It'll depend on your needs. The best setup is a desktop and chromebook.

Now not everyone can have that setup. If you actually need the powerful hardware in a portable package, the eulktronics mech15 g3, msi ge66, and alienware m15r3 are the best

I think the Legion 5 AMD with the 1650 ti is a good option for casual gaming and other stuff as well.

depends what games you want to play

Love my Legion Y540-15IRH (used it for my last sem of uni and it was amazing) but the powerbrick is huge. Battery life tends to be a negative in gaming laptops so unless your open to some tweaking of settings to fix that or carrying a potentially larger power brick a chromebook/cheap laptop + desktop is for sure the way to go. If you want an all in one id go for a laptop with a 1660ti like the one I listed,

Need a budget for true reccs. If you want a college friendly gaming laptop I recommend Asus Zephryus series.

Aside from my other post on the ASUS ROG X13, the answer to your other question about traditional gaming laptops 'for college?" probably not the best choice.

1. Big and heavy: Gaming laptops are usually big, clunky and heavy to accommodate powerful components and cooling systems to go with it. Pain to carry
2. Bad battery life: Gaming laptops usually have pretty bad battery life due to the powerful components
3. Gaming-optimized screens: Gaming laptops (especially entry level) usually have screens optimized for fast motion and high refresh rates rather than high contrast or color accuracy, making them often not great for reading lots of text or working with any graphics.
4. The look: Gaming laptops often look like....gaming laptops. Which bothers some people.

If you don't mind the size and limitations, especially around battery life, and you want one machine that can also game, then gaming laptops can be useable for college. They just won't be as nice to drag around to class. Often I suggest people get themselves an iPad or Galaxy Tab to carry around if they are going to do this. ChromeBook Duet can be another good affordable choice to compliment a gaming laptop.

If you can spend a bit more (or are open to used), the ASUS ROG X13 is the perfect blend of a 2-in1 laptop for schools and a gaming-capable computer for play. The 2021 model with AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS is often on sale new for $1199 and can be found used for a few hundred less.

• Thin and light 2.9 lbs magnesium body (easy to carry to class and toss in a bag)
• AMD Ryzen 9 5980hs 8-core CPU
• NVIDIA RTX 3050ti GPU w/4gb VRAM
• 16 GB RAM/ 1TB SSD
• 13.4" Very good, pantone validated 16:10 touch screen with stylus support & 120hz refresh rate
• Supports ASUS XG mobile so if you REALLY want to add graphics horsepower in the future, you can
• Decent webcam and speakers
• Fantastic keyboard
• 2 USB-C ports, 1 USB-A port, 1 HDMI port, and ASUS port for XGmobile

If the budget permits, this is a very good machine for college and for games.

I love my big gaming laptops, but others are correct about a) heavy b) crappy battery life. But for gaming they can be great, with lots of perf and cooling.

If you can, an i3 chrome book plus a gaming laptop would do you well.

I heard about the awful battery life but since face to face classes is only 2 days per week it wont matter since i would have it plugged when im at my apartment.

If in SE Asia you can also often find HP Victus laptops that also have a 11400H/5600H setup and an RTX3050 and pretty decent battery life. Main downside is screen can wobble a bit.

Dude I really would go for the Asus G14. Best laptop in this price segment in my opinion. You can spec it up to your preferences, the battery life is decently good and the screen is fantastic. It runs a Ryzen CPU and its got a variety of GPU configs available too. The only caveat I could see for a user like myself is the screen being 14 inches instead of 15.6 but I feel like I'm nitpicking at that point because it has its own perks. The slightly smaller body makes it all the more compatible since you'll be using it for college. It doesn't have RGB but it has the coolest feature I've personally seen on any laptop till now. The completely customizable AniMe Matrix on the lid.

the HP Omen 15 would be a great choice for you in this case.

Key features:

Price to performance ratio

superb gpu and cpu performance

great display

lots of ports

metal chassis

easily upgradable

High-End graphics card, capable of running the latest 3D games at high settings.

keep relatively cool

decent battery life

Definitely msi gs66

Hello! Just wondering what you ended up choosing as I happen to be in the market currently.

