The laptop as an electronic device has become ubiquitous by its presence. If you are a computer science student and looking for the best laptop, selecting one can be a bit tricky. The best laptop for computer science majors should be able to execute coding and programming languages with ease.
Also, the best laptops for computer science students should be able to run extracurricular breathers like occasional gaming. With the popularity of computers across the world, acquiring new degrees in computer science has become imperative.
The best laptop for computer science majors should also come with exciting features. Apart from being futuristic, it should be light and portable. Computer Science emphasizes designing, understanding, and developing programs with computers.
In other words, students would be associated with a course that is full of learning all sorts of programming languages. From Python to JavaScript, the laptop should be able to run all programming languages seamlessly.
Top 7 Best Laptop for Computer Science Majors in 2024
It should have an efficient processor that should be able to accommodate the future requirements of students. Computer science students often have to deal with software having heavy graphics. For them, buying a laptop with a good GPU would be great. So here are some of the best laptops for students pursuing computer science majors.
1. HP ENVY 13-AQ0044NR
The HP ENVY 13 is the best laptop for computer science majors. It is a great-looking ultraportable laptop that churns out a great performance. To be precise, the Envy Series from HP boats of some of the thinnest borders.
But the new HP ENVY 13 comprises a thrilling 97 percent screen-to-body ratio. Quite impressively, the HP ENVY 13 ships with an Intel i7 8th generation processor along with 8 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The HP ENVY 13 is pretty fast as it comes equipped with an SSD.
Key Features
- Spectacular battery life
- Crisp 4K touchscreen
- Facilitates great performance
- Excellent Build Quality
The 13.3-inch, 4K touchscreen on the HP ENVY 13 offers great picture quality. For students with a computer science major, a 4K screen is of great necessity. The backlit touchscreen with Gorilla Glass ensures that there are no scratches on display.
On the other hand, the contrast ratio is just great, which makes it easier for students to take breaks in the form of binge-watching. The HP ENVY 13 facilitates a world-class typing experience, with each key having a travel distance of 1.2mm.
It also has a button-less touchpad, which is quite accurate. However, one of the key highlights of the HP ENVY 13 is its performance. With an 8th generation i7 processor, this laptop promises students high-class computing performance.
Moreover, with 16 GB RAM, students can run a wide variety of programming languages with ease. The HP ENVY 13 also excels in the battery department. Even if the display has a 4K resolution, it is quite power-efficient. The laptop can last more than 10 hours on mixed usage, which is quite promising.
2. Acer Swift 3 Thin & Light Laptop
The all-new Acer Swift 3 is unarguably the best laptop for computer science majors. It is quite reliable as it ticks all the right boxes to be a student laptop. With decent battery life, the Acer Swift 3 is the laptop students can depend upon.
The Acer Swift 3 comes with a functional chassis that looks great and refined. You get a small fingerprint reader which supports Windows Hello. For students pursuing computer science majors, the portability of the laptop is a big factor.
Key Features
- Superb battery life
- Efficiently multitasks
- The lightweight frame makes it highly portable
- Illuminated Keyboard is great for typing
The Acer Swift 3 weighs just below 2.70 pounds that makes it extremely lightweight. You get several functional ports with the Acer Swift 3. For instance, this laptop comes with an HDMI port, Type-C port, and USB-A port.
You also get a USB 2.0 port along with a headphone jack. The Acer Swift 3 comes with a decent display measuring 14-inches that has 1080p resolution. The display is quite promising to render programming languages.
One of the key takeaways is the keyboard of the Acer Swift 3. It has silver keys that have the same theme as the keyboard deck. The keyboard is backlit, which implies that students can work with it in a variety of lighting conditions.
One of the highlighting prospects of the Acer Swift 3 is its processor. AMD’s Ryzen 7 processor does a pretty decent job with 8 GB onboard RAM. The 512 GB SSD storage ensures that the laptop boots up fast with no lags. The integrated AMD GPU is also efficient, and hence there are no issues with frame drops.
3. ASUS VivoBook S Thin & Light Laptop
Being one of the best laptops for computer science majors, the Asus VivoBook S comes with some decent specs. With the VivoBook S, Asus has tried to make a laptop capable of performing mid to high-end tasks.
