I was looking around and can’t seem to find an updated page on what laptops are best for UT. I’ve been looking at the new HP spectre but I’m not sure. Anyone have any suggestions?
pretty much depends on your major. For anything except engineering/CS, it probably doesn’t matter as long as you can do basic things like navigation and word processing. engineering majors have their own requirements, though, so look into that if necessary. hope you get it figured out!
If accepted it would be a business or economics majors
Yeah, McCombs or COLA don’t have specific requirements. Any decent laptop, Windows or Mac, will fill your needs perfectly. Most kids I see on campus use MacBooks but I personally prefer Windows computers so that’s what I use (COLA major). Outside of engineering it doesn’t matter as long as you like your computer
I have a McCombs student and she likes the Dell XPS13 which is very similar to a Mac but less expensive. Reviews show some features are better than Mac or very comparable. Also it’s recommended for business majors to have windows based because many business use PCs and not MACs
Thanks I heard about that laptop I’ll have to look more into it
Other than the OS and infrastructure differences between Apple and Windows/Intel, the choice of laptop in terms of needs are in the specifications for processing speed, data storage size and memory. Most Wintel (Dell, HP, Samsung, Acer, Lenovo etc) are largely the same design and component “chassis.” The choice between them is personal or economic preference.
For a college student today in engineering or design, 500G hard drive or SSD is maximum needed (storage on the cloud is cheap and plentiful), and 256G is plenty for any non-engineering major not needing resident machine specialty software (like 3D CAD). A business or liberal arts major with 256GB hard drive (extra cloud storage is for documents, music, photos), Intel Core i5 processor of any speed (save money here) and 4GB memory is enough–already more processing speed than was needed to land on the moon.
Screen resolution, processor upgrade to Core i7, and memory upgrade to 8GB–as well as brand–are all optional and add money–personal preference. Sound quality, video cards (like Nvidia) are all optional personal preference and not needed for average needs (but more fun for gaming, music streaming, etc).
For Mac, a Macbook is fine for most school needs and handles MS office well. Macbook Pro is an optional upgrade.
Surface Pro>>>>
Somewhat biased here but these things rock and you should definitely check them out if you haven’t yet.
@thenoah6624, MSFT Surface Pro…great option indeed! Sweet mobility and flexibility, and since its MSFT, great integration with Office 365 and 1T of free cloud storage. Gamers, audiophiles, or serious writers may like more sound card and keyboard options–still great computer choice for college!
I’m a little worried about the screen size with the surface pro. I’d really prefer something around 15 inch. But ill definetly take a look at it when I’m shopping
True, good point. Laptop PC sales growth has been in the 13.3" segment, as consumers have gravitated to the more mobile and smaller devices–led of course by iphones and android devices people are now using and carrying as substitutes for any PC. Mobility is where the market is. Not many kids will want to lug the bigger 15" devices today. YMMV though.