Picking the best student laptop involves following things to be considered:

1. Weight of the Laptop - most important as you will have to carry it around with you when you move from one class to another.

2. Battery life or battery capacity - should have the best battery life so you dont always have to sit near a wall and hunt for a Plug

3. Display Size and quality - should be bright and colorful so no matter if you are indoors or outside you should be able to study no matter what.

4. CPU and GPU - should be powerful enough to handle latest games without sweating

5. The Looks - as you want it to be a head turner.

​

and right now I can think of only one laptop that is GS66 from MSI. I have used GS65 for past one year and all the new updates to GS66 are more than welcome.

It is the lightest and slimmest Gaming Laptop by MSI with 10th gen Intel processors and RTX 20 Cards. Has the max capacity of battery with 99WHr. Display is 15 Inch with 100% sRGB color space coverage. and is sure to turn heads with its minimalistic design and Stealth look and that RGB Keyboard is like a jackpot. I have tried it at a store near me and so tempted to upgrade to a new one. and the New 2 way speakers and a treat to the ears. This beast of a device is all that you could ask for.

Great question! The MacBook Air (M3) is best for students seeking lightweight design and long battery life, while the Dell XPS 13 is ideal for versatile productivity on a budget. For gaming, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 and Alienware x14 shine with powerful GPUs and smooth performance. If you want a balance of both, consider the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro or Razer Blade 15, which combine productivity and gaming prowess. Let us know what you choose—I’d love to hear how it works for you!

Why These Are Better:

• The MacBook Air (M3) is perfect for portability and long study sessions, thanks to its lightweight build and exceptional battery life.
• The Dell XPS 13 combines versatility, a great display, and reliability, ideal for productivity needs on a budget.
• The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 offers high-end gaming performance with an RTX 4060 GPU and effective cooling for extended gaming sessions.
• The Alienware x14 is compact and portable while delivering excellent gaming performance, great for gamers on the go.
• The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro strikes a perfect balance between gaming and productivity, handling multitasking effortlessly.
• The Razer Blade 15 blends sleek design with top-notch gaming and work capabilities, making it versatile for dual purposes.

Each of these laptops excels in its category, so your choice depends on whether you prioritize portability, gaming power, or a balance of both. Whichever you choose, it’s clear that these models deliver excellent value and performance for their respective purposes. Let us know your pick—I’m excited to hear what works best for you! 

Rog Flow + one of their special EGPUs. Perfect for note taking, portability, gaming, and acts as 3 devices: tablet, laptop, gaming desktop.

Legion 7i slim is maybe the most professional-looking gaming laptop. had one and it was an excellent machine, but it was overkill for me since i just do light gaming and linux dev. sold mine for $350 and bought a Thinkpad x1c Gen 9 for $250.

Without you mentioning your budget, it’s hard to make a recommendation. A coworker of mine is a developer and just bought an XPS15 with i9, 32GB, 1TB, and an 8GB 4070 for $2500 shipped. No flash, just a very solid business class machine very capable of playing current games. It’s also quiet compared to my Lenovo X1E. May be worth a look.

if you don't care about price, get a rog zephyrus. looks like a mac, portable and sleek. this lineup usually costs more than other lines, because this is asus' premium line

no not at all. i'd have no problem taking it into a classroom or design firm. thing screams professionalism

plus it has a MUX switch so you can just disable the GPU when necessary. even the Ryzen 7 5800 CPU in it is quite good for gaming without GPU.

Just browsing the web, on silent mode, the fans may turn on briefly every so often, but they are whisper quiet (they do stay off completely most of the time). The fans can get loud when gaming, but that's a given on any gaming laptop. It has solid build quality, and the version with the 7940HS and 4060 is a good balance and the 2k 165 hz screen looks very nice and has good brightness (500 nits).

Yup. Can set it to just use the iGPU which is quiet and actually quite fast still. Nice battery life too! It’s a great laptop.

Something like a G14 could be good since it looks like you'll need the portability. There was recently a deal for one with a 4060 for about 1.1k$. Could be a good choice.

When choosing a laptop you should weigh on many factors. The first ones are raw power and screens and you narrowed your selection to very few yet extremely powerful units. Here go my thoughts. Do keep in mind, however, that I am trying to contextualize your choice based on where you are going to use your future laptop(college).

