<p>So I started college this month, and I've realized that the laptop I have simply is not enough. I mean it has Windows 8.1 which is great, but it's a little bit lagging and takes a while to turn on. The battery life only lasts 15 minutes off-wire, so if I want to take notes with it in class I had better pray there's an open outlet and that I can sit near the outlet, which usually means not being closer to the professor (not a good thing, at least for me). Of course I could buy a battery pack to help keep the battery life going at least until Black Friday to buy a new laptop to take around to classes--but when my laptop is plugged in and I am working on my desk at home, I'm perfectly fine. Once the laptop is on and running, it's easy to open Word and type, or to check my mail or make Powerpoints or projects. Though the laptop gets overheated sometimes, it's sufficient for at-home work. </p>
<p>So my struggle is this. Should I deal with carrying this nearly 6 pound laptop plus its battery cable to all my classes for another three months and then get a new, lighter-weight laptop with a faster processor to take to all my classes, or should I get a tablet for taking notes and recording classes and keep this laptop for writing up essays and projects at home? I have about 600 dollars to spend, so I want to get the most for my money. </p>
<p>Our kids found netbooks the best. My version of a netbook is an iPad mini and a Logitech aluminum keyboard. They both lugged their heavier, bulkier laptops around until both laptops died and replaced their respective laptops with netbooks and a desktop. The laptop you have could be a desktop replacement and you could consider a tablet or netbook for taking to & from classes. That’s one of the most portable solutions and some of the tablets are under $200!</p>
<p>Since I do a lot of programming and in-depth documents, a tablet wouldn’t cut it for me as a primary device, but it depends on your needs.
Another option to consider if you want something light (and cheap!) to carry around is a Chromebook.</p>
<p>I agree with the idea of a Chromebook. Alternatively you should be able to find a good usable used laptop on Craigslist (or ebay etc.) for under $400. I have had no problem finding reasonable ones for my kids under $300, especially since they don’t need high end graphics.</p>
<p>I use a tablet but can’t imagine using it for class - too hard to type fast when taking notes. Some do have keyboards that can be attached that might work for you … but laptop is fairly cheap albeit a little heavier.</p>
<p>But … if your laptop came with Windows 8.1 it is probably new enough. Disable unneeded plugins (which slow the browsers) and autostarted programs (which slow boot), defrag your disk and hibernate rather than shutdown your laptop so it will start faster. It is a lot cheaper to simply replace a battery so it gets at least two hours of battery life.</p>
<p>But @2018RiceParent has good suggestions about trying to speed up your current device. You could also try a fresh install - backing up all of your data and reinstalling Windows from Scratch.</p>