The core i7 8th generation variant of the Asus VivoBook S is one of the best laptops for students pursuing computer science majors. Undoubtedly, the Asus VivoBook S stands out from the crowd with its sleek profile and lightweight design.
Key Features
- Comes equipped with a lightweight profile
- Average battery life
- Ergonomically Designed Keyboard
- Efficient Processor
The champagne gold finish of this laptop is easy on the eyes. This laptop comes with a 14-inch display with slim bezels. Quite impressively, the Asus VivoBook S weighs just 3.2 pounds, which makes it ultraportable.
The nicely brushed aluminum lid with the Asus logo is another highlight of this laptop. What’s more, the VivoBook S offers a decent number of ports to the users. Computer Science Majors students usually need various types of external devices during coding. With the Asus VivoBook S, you can easily connect an array of external devices.
USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and USB-C are some of the major ports you would find in the VivoBook. It also comes with an HDMI port that exudes practicality to the students. The illuminated Chiclet keyboard makes life easy for students.
The FHD IPS panel is one of the key takeaways of the Asus VivoBook S. The display comes with an array of features that also includes blue light reduction. The Core-i7 processor has four cores and comes integrated with the NVIDIA GeForce GPU. With 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD, the Asus VivoBook S boots up incredibly faster than most of its competitors.
4. Microsoft Surface Pro 7
Well, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is ideal for students who want a flagship device. Apart from being the best laptop for computer science majors, it comes with Microsoft’s own trusted software platforms. For students who are looking forward to enjoying the versatility of the Microsoft platform, this laptop is quite ideal.
This laptop comes with a 10th generation Intel Core processor, which has four cores. As per Intel, the addition of this processor makes the Surface Pro 7 faster than the earlier versions. In terms of display, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 offers you a 12.3-inch Pixel Sense Display.
Key Features
- Great design ergonomics
- Average storage can be an issue
- Excellent battery life
- Ample number of ports
It weighs just 775 grams that makes it ultra-portable. If you want to take your laptop around frequently, then the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is your best bet. It ships with a docking station and charging accessories.
It also has a built-in kickstand for easy access. You get the USB-C port at last with the Microsoft Surface Pro 7, which was missing in the earlier versions. Well, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 churns out decent performance as it boasts of great hardware specs.
Apart from the futuristic processor, it comes with 8 GB RAM. You get 128 GB SSD, which may be a little disappointing for students looking forward to storing all their academic files. The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 supports Bluetooth 5.0 that is quite admirable. Also, in terms of battery life, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 has the edge over its other counterparts.
5. ASUS ZenBook 13 Ultra-Slim Laptop
As a Computer Science student, if you are seeking a laptop that is thin and ultra-portable, the Asus ZenBook 13 is an apt choice. At the same time, this laptop is powerful enough to handle intense tasks with ease.
Being the best laptop for computer science majors, it boasts of great aesthetics at an affordable price range. Well, the ASUS ZenBook 13 is a good-looking laptop. There is no denying the fact that Asus has made its legacy with the ZenBook series of laptops.
Key Features
- All aluminum body feels sturdy
- Excellent Display with adjustable settings
- The illuminated keyboard makes typing easy
- Average battery life can be a concern
In addition to great ergonomics, the ASUS ZenBook 13 gets a good display. The FHD IPS panel comes with antiglare technology along with subtle settings. You can decrease the blue light emission to have a comfortable viewing experience.
As customary with all premium laptops of Asus, the ZenBook 13 comes equipped with a Chiclet keyboard. The keys are backlit, which is a great respite for students. The touchpad beneath the keyboard is responsive and accurate.
You get a good number of ports in the ASUS ZenBook 13 with micro-HDMI and USB-C as the mainstays. You also get an SD card reader along with a 3.5mm headphone jack that augurs well for students. The ASUS ZenBook 13 comes equipped with a quad-core 8th generation i5 processor.
You get 8 GB of RAM along with a 256 GB SSD that makes this laptop quite fast. Students can continuously launch programming languages without facing any lags.
