You could certainly buy a laptop or a Chromebook if you can afford it.

However, you really should make a.campus visit. Then, ask your professors or technology dept. what a software you need to use for claases

Somerimes, a college might a loaner computer if you need to use certains software like Office or SPSS software.

Look for something lightweight with decent memory. I use a 15inch HP for my online classes. For my few on campus classes I use an iPad with travel BT keyboard and trackball for when I need to type something and the Apple pencil with the notability app for taking notes. I also always have a regular notebook and pens as I've noticed many professors at my school are starting to ban electronics in the classroom and require pen and paper for note taking.

i’d recommend a macbook air with an M chip, you can find used ones for pretty decent price

i would steer clear of pc’s bc generally they aren’t durable and mac’s last forever so

You can buy a refurbished Mac online for Groupon for about 200 or so. But sometimes pan shops have Macs foe about 100. If anythinf, pawn shops let you make payments.

Check this out:

https://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-mp-apple-macbook-air-13-mjve2ll-a-2015-core-i5-4gb-128gb-ssd-refurbished-a-grade?deal_option=f31c5462-5fdb-493f-9dbb-23c40a132f14&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=US_DT_SEA_GGL_TIM_TTT_PADS_CBP_CHP_NBR_g*gg-mp-apple-macbook-air-13-mjve2ll-a-2015-core-i5-4gb-128gb-ssd-refurbished-a-grade_productpartitionid*2320723089490_campaignid*10864554955_adgroupid*105710241063_prodtarget*2320723089490_productid*f31c5462-5fdb-493f-9dbb-23c40a132f14_target*pla-2320723089490_d*Goods-Product-Ads_keyword*_adtype*pla_merchantdid*10018412_c*457515776629_k*_m*_adposition*&adsafe=true&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtpLABhC7ARIsALBOCVonYITckhhG2CoTNvPZa7WgbVMk5PokCZ634Pt5a_hz8HjwmTSf1fQaAlRFEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

If you're online, decide if you like having a larger or smaller screen for size. I have a business class Dell with a 1TB drive and a larger screen. it's great for at home, but it's not the lightest laptop by far. My entire first year was online, and I think a couple of my planned classes for this upcoming year are in person (I have my second year planned out for transfer). I also have an iPad air with a magic keyboard, and that may end up coming to campus with me.

I use my laptop to log in to online class meetings, take notes using Glean, write papers, use Canvas, watch videos, and some of my texts. Not one of those things requires much power or a crap ton of storage. If I were a CS major I would have way different needs, but I'm CogSci.

Definitely a pen. People with tablet laptops tend to write notes on it. People with regular laptops tend to surf Facebook and anything but taking notes. Not sure why but just what I've observed in every class up until this point.

My college gave first years an iPad, and taking notes on it was fantastic, especially if you are in math/science heavy classes and need to do long calculations. It’s also extremely useful to annotate PDFs of readings you may have to do for class. Now, I essentially got this iPad for free, and depending on how much the additional cost is for a laptop that you can write on, it may not necessarily be worth it. But I find being able to digitally take notes, read, and annotate are very helpful for my learning. (And you’re saving paper!)

Do you plan on being CS/ECE heavy or are you more interested in Biomaterials/Pharma/Therapeutics? It would be helful if you could mention what kind of classes you're planning on taking. Just trying to guage what kind of performance you might need.

Also, got any preference for windows or mac?

Most modern laptops will do everything you need within reason.

In my experience, Lenovos are the most reliable brand and everyone respects it.

The biggest thing is to use the same OS that most of your professors use.

If they use a windows environment, they know how to trouble shoot windows problems and can help you set up and run software on windows, not Mac or Linux or otherwise.

You technically can use any OS you want, but youll have much more help available if you use the same OS as your professors and overall program.

