10 Best Laptops for Computer Science Major Students – [Buyer’s Guide]

by Raven Harman | Last Updated: June 1, 2022

Are you looking for the best laptops for a computer science major in 2020? If it’s so, then please forget about all your sufferings as you are at the perfect spot.

Best laptops for computer science students come in a variety of brands and specifications. So, you can get easily confused while choosing the right one. We are here to help you. In this article, we will discuss different factors like speed, display, keyboard, and storage that will help you.

Today, we all are amazed by the presence of computers all around us. Especially during the past few years, there is a rapid increase in the applications of computers across businesses, which is quite promising.

As a result of this rapid and ever-increasing growth, the computer science field has excellent job placement options as well as freelancing opportunities across the globe. Now, this has attracted a huge population of science students to choose computer science major discipline for their careers.

Computer science is a diverse field having hundreds of disciplines like programming, web development, artificial intelligence, and many others. Each of these disciplines has its requirements. So, the best laptop for a computer science student is the one that exactly matches your needs.

We have strived for months in building a complete list of top 10 laptops for computer science, information system, and software engineering students. Surprisingly we have this list for you right here.

So, let’s begin our journey:

Top 10 Best Laptops for Computer Science Major, IT and Software Engineering Students

We’ve crafted a list of the top 10 best laptops for a computer science major students. This list is diverse and contains laptops for handling different student needs. If you are for the best laptops for computer engineering students then we’re happy to tell you that we have these for you too.

The beauty of this list is that it contains all the technical details, pros, cons, and honest reviews in a well-organized manner. This might look straightforward to you but we’ve put our true efforts into it. We got these laptops reviewed by CS major students having multiple skill levels based on various factors. So, let’s go and check these out:

1). Dell Inspiron 3583 Laptop

If you are looking for the best laptops for machine learning and data science in 2020 then Dell Inspiron 3583 is probably one of the best. It will surely astonish you with its immaculate performance, display, and storage capacity. This laptop houses a powerful 8^th generation Intel Core i5 quad-core processor with a 3.90 GHz power boost and gigantic 16 GB RAM. With these specs, this laptop can easily withstand the high processing spikes that you normally get in machine learning and data science. Apart from this, you can even use it as a gaming laptop due to its powerful processor.

The Dell Inspiron 3583 is a slim, stylish, and lightweight laptop with excellent battery life. Storage options are impressive and fulfill your needs. It has a pre-installed Windows 10 on 256GB Solid-State Drive which offers efficient high-performance multi-tasking, Cortana assistance, and bit-locker security features. For storing your belongings, you have a built-in 1 TB HDD which is upgradable. You will love the finishing as the laptop gives a nice smooth touch. It has a full-sized keyboard and nicely spaced trackpad that gives premium feelings.

The machine has a stylish 15.6 inch HD display screen with bright colors, excellent graphics, and a highly reliable finger touch panel. One of the best things about this laptop computer is its variety of connectivity options. It has a card reader, one USB 2.0, one USB 3.1, one HDMI, and a security slot as well. In a nutshell, the Dell Inspiron 3583 is a sturdy, high-performance, and full option laptop for fulfilling student needs and that too at an acceptable cost. As a college student, you are not limited to internet connectivity options as it offers full option Bluetooth 5.1, WiFi, and Ethernet LAN.

Specifications

2). Lenovo Ideapad L340

The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 is a high-tech laptop that is ideal for high-performance work. This machine is equipped with a 15.6-inch Full High Definition IPS display and dual graphic processors which makes it efficient as well as power-friendly. There is an integrated Intel Graphic card for normal operations which consumes less power. However, for high-end graphical operations like image/video processing, gaming, and AI, this laptop has a 4 GB dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphical processor.