The Strix SCAR is extremely powerful and gives you all the RGB you can boast at. However it is noisy and the keyboard is clicky. Good to type, not so much for how it sounds. The gamer-y looks is somewhat menacing for a classroom. Not too heavy, not too big, but not a light piece of stuff. And it lacks a webcam.

The Lenovo is more professional-looking. I would have bought it were it available some months ago. Performance-wise it is a champion. Thermals are kept in check, but noise is not exactly its forte. There is a community-made tool that allows some control over the fans.

The ROG Zephyrus is sleek, beautiful, very discreete(what you should bear in mind when attending a class) and great on portability and battery, yet performance is not left behind(mind you, it uses a lower powered version). Temperatures, however, tend to be on the hot side.

The Razer. It is a very interesting laptop. I had a 14 incher, but that was some 11 years ago. I moved on. But the Razer does pack lots of power into such a small chassis. However wattage is lower than other laptops so you will run games at lower framerates(depending on against what you are comparing it to). And QHD reslution in a 14 incher?

I would go Lenovo. Now you could go another route. I did it with the Eluktronics MAX-17. Quite powerful, 2 cm of height, and 2.2 kg in a 17 inch chassis?I own one and I am very happy with it. RGB, though, lacks oomph.

I recommend the HP OMEN 15 Gaming Laptop. It comes with MD Ryzen 9 5900HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Graphics Card, 15.6" QHD 165Hz Display, Windows 10 Home, 512GB NVMe SSD, and 16GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM.

Lenovo has been on the spotlights as of late. The looks and the performance are crucial. Not to mention some perceived reduction of quality from ASUS units. On the other hand you may achieve great results with the MAX 15...or the MAX-17 if you need more headroom for cooling or bigger screens. You can select Office Mode for quiet operation

I know that U can get lenovo gaming laptops which will be able to run those games 70 FPS + but the fans will get rlly loud and it will get very hot. It only costs 1200 so U can maybe get a even better one, U should look into that 

Look at the Zephyrus G14 6700S off best buy at $1150 - cheaper again open box excellent condition:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-14-wqxga-120hz-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-16gb-ddr5-memory-amd-radeon-rx-6700s-1tb-pcie-4-0-ssd/6494638.p?skuId=6494638&intl=nosplash

$800:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-tuf-gaming-a16-16-165hz-gaming-laptop-fhd-amd-ryzen-7-7735hs-with-16gb-ddr5-memory-radeon-rx7600s-512gb-pcie-ssd-off-black/6535499.p?skuId=6535499

$999:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-nitro5-15-6gaming-laptop-2560-x-1440-qhd-freesyncpremium-ryzen7-6800h-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3070-ti-with-16gb-ddr5-1tb-ssd-black/6539359.p?skuId=6539359

Nitro 5 has the best native gaming performance here, but louder fans under load.

In particular here, I'd look at the G14, if you can stretch to $1250, look at the RTX 4060 G14 off best buy.

I'm gonna be the contrarian here. You should get a decent workstation 2 in 1 and an EGPU.

You can get that to total under 1k by searching for used deals and have something that has exceptional battery life, note taking abilities, and the ability to do coding and gaming + some local AI.

If I had to go back to Uni with such a budget for a laptop, that is what I would choose. And if I couldn't get both, I'd do the 2 in 1 first.

You can get a RTX 4060 for that kind of price with either a Ryzen 7 7745HX or an i7-13700H. Head over to r/LaptopDeals and I saw a very good deal on a Legion Pro 5 for ~$950. Other notable mentions include the Omen 16 for $1139 and Victus 16 for $999.

I believe that the best way to save on gaming laptops is to buy used. There are super compelling deals on the RTX 3070, and you can even go back all the way to the RTX 2070 Super.

If you really want to buy new stay on eBay. There are some resellers that provide huge discounts to new products. Be wary though as these resellers (such as antonline) have little to no customer support and that they tend to reject refund requests, so use eBay money back guarantee.

Go to gaminglaptop.deals.

I found that this is the best deal I saw.