6. Acer Aspire 5 A515-55-75NC Laptop
No doubt, the Acer Aspire 5 looks premium when you take a first glance at it. It comes with an aluminum lid with a matte finish that feels solid and sturdy. Being the best laptop for computer science majors, it comes equipped with a modern and efficient 10th generation i5 processor.
With 1 TB of storage, the Acer Aspire 5 is one of the best laptops for computer science students. The display is decent with an IPS panel of FHD resolution. The Acer Aspire five ticks all the boxes when the context is about a quality student laptop.
Key Features
- Fast and responsive processor
- The 15.6-inch screen is vivid and colorful
- Excellent battery life
- Ample number of ports
The 15.6-inch screen is quite vivid, and students would hardly complain about the image rendition. Intel Iris plus GPU ensures that the laptop can be used for graphics-intensive tasks. You also get a backlit keyboard, which makes sure that you can continue your work in darkness.
The Acer Aspire 5 comprises an ample number of ports, which makes connections easier. You get USB-C along with the HDMI port that exudes practicality. The Acer Aspire 5 is mostly plastic but also consists of a fair bit of aluminum.
The Windows Precision touchpad works accurately, and you also get a fingerprint reader. The antiglare coating on the top of the display makes it easier for the students to use the laptop in any lighting condition.
Overall the Acer Aspire 5 is a student-friendly laptop as it has an efficient processor alongside 8 GB of RAM. The Acer Aspire 5 should be your top choice in multitasking as it hardly faces any lags.
7. Microsoft Surface Pro 7 MS7
The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 MS7 is a great improvement when compared to its predecessors. With stronger performance and better ports, it is the best laptop for computer science majors. The sharp display coupled with an option-type keyboard makes it a delight for students.
With an Intel i3 processor and 4 GB RAM, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 MS7 provides you with decent performance. Note that it is the flagship device of Microsoft and hence is a bit on the costlier side. Like its predecessors, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 MS7 is a tablet-cum-laptop.
Key Features
- Excellent battery life
- Stunning display
- Good build quality
- Lightweight and ultra-portable
With the kickstand, you can convert the tablet into a laptop. But one of the disappointing things about the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 MS7 is that it comes with thick bezels. The kickstand has the ability to rotate from o to 165 degrees so that you can easily prop it up.
The keyboard can attach or detach to the side of the tablet magnetically. The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 MS7 weighs just 1.7 pounds, which makes it ultra-portable. For students who need to carry laptops to their classrooms, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 MS7 is a good choice.
This laptop comes with a Type-C port alongside the USB-A ports. You also get a dedicated SD card slot on the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 MS7. It is one of the best laptops for computer science students as it has a vivid display.
The 12-inch display may be small, but it can produce detailed and colorful images. The keyboard, touchpad, and pen are quite responsive when compared to other 2-in-1 laptops. The 4 GB onboard RAM ensures that there are no lags in the performance. It comes equipped with the Windows 10 Home edition that boots up fairly faster than its counterparts.
Common Things to Keep in Mind While Buying a Student’s Laptop
Here are some of the common things to keep in mind while buying a student’s laptop.
Select the Processor and RAM wisely
Computer Science Majors students need a laptop that can multitask at good speeds. Choosing a laptop with an advanced processor and a greater amount of RAM is ideal for running multiple programs at once.
Amount of Storage you Need
As a college student, you need to have a laptop that can store all your academic files. If you are buying a laptop with SSD storage, ensure that it has an extra slot for HDD. A majority of ASUS laptops come with this quite great functionality.
Opt for a Portable Laptop
Always choose a laptop that is portable and lightweight. You would be required to carry your laptop to the college. Carrying a heavy laptop can be quite tiresome if you commute to your college daily.
Final Verdict
As you can see, choosing the best laptop for computer science majors is a bit difficult. A student has to assess his/her needs to buy the best laptop. The HP ENVY 13 is unarguably one of the best laptops for students nowadays. With various types of functionalities, it offers students unmatched multitasking opportunities.
On the other hand, the ASUS ZenBook 13 is a true all-rounder that would help you cope with the demands of programming. If you want to own a flagship device, the Surface Pro laptops are a worthwhile choice. So always choose a laptop that is durable and lightweight at the same time so that it can last till you complete your Master’s program.