Posted:

Best laptops for students

Even for those who feel at home with their nose in a textbook, the end of summer break (or Winter recess) is a big bummer. But as much as it's a return to school and schedules, it's an opportunity. This is a fine excuse to invest in some fresh tech to make the coming academia-addled year a little more bearable.

If you're still reliant on a desktop, or if your laptop winces at the sight of a high-definition video lecture, it's time to look into an upgrade. And thankfully if you know where to look, it's possible to get a sleek and impressive notebook without blowing through your savings (or student loans).

We've pored through ourarchives from the past several months and picked the best laptops for school. Our short list spans a variety of budgets that range from power-sipping Chromebooks to help you with that 1,000 page dissertation to more powerful machines that'll do better at a dorm room lan party.

Update: Many of the Windows laptops in our list are Windows 10-compatible. You can read our review and check out our impressions of Microsoft's latest operating system. The battle of the OSes is on. Will you choose Windows, OS X or Chrome OS?

Lenovo ThinkPad E555

1. Asus Zenbook UX305

A most affordable and excellent Ultrabook

Solid performance

Incredibly thin and light

Wonky video driver

Tinny speakers

Call it a MacBook Air knockoff all you want, the Asus ZenBook UX305 is one of the best and most affordable Ultrabooks available now.

Read the full review: Zenbook UX305

Best laptops for students

2. Acer Chromebook 15

Chrome OS comes to the big screen

Absolutely radiant display

All-day battery life

Sudden crashes

Tinny but serviceable speakers

The Acer Chromebook 15 asks if you need a big machine to just run a Chrome browser, and I say 'oh, yes.' The Chromebook 15 takes Chrome OS to new places as it's the first device to arrive with a 15.6-inch display and the first to come with Intel's newest Broadwell processor.

Read the full review: Acer Chromebook 15

Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (early 2015)

3. Apple MacBook Pro 13.3-inch with Retina Display

The fastest small MacBook Pro yet is a force of nature

Retina Display

Faster processor

Force Touch underdeveloped

Unchanged design

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is an excellent option for students who may need more power than a Chromebook or a MacBook Air without sacrificing portability thanks to its long battery life, relatively light weight, and high resolution display. Students on a budget will be happy to know that they can get started right away as the MacBook Pro with Retina display ships with free copies of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote out of the box as well as iMovie, Photos, and GarageBand for basic, creative projects.

Read the full review: MacBook Pro 13-inch with Retina display

Acer Chromebook 15 C910

4. Acer Chromebook 15 C910

The colossus of Chromebooks

Fast processing speeds

Long battery life

Too heavy

Awkward keyboard

Don't be fooled by this fatso. The Acer Chromebook 15 C910 is a durable workhorse that will reward you for looking past its size in favor of its performance, long battery life and stylish good looks.

Read the full review: Acer Chromebook 15 C910

Best laptops for students

5. Apple MacBook Air 13-inch

Finally, battery life within our grasp

Fantastic battery life

Haswell processors

No Retina screen

Not user upgradeable

While it has yet to make the leap into Retina, this is still the laptop that the ultrabook aspires to, thanks to incredible battery life and AC Wi-Fi.

Read the full review: MacBook Air 13-inch

Best laptops for students

6. Asus ROG GL551

The best entry-level gaming laptop available

CPU: 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4710HQ Processor (quad-core, 6M cache, up to 3.5GHz with Turbo Boost) | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M (2GB GDDR5 RAM); Intel HD Graphics 4600 | RAM: 16GB DDR3L (2x 8GB at 1600MHz) | Screen: 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080), matte finish | Storage: 1TB HDD (7,200 rpm) | Connectivity: 802.11g Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 1.2MP, 720p webcam | Weight: 6 pounds | Dimensions: 15.0 x 10 x 1.3 inches (W x D x H)

Impressive performance

Solid build

Finicky screen

Rather thick

With a surprising amount of horsepower under the hood, you couldn't ask for more from the Asus GL551, save for maybe a better screen.

