Trust the experts when they say that there is a cold war between Chromebook vs laptop for college. Well, the battle is real and never-ending for the users. Few claim the laptop to be a significant investment.
On the other hand, few other users feel that Chromebook is ideal for daily use and traveling purposes. However, it depends on you to decide which makes your list of preferences.
Whether you choose a laptop or a Chromebook, you need to be sure about your requirements first. The more you know these devices’ properties, the better you get with the product selection game.
Therefore, here is a detailed guide about comparing these two sorts of devices available in the market. One can also find the best tablets for college students on a budget by considering such features.
Laptop for College Students
ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin and Light Laptop-F512JA-AS54
ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin and Light Laptop is the first product here, which offers you 15.6 inches Full HD screen with 1920×1080 resolution. It has a four-way NanoEdge bezel display along with a stunning 88% screen-to-body ratio. Hence it can be considered to be the best laptop for college students.
This one is equipped with the latest 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1 CPU. Also, it comes with a 6M cache and a processor speed of 3.6 GHz. It offers you 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD and 8GB DDR4 RAM.
It provides you with amazing speed and excellent performance. The presence of the ergonomic backlit keyboard helps you to complete your projects even during late nights.
Key Features:
- Presence of a four-sided NanoEdge display
- Presence of compact chassis
- Innovative ErgoLift hinge
- Sleek, lightweight design is ideal for traveling
- Item weight is 3.50 pounds
The laptop’s keyboard is equipped with a fingerprint sensor that is activated via Windows Hello. Ergonomic Ergolift sleek build’s presence helps you get a hassle-free ideal typing position for fast output.
The company claims that the product offers you a plethora of facilities, but its lightweight is ideal for carrying the product anywhere. The presence of a new and improved frameless four-sided NanoEdge display helps keep the dimensions to a minimum value. It comes with a smaller footprint.
The product has an ultra-slim bezel and an HD camera which remains located on the top bezel. Along with you, get comprehensive connectivity options and excellent transfer speed, which might vary upon usage.
HP FHD Laptop For College Students
HP 15-Inch FHD Laptop, 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1, is the next product on the list, which offers you excellent performance and long-lasting battery life.
It comes with an integrated numeric keypad and HP True Vision HD webcam. It also offers you wireless connectivity options due to the presence of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth features. Hence it can be the perfect solution to the question like what’s the best laptop for a college student.
Such features and the wide 15 inches screen help you get productive throughout the day without causing any stress to your eyes. The company offers you a sleek and elegant design without compromising on the product’s performance and functions.
Key Features:
- 1 GHz base frequency
- Lightweight and portable design
- Presence of noise reduction software
- Amazing battery life
- Item dimensions are 14.11 x 9.53 x 0.71 inches
The thin and portable design with a micro-edge bezel design helps you access the entire laptop pretty easily with hassle-free adjustable positions. The presence of BIOS recovery and protection keeps a check on the health of the PC.
Such a feature provides ultimate protection against unauthorized access and secures the local storage facilities. It also provides you with easy ways to recover itself from boot-up issues without any difficulty. The high-end resolution and 82% screen-to-body ratio provides you with an excellent viewing experience.
The availability of the 10th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1035G1 boosts the CPU speed to 3.6 GHz along with Intel Turbo Boost Technology. The brand offers you excellent battery life around 10 hours of activity.
The presence of HP fast charge helps you to charge the laptop pretty fast. Along with these, you get amazing brand assurance and excellent customer service round the clock.
Lenovo Flex 14 2-in-1 Convertible Laptop-81SS000DUS
The last one on the laptop list has to be the Lenovo Flex 14 2-in-1 Convertible Laptop. It comes with a 1920 x 1080 resolution Full HD touch screen display, which provides vivid and sharp images for excellent viewing experiences.
Also, the best 2 in 1 laptop is equipped with a powerful AMD Ryzen 5 3500U mobile processor. Such a processor is known to be popular as it enhances the streaming quality and minimizes the gadget’s lagging issues.
So, with this one, you can play your favorite games for prolonged hours without any lagging hassles. In case you want to know about what is the best laptop for engineering students, you can refer to this one.