Final thought - consider the weight carefully and buy a lightweight charger. Your back will thank you.

you don’t need a beast, but you do need reliability—especially if you’re running modeling tools, coding, or handling big lab datasets later on

here’s the short list:

Processor:
at least Intel i5 (13th gen or newer) or AMD Ryzen 5 (7000 series or newer)
M1 or M2 MacBooks are also great if you prefer Mac

RAM:
16 GB minimum
don’t go 8 GB—it’ll choke when multitasking or running anything heavy

Storage:
512 GB SSD
1 TB if you like to hoard data/media, but you can always add external later

Display:
13–14” if you move around a lot
15–16” if you want screen space for code, spreadsheets, etc
make sure it’s at least 1080p, preferably IPS panel

Graphics:
integrated is fine for most bio/chem work
only go for dedicated GPU (like RTX 3050+) if you know you’ll do 3D modeling, ML, or rendering work

Battery + Build:
8+ hour battery
lightweight but durable (aluminum body > plastic)
keyboard matters more than you think—test in store if possible

bonus: look for student deals + warranty extensions
your future self will thank you when the fan dies mid-finals

As another rising freshman studying the same thing, memory is the main thing I would look at

you should have something portable so you can access IT systems and software and use a computer in lesson.

​

I used my personal gaming computer to write up all my papers.

​

hell, i did my undergrad on pen and paper notes.

​

you really should keep a laptop unless you're good at tapping stuff into an ipad.

depends on how you are going to take notes and do your work. If if you are gonna be drawing diagrams potentially or annotating stuff then ipad + pencil is pretty superior. If you are gonna be writing a lot and especially if you wanna go outside of your house and do work then laptop is probably a good idea. If you do all your work at home and don’t need to take notes in lecture then maybe pc is best.

Just stick with a laptop. It would help if you told us what course you are learning.

Wouldn’t bother with a PC. Use the ones in the library. Laptop makes sense because you can bring it to lectures

Not sure if this is the same in your uni. But if you were at mine, you would get a Microsoft 365 account, accessed by your student log in. You could also access a laptop via the library for 4 hours, by scanning student card to access a locker.

So as long as you signed into Microsoft on your PC using your student log in, you could use the borrowed laptop for lectures, and anything you did would be accessed on on PC.

Check if there’s a similar system in place.

Some degree programs have assignment requirements that will be significantly easier to complete with a personal computer that you can use at your convenience.

But, pretty much all universities have computer labs with systems that can be used by students that have all the specialty softwares any course might require installed on them.

Now some expensive specialty software might only be available in the engineering lab (or whatever department) and some smaller labs might have access hour restrictions, so you might not be able to use them all night long...

So, the factual answer to your question is that it would be unusual for a school (or degree program) to mandate that all enrolled students own a laptop.

On the other side of the coin, there are a large list of reasons why buying a laptop might be a good idea.

The first & foremost isn't convenience (IMO) - it's collaboration.

The people you meet and the acquaintances & friendships you build are a powerful component of the overall college experience.

So, being able to meet people wherever to collaborate on a project, club activity or hobby project can be a significant positive contribution to your experience.

You don't have to buy the latest generation MacBook to fit in.

But I encourage you to buy a business-grade device, and not a consumer-grade device.

Most consumer laptops don't hold up well to 4 years of being lugged around in a backpack everyday.
Increasingly, consumer laptops are nearly impossible to be repaired by the average owner or enthusiast.

You can buy a laptop at anytime, even on campus.
But the best devices are in high demand, and may be on back-order if you wait until the last minute...

Just keep in mind: not having a laptop isn't a death-sentence. There are resources available on campus to enable you to do pretty much everything that needs to be done.

Maile sathi haru l;ai dherai laptop recommend garisake and I have decent knowledge of new laptops and chips.
https://computerdurbar.com/product/asus-vivobook-s-14-q423sa-oled-copilot-price-in-nepal/ yo Asus Vivobook S14 OLED at 100kl jkati ma aauxa
- Battery life is seriosly good hai majak garya haina, you can MacBook Air and even battery life out of this.