Read the full review: ROG GL551

Best laptops for students

7. Acer Aspire V7

Offering great all-round performance this is ideal for a student

CPU: 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-4200U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.60 GHz with Turbo Boost) | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GT 750M (4GB DDR3 RAM); Intel HD Graphics 4400 | RAM: 8GB DDR3L RAM | Screen: 14-inch, 1920 x 1080 glossy IPS touchscreen | Storage: 500GB (5400 rpm with a 16GB SSD cache) | Connectivity: 802.11n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p webcam | Weight: 4.41 pounds | Dimensions: 13.4 x 9.4 x 0.9 inches (W x D x H)

Seamless design

Gorgeous screen

Rough trackpad

Short battery life

A short battery life and an obnoxious amount of bloatware hold back this otherwise excellent notebook that tows the line between Ultrabook and gaming laptop.

Read the full review: Aspire V7

Read: Acer Aspire V7 review

Surface 3

8. Microsoft Surface 3

Thinner, lighter, quieter, cheaper

CPU: Quad Core Intel Atom x7-78700 processor (2MB Cache, 1.6GHz turbo boost to 2.4GHz) | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics | RAM: 4GB | Screen: 10.8-inch ClearType Full HD Plus Display (1920 x 1200) | Storage: 128GB | Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 3.5 megapixel front-facing camera; 8.0 megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus | Weight: 1.37 pounds | Dimensions: 10.52 x 7.36 x 0.34 inches (W x D x H)

Display

Design

Keyboard

Storage

If you want the cheapest and most portable Surface tablet money can buy for lightweight computing tasks, the Surface 3 fits the bill. Power-hungry users should consider the low-end Surface Pro 3 instead.

Read the full review: Surface 3

Best laptops for students

9. Microsoft Surface Pro 3

Thinner, lighter, quieter, cheaper

CPU: 1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost) | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4400 | RAM: 8GB LPDDR3 | Screen: 12-inch, 2160 x 1440 multi-touch (ClearType, 3:2 aspect ratio) | Storage: 256GB | Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: Two 5MP webcams (1080p HD video) | Weight: 1.76 pounds | Dimensions: 7.93 x 11.5 x 0.36 inches (W x D x H)

Sharp display and design

Huge Type Cover upgrade

Runs hot at times

Type Cover still optional

Not without its drawbacks, this is the brightest shining example of not only Microsoft's vision of a laptop-free future, but the entire laptop-tablet hybrid category.

Read the full review: Surface Pro 3

Lenovo ThinkPad E555

10. Lenovo ThinkPad E555

A ThinkPad, but without the price tag

Great keyboard

Decent performance

Poor battery life

Heavy

Forget Lenovo's Essentials range, the ThinkPad E555, bears all the qualities (well, almost) of the legendary ThinkPad family but without the price tag.

Read the full review: ThinkPad E555

Originally contributed by Joe Osborne and Kevin Lee.

TechRadar Deals: Cheap MacBook deals in August 2015: the all the best prices

Posted:

If you're looking for the best cheap MacBook deals, you've come to the right place.

The decision of whether you should buy a new MacBook is a simple one: does it play to your strengths? Perhaps you need the lightest and most portable OS X machine out there today, one with good battery life. Maybe you appreciate an incredible, vibrant display that's equally as good at rendering your crisp documents as it is displaying the same amount of a spreadsheet as a 24-inch monitor.

Follow @TRDeals on Twitter for the latest offers

Or maybe you just don't like Windows? Whatever your reason, there are plenty of deals out there...

Our system checks the prices of every model of MacBook on all major retail websites so you can be sure you're always getting the best deal. All you need to do now is work out whether it's a MacBook, a MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air that you want!

macbook air deals

NEW! 13-inch MacBook Air 2015 deals

Now with faster storage and better battery life

Like a pair of old trainers, Apple's 2015 MacBook Air is boring, familiar, reliable and more than up to the task. If you don't need tons of screen real-estate (or a half-decent screen for that matter), or prefer to hook your laptop up to an external monitor, it remains the most solid all-rounder out there today, whether you're desk-bound or frequently travelling.

new macbook 2015 deals

MacBook 2015 deals

The latest MacBook has only one port for maximum thinness

The New MacBook is the future, but it isn't for everyone just yet. The lack of USB ports and the need to buy an adapter (if you have peripherals and a monitor) will likely be the first dealbreaker, followed by its price. If you're still onboard after those potential pitfalls, the new MacBook is one of the most luxurious, compact and fun notebooks to use today.