With the 9^th generation Intel Core i5 processor having an 8 MB smart-cache you get smooth booting and consistent performance that are unmatched. It has DDR4 8 GB RAM but you can extend it whenever you want. This laptop features a high-speed 512 GB SSD, impressive battery life, soundless operation and doesn’t produce too much heat. One of the best things is that The Lenovo IdeaPad L340 holds an empty HDD holder so you can enhance your storage space.

The laptop of this machine is extended with a highly ergonomic key design. It has a blue backlit KB that looks elegant and lights up the dark environment well. You have two USB 3.1, one USB C-Type, HDMI, Bluetooth, Ethernet RJ45, and headphone/mic combo ports. These are enough to support plenty of devices. On the whole, the laptop is portable, sturdy, and stunning in looks. If you are looking for the best laptops for game development and deep learning, then you should probably go for this one. You’ll be happy to see its speed and power-pack features if you compare it with other laptops in this price range.

Specifications

3). New Apple MacBook Air

If you are looking for the best MacBook for data science and iOS development then the latest Apple MacBook Air is tailor-made for you. The looks, build quality and finishing are just amazing. This machine is user-friendly, speedy, and excellent enough to work for you all day long. This machine houses a powerful iris integrated graphic card with and compact 13-inch retina display screen so the resulting display is of supreme quality.

It features two USB-C port thunderbolts, one USB 3.1, and headphone/mic jack ports. For networking, it has a huge number of options like WiFi, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth 5.0. So, this makes it the best laptop for IT work, networking, and internet browsing as well.

The New Apple MacBook Air has a 10^th generation Intel quad-core processor, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB storage SSD. Power boost and cache are impressive in dealing with high-peak processing tasks. You can run multiple programs simultaneously without any sort of dangers of heating this beast. Moreover, you are good to start performing your activities instantly after MacOS loads.

In this MacBook, Apple has introduced an innovative scissor key mechanism that is solid, sweet, smooth, and comfortable. Keyboard backlit gives highly workable ambient in dark areas making it easy for you to work. The built-in fingerprint sensor is precise, reliable, and works consistently. It is easy to carry around and with the compact design, you are good to place it in your lap or desk for working.

Specifications

4). 2020 HP Premium Home & Business Laptop

At the fourth spot, we have the 2020 Premium Home and Business Laptop for you which is a portable, sturdy, and powerful machine that outperforms a desktop with the same specifications. It has a standard 15.6-inch WLED-backlit touchscreen that is energy-efficient, ergonomic, and sturdy. This machine uses state an art 10^th generation Core i5 processor that offers a brilliant turbo boost of 3.6 GHz and 6 MB cache memory which is excellent in handling heavy-weight packages like Visual Studio, NetBeans, Adobe Dreamweaver, and even Android Studio.

This laptop boots and shutdowns without any unwanted delays. Apart from this, with 8 GB DDR memory, you can run multiple applications at a time. So, you can work with your programming tools, databases and browse the internet as well. You will not be disappointed with its speed. The webcam offers HD quality vision that covers a wider background area as compared to other laptops with the same specifications and this gives you an excellent opportunity to go live on social media platforms.

It comes with Windows 10 Home, card reader, Bluetooth 4.2, one USB Type-C 3.1, two USB Type-A 3.1, HDMI, and audio line in/out. As a student, connecting all sorts of devices shouldn’t be a problem anymore. So, if you are looking for the best laptops for programming students in 2020 at an affordable price then the HP Premium 2020 Home & Business Laptop is worth buying. With this price, you’re not going to get any more features like this one.

Specifications

5). Acer Predator Helios 300

If you need a full option and powerful laptop and have a flexible budget then you will love the Acer Predator Helios 300. It is a server-graded laptop that features a Hexacore 9^th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 2666 MHz 16 GB RAMand the latest 6 GB NVidia GeForce GTX dedicated graphics card. It is a beast of a laptop that has immaculate and solid performance due to the 9th generation powerful processor from Intel. The laptop frame is solid, stylish, and easy to use. The base and lid edges are unique in construction which gives modern look to the laptop.

