School is almost back in session-- some of us have already began moving in. Others, like myself, have completely failed to prepare in any way, shape, or form for the impending move-in day fiasco. This can often beg the thousand dollar question-- what laptop do I need for college?
Often, people look to the Macbook as the be-all, end-all college laptop, and not without good reason — Apple creates some powerful, fast and attractive machines. Macbooks have a professional rep, too — Macbook Pros are popular portable devices among content creators such as musicians and filmmakers. But is all that horsepower really necessary?
Do you have a laptop? If you do, what do you do on it? Odds are, you use your laptop for only two things: the internet browser and Microsoft Office. Unless you’re making short films, creating music, or playing some seriously graphics-heavy games, a vast majority of your laptop’s power frequently goes untouched. So why pay for something you don’t use?
Enter the Chromebook. With the average price of a Chromebook model being $200, it’s easily the cheapest of the competition. When it comes to laptops, however, cheaper often means slower. And for many, the premium on the price is worth the speed the more expensive machines offer. However, Chromebooks are still lightning fast-- mine powers on from a complete shutdown in a little under four seconds. This is because the Chromebook operating system, Chrome OS, is stripped down to the bare necessities. Chromebooks essentially solely run a Chrome browser-- everything you do in the OS is done through Chrome.
It’s understandable if this comes as off-putting; it was for me, too. However, in my experience with Chromebooks, everything I’d normally use a laptop for I can do on my Chromebook. I can edit, create and share Word documents with Google Docs, create slideshows with Google Slides, and spreadsheets with Google Sheets. I can still procrastinate as much as I want with my access to Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and HBO Go. I can even play those weird browser games you find on addictinggames.com at 3 a.m. when I should be writing that English essay due last week! Durability and reliability is also solid, I've had my Acer C720 for two years now without any issues whatsoever. Even the limited storage isn’t an issue-- an additional purchase of a one Terabyte portable hard drive allows me to carry my movies with me on the go for less than $50, a small price to pay when you’re only paying about $200 for the laptop in the first place. Some Chromebooks, like my Asus Flip, can even be transformed into tablets. And as icing on the cake, Google is soon adding the Google Play app store to Chrome OS, meaning all of your favorite Android apps will be available for use on your computer that’s cheaper than your iPhone.
Ultimately, with their light and portable form factor, long-lasting battery life, and cheap price point, Chromebooks are a must-buy for any college student.