MacBook Pro 13-inch with Retina display (early 2015) deals

The fastest small MacBook Pro yet is a force of nature

The new MacBook Pro for 2015 hasn't undergone a dramatic reimagining like the one above, but then there wasn't anything particularly wrong with it in the first place. Improvements to its performance mean it's better value than before, and the noticeably improved battery life makes it even more of a mobile workhorse. As ever the cost of adding memory and storage soon sends the price tag into orbit, but even the stock MacBook Pro is an incredibly versatile computer and arguably Apple's best ever laptop. The new MacBook may be more portable, but the Pro has all the power.

MacBook Pro 13-inch with Retina display (2014) deals

Last year's best MacBook Pro is still a brilliant laptop

There's plenty to like on the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina: from the still-impressive display to its excellent build quality, great keyboard and good (but not excellent) battery life. It may not be as portable as the MacBook Air, but it's far from cumbersome and its top notch build quality means you won't be worried about its welfare when carrying it around.

macbook air 2013 deals

MacBook Air 13-inch 2013 deals

The slimmiest, most powerful MacBook Air ever

Apple's often imitated but never bettered ultra-portable laptop puts in a strong, though not faultless, performance with this mid-2013 release, the sixth-generation of the MacBook Air. It offers significant improvements in its solid state storage speed, graphical power, battery life and wireless capabilities, but the processor's clock speeds actually take a backward step. But as we'll see, for most real-world applications, the MacBook Air 2013 matches or out-performs its predecessor.

More models of MacBooks coming soon

Mac Tips: How to edit the Favorites sidebar on Mac

Posted:

Got an Apple, Mac or iOS tech question? We have the answer. This time we have a reader who wants to know how to customize the Favorites section of the sidebar that appears in Finder windows of OS X. The Favorites section provides a convenient way to access your most-used folders and functions, but it probably isn't super useful until you populate it with the things you want there. Luckily, it's easy to do, and we'll show you how.

Question

How do I add or remove items from the Finder window's Favorites sidebar in Yosemite?

Answer

Adding and removing things from the Favorites sidebar is easy - so easy, in fact, you might not even think to try it. To add an item to the sidebar, all you have to do is click on the original folder and drag it from there to the sidebar. Likewise, to remove an item, all you have to do is click on it in the sidebar and drag it anywhere on the desktop - you'll see a small gray X appear near your mouse cursor to indicate that it's going to disappear.

Customize Sidebar

In some older versions of OS X, you may find that you need the hold down the Option key to add or remove Favorites (they felt it was too easy to accidentally remove items), but that isn't the case with Yosemite (or Mavericks for that matter).

You can make further changes to the Favorites in the sidebar by accessing the Finder preferences from the Finder menu in the upper-left corner. Click on the Sidebar tab and you'll be able to remove any of the default Favorites by unchecking them, or add them back if you've previously removed them.

Customize Sidebar

Also, if your idea of customizing the sidebar means making it go away entirely, you can do that in several different ways: put your cursor on the divider between the sidebar and the rest of the window and drag it to the left; press Command + Option + S; or choose Hide Sidebar from the View menu at the top of the screen.

Got an Apple tech question? Email ask@maclife.com.

Yahuui Blog

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Apple : Updated: Buying Guide: 10 best laptops for students 2015

Apple : Updated: Buying Guide: 10 best laptops for students 2015

Best laptops for students

1. Asus Zenbook UX305

2. Acer Chromebook 15

3. Apple MacBook Pro 13.3-inch with Retina Display

4. Acer Chromebook 15 C910

5. Apple MacBook Air 13-inch

6. Asus ROG GL551

7. Acer Aspire V7

8. Microsoft Surface 3

9. Microsoft Surface Pro 3

10. Lenovo ThinkPad E555

NEW! 13-inch MacBook Air 2015 deals

MacBook 2015 deals

MacBook Pro 13-inch with Retina display (early 2015) deals

MacBook Pro 13-inch with Retina display (2014) deals

MacBook Air 13-inch 2013 deals

Question

Answer

No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive

Labels