Key Features:
- Item dimensions are 12.91 x 9.02 x 0.70 inches
- The weight of the product is 3.52 pounds
- Presence of AMD Ryzen 5 3500U mobile processor
- No lagging issues
- Offers eight hours of battery life
It comes with Radeon Vega 8, which helps you to stream the videos faster and is also ideal for photo editing applications. The laptop is equipped with multiple ports like USB 3.1 inputs, HDMI, and USB-C. These offer you various connectivity options.
Also, the comprehensive Windows 10, present within the system, helps protect the internal data against malware and ransomware. Along with that, it helps you to become more efficient with your work and save resources perfectly.
The laptop is equipped with rapid-charge technology, which is ideal for charging the device even when you lack time. The long battery hours also make it an ideal companion for finishing your college or work assignments within strict deadlines.
Chromebook For College Students
HP x360 2-in-1 14-inch FHD Touchscreen Chromebook
2020 Newest HP x360 2-in-1 14-inch FHD Touchscreen Chromebook 10th Gen. Intel Core i3-10110U is the first Chromebook on the list. It is a 14 inches Full HD with 1920 x 1080 resolution equipped with an LED backlight
The display screen is an IPS touchscreen powered with a 10th generation Intel Smart Dual Core i3-10110U processor. Such an aspect increases the processor speed to 4.10 GHz. The presence of the 8GB system memory is ideal for advanced multitasking. You also get 64GB of eMMC flash memory with this product.
The product comes with the advanced 360° flip-and-fold design, enabling you to switch between the laptop and the tablet as and when required.
Key Features:
- Presence of Chrome OS
- Super fast processor
- The product dimensions are 12.8 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
- Item weight is 3.64 pounds
- The Flash memory size of the product is 64 GB
The availability of built-in cloud support provides you with ample storage space to access your data using the internet. Such features make it an ideal competitor for being the best Chromebook for college.
Along with these features, you can use this product even in dark hours as it comes with a backlit keyboard. It has a built-in webcam and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity.
It also comes with the next generation of Intel Wireless AC connectivity and Wi-Fi technology. You get access to the in-built fingerprint reader and B&O Audio features.
The Chromebook’s lightweight design measures around 0.7 inches thin and hence makes it a great option for regular traveling. However, it doesn’t include the in-built DVD/CD drive like traditional laptops. It is available in a sleek and elegant design and a mineral silver color.
Acer Spin 11 2-in-1 IPS Touch-Screen Convertible Chromebook
Acer Spin 11 2-in-1 11.6″ IPS Touch-Screen Convertible Chromebook is the next product on this list. The Chromebook comes with an advanced 360-degree flip and fold design that offers versatile functionality. With such a feature in hand, you can switch to both laptop and tablet mode at any time at your convenience.
The presence of dual-core Intel Celeron processor N3350 makes your daily tasks quite easier. Be it emails or extensive internet usage, you get to be productive throughout the day with this one pretty efficiently. Hence, it is often termed the best Chromebook for students.
The presence of a 4 GB in-built memory system is ideal for handling multiple tasks at a time. The product comes with 32GB eMMC flash memory, which is perfect for mobile applications and devices.
Key Features:
- Presence of super-fast Intel Celeron processor N3350
- Presence of 360-degree flip and fold design
- The weight of the product is 3.09 pounds
- Flash memory size is 32 GB
- Product dimension are 11.7 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches
Such a memory capacity of the product provides enhanced storage capabilities and streamlined data management. You also get quick boot-up times and excellent support for high-definition video playback editing.
The product powered by Acer also comes with CineCrystal glossy screen technology, which offers you vivid colors and high-end definitions of the videos and images. The product remains equipped with AHVA technology and an LED backlight.
Along with this, the ultrathin design offers you maximum portability, which is achieved by skipping the presence of a DVD/CD drive. These features make it an ideal choice as the Chromebook for college purposes.
Lenovo C330 2-in-1 Chromebook-81HY0000US
Lenovo Chromebook C330 2-in-1 Convertible Laptop is the final product on this list that only boosts up within a few seconds. The product comes with an easy-to-use Chrome OS and an ample amount of storage and memory space.
The stylish and sleek design comes with a 360⁰ convertible feature, which is around one-inch thin. Since it is about the weight of a hardback book, it is ideal for both college and office purposes. Also, this 11-inch touchscreen display is ideal for your day-to-day computing projects and multimedia works.
