Voice technology, features enhanced digital signal processing to cancel out background noise, improve speech accuracy and far-field pickup, which not only makes calls clearer, but makes talking to Alexa easier than before.
- Powerful Productivity: AMD Ryzen 7 5700U Octa-Core Processor with Radeon Graphics run your most demanding apps with lightning-fast responsiveness and hyper-efficient battery usage to keep you productive and entertained all day
- Very Visual: Immerse yourself in consistently rich and bright visuals on the 14″ Full HD widescreen LED-backlit 100% sRGB display with 85.73% screen-to-body, 16:9 aspect ratio and narrow bezels
- Cool in Every Way: Very sleek all-metal chassis is lightweight and durable enough to be your on-the-go companion throughout the day, and the understated lifting hinge helps increase airflow to keep this Acer Swift notebook looking and feeling cool
- Ports For All Your Accessories: USB 3.2 Type-C (DisplayPort and USB charging), 2 – USB 3.2 Gen 1 (1 Power-off Charging), HDMI 2.0 with HDCP support, headphone/microphone-in jack, DC-in for AC adapter
Technical Specifications
| Standing screen display size | 14 Inches |
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| Processor | 4.3 GHz amd_ryzen_7 |
| RAM | 8 GB LPDDR4 |
| Memory Speed | 1.8 GHz |
| Hard Drive | SSD |
| Graphics Coprocessor | AMD Radeon Graphics |
| Chipset Brand | AMD |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Wireless Type | Bluetooth, 802.11ax |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 3 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 4 Hours |
Pros
- WiFI 6 Support
- Backlit Keyboard
- Fingerprint Reader
- Sufficient RAM & Storage
- 5000 Series Ryzen 7 Processor
Cons
- Non-Upgradable Memory
- Some Important Ports Missing
Recommendations
Besides that, this laptop supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 at the same time. Apart from that, you will also get a fingerprint scanner for security. There are multiple ports to connect to other external things. Overall, Acer Swift 3 is a very well-built computer with strong metallic frames. So if you want a powerful budget laptop, go with this one as it will give better performance than most other laptops in this category. This is a complete package for everything, whether you are a student, business owner, or want to use it for just personal usage.
Final Verdict
Every computer science student needs a computer to work on. It will be straightforward and efficient if you have a fast and powerful laptop. Many of us prefer laptops over desktops because we get portability advantages. If your budget is around $1000, you will get a lot of options.
In this article, we learned the ways to pick out a laptop for computer science students.The best laptops for computer science students in 2021 is thus the one that provides them with a range of features to work effectively in their desired field.
We’ve compiled the above list to meet all your needs, so you don’t have to go through the work of researching them yourself.Whether you want a laptop with excellent graphics performance, long battery life, or high-end specs, we’ve got it covered here.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I choose a laptop for computer science?
It is vital that you choose a laptop with a fantastic CPU performance if you are studying computer science. Try to get a laptop with an Intel Core i7 or an Intel Core i5 processor. Some AMD Ryzen processors are also a good choice.
2. What makes a laptop good for programming?
A laptop with at least 8GB of RAM is ideal. The requirement goes even higher for game developers. Game development environments, level design need powerful systems to run. We recommend finding laptops with 16GB of RAM, or something lower but the ability to expand the memory to 16GB at a later point.
3. Is a laptop necessary for BSC CS students?
Yes. Because in the Bsc IT curriculum there are also some programming languages. To do programming and for practice in programming you need a laptop. For making presentations and lab work a laptop Or computer is needed.
4. Is Dell or HP better?
If you need an inexpensive but reliable laptop, you should choose Dell. Their laptops are usually cheaper, but the quality is still excellent. However, if you need a healthy combination of power and price, choose HP laptops. They offer you a beautiful design, excellent quality, and powerful hardware.
5. Is a graphics card necessary for programming?
When it comes to programming you don’t need a GPU at all. But, if you work with multiple monitors or do bit graphics-related tasks then at some point you will need a dedicated GPU for smooth performance. Therefore, to reduce the overall load from the CPU, you can install a GPU for better performance.
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