Acer has smartly used 1080p 300 NITS WLED backlit IPS display screen so the graphics are really impressive. The screen is full brightness and the color range is excellent. The laptop has a Maxx Audio sound technology which supports bass and volume exceptionally well.  Using this system you get the best multimedia facility. This machine holds a high-speed 512 GB NVMe SSD and you can upgrade it as well. There is an empty bay for holding an external HDD in case you need extra storage.

The cooling and vent mechanism of Acer Predator Helios 300 is exceptional as the machine has two powerful 4^th generation 3D fans with Aerodynamic metal blades. With a powerful Li-ion battery you can keep running high-end tools on this beast for good 6 hours. It has a very comfortable keyboard that is perfect for fast typists and RGB backlit is a real plus. It has Windows 10 Home, one USB 3.1 Type-C, three 3.1 generation 1 USB ports, one HDMI, and one mini display port.

It has a high-class dual-band WiFi 6 module and gigabit LAN card so you get blazing fast internet connectivity. If you are looking best laptop for deep learning, programming, and gaming, then we would highly recommend you to go with this one. You can use it effectively even if you are working with multiple virtual machines. Apart from this, the Acer Predator Helios is one of the finest gaming laptops so you can enjoy games on it.

Specifications

6). ASUS VivoBook S512

Next in our ultimate list of best laptops for CS major students, we have the Asus Vivobook S512. T. It is a skinny, portable, and solid laptop with a great backup time. It provides two data storage options: 256 GB SSD and 1 handy TB HDD. The display screen has a 1080p resolution and a 4-way NanoEdge ultra-thin bezel structure. Picture quality, brightness, and colors are a treat to watch.

The Asus Vivobook S512uses the 10^th generation Intel Core i5 CPU, 8 GB DDR4 RAM, and NVidia GeForce with 2 GB dedicated VRAM. The processor is backed up with a 4.9 GHz power boost, 16 GB RAM, and 8 MB smart cache. So, multitasking is not a problem anymore. You can easily use different software like Visual Studio, Eclipse, and Android studio simultaneously. It has Windows 10 HOME OS which boots up/down pretty fast. When you press the power-up button, you are ready to launch applications in mere 4-5 seconds.

The thing that we loved the most is in this laptop is its keyboard. This machine has a backlit keyboard that uses Ergo Lift Chiclet technology. Key presses are ultra-soft, comfortable, and designed to improve typing speed. There is a super-fast and reliable fingerprint sensor to secure your data. You can connect multiple devices simultaneously with multiple ports. There is one USB 3.1 Type-A, one USB 3.1 Type-C, one USB 2.0, WiFi 5, Bluetooth, and HDMI. If you are looking for the best budget laptops for software engineering students, then consider buying this one. We are sure that you will love its speed, design, and performance.

Specifications

7). Lenovo ThinkPad E595

The Lenovo ThinkPad E595 is one of the most loved, portable, and sleek notebooks in the world. With a standard 15.6 inch full HD IPS display at 250 NITS and AMD GPU its performance is unmatched. Normally thin laptop keyboards tend to shuffle but this ThinkPad is smartly designed and works fine. Palm rest area and key spacing provide you excellent typing experience. This makes it one of the best laptops for app development and coding.

This machine consists of the latest 2.10 GHz quad-core AMD Ryzen 5 processor which is equivalent to Intel’s Core i5 processor. The CPU has a turbo boost of 3.70 GHz and a 4 MB L3 cache. 8 GB RAM operating at 2400 MHz along with 256 GM M.2 NVMe and huge battery backup of about 13+ hours are ideal for high-performance mobile computing. With Windows 10 Pro you can enjoy tons of applications, MS office, and security features.