Key Features:
- 10-point touchscreen 11.6 inches IPS display
- Presence of DDR3 memory for effortless multitasking
- Claims to deliver performance for prolonged years
- Hard disk size is 64 GB
- Item dimensions are 11.50 x 0.77 x 8.48 inches
- The weight of the Chromebook is 2.64 pounds
If you compare that Chromebook vs laptop to college, it is one of the top laptops for college students is easy to use, and comes with in-built virus protection.
It is equipped with extended battery life and offers you the best platform to complete your tasks without any hassles. The biggest advantage is that you do not require any complicated setup process to follow here as you can easily log in with your Google account.
The product connects with multiple devices and includes multiple options, including USB ports and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity. According to the users, this one is one of the best laptops available at affordable prices. However, the brand doesn’t compromise with the features of the product at all.
Chromebook VS Laptop for College – A Detailed Comparison
Here is a detailed comparison between the attributes of a laptop and a Chromebook for your reference:
Operating System
Generally, a laptop runs on Linux, Mac, or Windows as its operating system, which is quite complicated than the Chromebook. The Chromebook uses Chrome as its operating system, which is pretty fast and light, unlike the former.
Programs and Applications
Chromebook doesn’t allow you to install all sorts of applications and programs, which are quite possible for Mac or Windows laptops. In the case of Chromebook, you do not get appropriate customizations in terms of apps and programs widely available for both the leading laptop operating systems.
RAM and CPU
The Chromebook is equipped with Intel processors. So they are performing pretty well in handling the 5th generation core processors. In the case of laptops, Windows requires more horsepower, unlike the Chromebook. Hence, it runs on high-end core processors that aren’t quite light compared to the former ones.
Storage
The Chromebook is still behind the race in terms of storage space. These are available with the standard HDD or the SSD feature. However, they provide you with 100 GB cloud storage features, which might not be easily available for laptops. But that is also because; laptops offer you extensive storage area, unlike the Chromebook.
Price
Lastly, Google never charges third-party companies for their OS usage. Hence, it drastically lowers down Chromebooks’ prices in the market, which might not be applicable for laptops. Especially for laptops using Mac as OS, prices are higher than the Chromebooks available in the market.
Benefits of Using Chromebook
Some of the reasons why you need a Chromebook are:
Portable Option
One of the primary reasons why people love to invest in a Chromebook is because it is lightweight and portable. Since you do not have to carry a heavyweight around, you can perform well in your college projects.
Saves Resources
The reality of college life is that every individual is broke at that period. So, it is essential to invest in cheap laptops for students to save both time and money. In the case of a Chromebook, you no longer have to worry about getting paid applications as you access the Google Play Store and the Chrome Web Store.
Stable and Fast
Another profitable reason you should invest in these gadgets is that the super-fast processor powers these smart gadgets. So, you get to enjoy fast and speedy features at affordable rates.
Less Vulnerable To Malware
As these gadgets are available with cloud-based software, they remain more protected than other smart gadgets against malware attacks.
Benefits of Using Laptops
Unlike the Chromebook, the laptops are slightly complicated due to the presence of a different operating system. These can run complex software that might not be possible with the Chromebook. Hence, here are a few reasons why people like to invest in a high-end laptop:
Advanced Gaming Option
Since the laptops are equipped with other operating systems like Linux and windows, they can run many games. So, in case you are a gamer & you need the best laptop for gaming, then it is profitable to invest in these rather than Chromebooks as the latter doesn’t support such a complicated OS.
OS Loyalty
In case you always have been loyal to Windows, it is practically impossible to switch to Chromebook. Even in MAC OS, Chromebook lacks the appropriate features and capabilities offered by either of these two operating systems. However, these can be quite expensive for college-goers and look for the best student laptop deals.
For Offline Activity
Chromebook isn’t a great option when it comes to offline work. That is why laptops are significantly better options if you intend to work without any cellular connectivity.
Final Verdict
Both Chromebooks and laptops come with a plethora of features to help you manage your multiple tasks within a strict deadline. Although laptops have always been quite significant in daily life, the Chromebook is also a great profitable option.
In case you want a cheaper option with advanced features that lets you use the internet services to the fullest, you are a Chromebook person.
However, if you intend to be a serious gamer or heavy application user, who needs a complicated gadget to store information and work through offline hours, you are a laptop person. So, tell the readers which one won your interest in the battle between Chromebook vs laptop for college?