STORAGE: SSDS ARE TOPS
With the increasing prevalence of cloud storage and web applications, having
plentiful local storage space is less vital now than it used to be, but you should
still make sure your laptop meets your needs. If you plan to install a lot of
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you don’t foresee needing all that local storage or are content with leaving a lot
of your work online, you can get by with a laptop with less space.
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hard drive because you get more storage for less money, it will be noticeably
slower than a snappy solid-state drive (SSD). The higher cost and lower capacity
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recommend SSDs for laptops that are carried around campus a lot, since they
are impervious to drop damage. They’re a lot faster than hard drives, too, and
give a laptop a much snappier feel.
The good news is: By plugging an external hard drive into one of your laptop’s
USB ports, you can add more space whenever you need it. Although you
probably won’t have to do this unless you’re a video junkie or an aspiring
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installations topping 40GB or 50GB, a small SSD can get eaten up fast. You’ll
want to think about that before you buy a machine with, say, a 256GB SSD
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complete them.
BATTERY LIFE: HOW LONG MUST IT HOLD OUT?
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extracurriculars. A few school-oriented laptops come with multiple battery
options. Most, though, have only one, and it’s non-removable.
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removable batteries are an option (increasingly they are not, alas), think about
getting a second one or a larger “extended” one, if available. The more “cells”
the battery contains within a given model line, the better the battery life.