- Display 14 inch 1200p OLED

Aru pani sabai ramro xa. Especially Lunar Lake chip xa which is very good for performace and also has the best iGPU for gaming.

Arko vaneko gaming ma kinne vaye Lenevl Legin SLim 5 kina at 150k
- 4060 at 100W and also really efficient Ryzen 8845Hs chip. Aru stuff is good as well,

Ma aaafai Asus Vivobook S14 OLED chalaudai xu 2023 model. No problems other than the shitty battery life.

Lately, I have this weird fear to give my peace of mind to the query with em dashes but get a convenient asus laptops under 75k and be happy, why leaning toward gaming wrecks?
game khelna cha? ``laptop ma?`` [especially with the battery embedded system, personal computer is meant for that, not these silly laptops, the whole context of laptop isn't for that]:
to be more deep just ditch windows and go to unix based system which by hand support anything in without any dependencies to be installed : one example: u need to do some weird shit just to install rust for windows, and shit will install all of these llvm and the visual studio[god I hate visual studio] just to install the related dependencies, but linux supports it without these weird batshit, and the language server is far more efficient then the windows environment, get the thing that helps in your programming not gaming, there are far more reasons but get something that can come up with not-windows os, that way your resources will be efficiently utilized, fuck windows, it will increase the timespan by at least 1 yrs plus whatever u expecting

5090 gpu with ryzen 9 9000 series with 4k display is the mininum requirement for IT field.

I have built PCs if you need any.

Had bought it for my IT company few months back.

Barely used for a month

It student bhanesi mostly web series download garne herne ho so display ramro choose gara. And ssd ki ta external kina ki thulo bhako laptop kina. Ani arko bhaneko 3 din agadi 5 minutes engineering hernu parxa yt ma so khasai powerful processor chahidaina. Projects ta team ko euta member le garne ho, 😭so laptop bajar ma j sasto pauxa tei liu. Tb extremely brutally honest, i know dis will trigger wnnabe engineers, u don't need to have a personal computer or laptop for it degree. Clz ma paisa tiresi tehiko labs bata nichorne ni...ki chai public library jane jaha laptop use garna pauxa i mean computer. 5th sem samma laptop ko kei kam xaina. Series herna bahek.. 😂 projects garna sanotino clz ko lab ma garey huncha tbh. And project thulai banna layo bhame baru laptop kinna bhane bho gharma. Esai pani bachelor paxi 2-4 barsa berojgar nai hune ho 😂so jati dhilo laptop kinyo teti dherai berojgar huna payo

Got a lenovo loq and the only thing that's worse than mac is battery life. But performance based laptops are used while charging usually.

Look a mac is useful cause it is in general very useful, sort of an all rounder. That said, it’s perfectly all right if you don’t have one, there’s nothing wrong with a good windows laptop

you can get good laptops from ASUS too the only drawback you will feel of battery only

I’d go with the Dell XPS 13. It’s reliable, durable, and powerful enough to handle college life for years. It might not have as many ports as the Acer Aspire 5, but the build quality and performance make up for it.
If you're still on the fence, check this out: The best laptop for college students.

the Dell XPS 13 is probably the best Windows option. Great screen, compact design, and solid performance for classes or creative work. If you’re looking for something cheaper but still reliable, the Acer Aspire 5 is a great budget pick.

I didn’t want to spend forever comparing specs, and this post helped me pick what actually fits student life. Definitely check it out!

In your budget, there are quiet a few that I can recommend. There is the HP 255 G10 with Ryzen 7. This perhaps has the best value for a 7th gen Ryzen 7 CPU. Then you have the ASUS Vivobook S 14 in your upper budget range that comes with OLED. But there are so many in between. Basically, read this list of laptops, it offers several options from different price ranges. I recommend it.

I’d say go for a mid-range laptop like HP 255 G10. But if you want more options, then check out this list of laptops.

Dell XPS 13 is a great choice for college, lightweight, powerful, and has excellent battery life. Perfect for portability and performance!