What is the best laptop for a future undergrad college student pursuing a pre-med major?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Hi there! Lately, I have been on the hunt for a new laptop, and it has been pretty overwhelming and a bit confusing. I'm still a Senior in HS, but I know I will need to buy a new laptop for college, considering that the one I have at home (Dell Studio 1558 with Windows 7 and I-core 3) has been basically turned into a desktop since the screen broke, so I now use it with an external screen. Although it is 5 years old, it still works (knock on wood), but occasionally crashes. It is definitely not the quickest and does not have the best battery life (I'm pretty sure it needs a new battery), but it gets the job done for the most part.</p>

<p>I have been using Windows all my life and I am comfortable with it, but I have recently been looking into Mac and OS X, and it seems pretty user-friendly and easy to figure out/adapt to. Also, I'm not gonna lie, but the new Macbooks are beautiful; yes, the beauty comes with a not so beautiful price tag, but if I was to purchase one, I'd look at it as an investment, especially because whatever laptop I end up purchasing, I would want it to last all throughout college. Of course I would love to save as much money as possible though, so if there is another model that is just as great, if not greater than what apple offers, then I'd love to know. </p>

<p>I don't know what laptop I should get for college. As of know, I think I want to major in Biochemistry and eventually become a doctor or maybe a pharmacist. I also like psychology and another thing I am really into is interior Design, graphic design and marketing, which is completely different than pre-med, so I do want a laptop that can work for whatever route I end up taking, but as of know, I am thinking pre-med. </p>

<p>Overall, I want a laptop that is reliable, fast (for when you have a bunch of tabs open to research/write papers), has a long battery life, is lightweight and portable, has a good amount of memory (to store pictures, documents, music..etc.) and will last throughout college (and maybe even after college). </p>

<p>I'm not a gamer or a very technologically-advanced computer genius, so I just want something that works, is easy to operate, and gets the job done. When I'm not researching or doing homework on my laptop, I'm usually just searching the web, using social media (twitter, tumblr, facebook, youtube), watching movies (netflix), listening to music, or shopping online. </p>

<p>If anyone has any recommendations for what laptop would meet my needs, please comment and let me know. What laptop do you think is best for a college student, specifically one who is looking into a pre-med major? Thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>For your purposes, pretty much any computer on the market over $350 will handle everything you need it to do. (You know in those Best Buy adds when they say you need the $900 to watch HD movies? They’re lying.) A hard drive of 500 GB should be plenty of storage for what you’re describing, which is pretty standard now. (I’d recommend against a SSD at this point. They’re faster, but still more expensive and smaller capacity.) Any of the Macs would work, but as you point out, they’re pricey. There are plenty of low-cost PCs out there. I generally like looking on Newegg: <a href=“Are you a human?”>Are you a human?;
If you want something sleeker like a Macbook, you might check out some lower-end ultrabooks. Personally, I’m a fan of Lenovo Thinkpads.</p>

<p>In addition to buying a laptop, though, I STRONGLY recommend setting up a backup system. If you don’t, you will lose things and it will be awful. You could get an external hard drive and set up automatic backups, or use an online service like CrashPlan or Carbonite. (Dropbox is not a backup system. They make no guarantee of your data sticking around when you need it.)</p>

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<p>@nanotechnology‌ LENOVO T540 OR DIE! </p>

<p>haha im also a fan of the Thinkpads (even though I dont have one lol) </p>

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<p>I have a beefed-up T440p and love it, but it’s probably overkill for the OP who’s using a 5yo basic Dell. :)</p>

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<p>look at your colleges of interest - they all offer recommendations as to what will be needed on campus. Of course they offer you to buy thru their bookstores too, but I have found reasonable offsite options for similar items.</p>

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<p>I’d put off a decision until you know where you’re going. Most colleges assume you’ll be using Windows, but a few are Mac-centric. Linux boxes or Chromebooks may or may not be supported by the school at all.</p>

<p>(And there are differences within colleges, too, if you know what you want to study—the place I work at is mostly Windows, but support in my department defaults to the assumption that you’re using a Mac.)</p>

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+1 to the Thinkpad if you are even considering graphic design. Majority of my parent’s coworkers (engineers in Silicon Valley) are provided the Thinkpad by their companies. It should work perfectly if you keep up with maintenance and don’t try to update it past it’s capabilities.