This machine offers you a bunch of excellent connecting options in the form of one USB Type-A, two USB 3.1, one USB 3.1 gen 2, HDMI, and a microSD card slot. Overall laptop construction is quite solid with the ThinkPad trademark placed at the right spot. High-graded plastic is used in the construction and this laptop is sturdy enough to keep going for a good number of years. If you are looking for the best Lenovo laptop for students with a limited budget then you should buy this one.

Specifications

8). LG Gram Laptop

The LG Gram Laptop has all the stuff that you need to excel as a student. You have a 256 GB SSD, three USB 3.0, SD Card, and HDMI. With a full battery, you can keep using it for a whole day easily. This thing is powered by Windows 10 OS which makes it outstanding in executing multiple applications at once. The machine offers a high-speed 10^th generation Core i5 and 8 gigs of RAM.

It has Intel Iris graphics and full HD IPS LCD that has a wide range of colors and brightness levels. With ultra-thin bezels, you get the same view as if you’re working on a 17-inch laptop. The system boots nicely run smoothly and outperform laptops with the same specifications. Data transfer rates are excellent with this laptop. You can exchange bulk data easily among different devices through USB and card reader ports.

Now let’s talk about the overall manufacturing of the laptop. LG has used high-graded carbon-magnesium metal which is the main reason behind its portability and robustness. You can comfortably carry it to your university and amusement parks. This machine has a bright and impressive backlit keyboard with a full key option. The touchpad surface is smooth and you don’t see any touch shuffles at all. You can easily perform different operations requiring multi-finger touch.

This laptop is sleek and modern. There is an HD webcam right at the top which is ideal for video conferencing. You can simultaneously transfer audio/video signals and charge your laptop using a single cable. It is indeed a versatile laptop that is equipped with the best available technology. So, if you are interested in software development and looking for the best laptop for developers, then it is indeed a must-buy laptop.

Specifications

9). HP 2020 Newest Flagship Laptop

If you need a laptop with a big screen and DVD super drive, then the HP 2020 Flagship is here for you. It has a giant 17.3 inch 1600×900 HD display screen so you can watch movies on this larger screen. This machine has so much to offer you. The laptop comes in black color and has a shining HP trademark on the back of the lid. The laptop lid and hand rest use matte texture which makes it excellent to grip as well as use. You will love its hinges that are sturdy and long-lasting.

You will be impressed with the performance of this laptop. You can run any modern heavy-weight tools on this machine due to its 8^th generation CPU and 16 gigs of memory. It has 256 GB SSD storage which we think is a little small if you consider the needs of modern-day students. It comes with Windows 10 and terrific battery backup which provides an excellent opportunity to become productive.

It has all the things for a student including one USB 3.0 Type-A, USB 2.0, a USB Type-C, one HDMI, multi-format card reader, and mic headphone combo. This laptop is robust, spotless, and lightweight and this makes it the best laptop for IT students and professionals. If you’re looking for a portable laptop at an affordable price then this one is for you.

Specifications

10). Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop

At the 10^th spot, we have a stylish, shiny, and resilient laptop from Acer. If you are looking for a slim, portable, and quick laptop then the Acer Aspire 5 will suit you big time. It merely weighs less than 4 pounds so it is easy to carry which makes it an excellent choice if you love modern laptops. The laptop features one USB 3.1, two USB 2.0, and, HDMI ports. The machine is equipped with reliable Wi-Fi and a backlit full-option keyboard.

You can run this laptop and use multiple programs for good 8 hours once you have a full battery. The laptop offers an AMD Ryzen processor and a 3.5 GHz power boost. It beats the desktop PC with similar hardware devices. It has 4 GB memory and 128 GB SSD. These are on the lower side but you can extend these whenever you want. However, for this purpose, it has an HDD harness for holding HDD.

It has a shared graphic card that is battery efficient. It offers a 15.6 inch 16:9 IPS display. The backlit LED is battery-friendly and offers impressive graphics, colors, and 1080p resolution. It has a glossy screen and notification lights near the laptop lid. You can create impressive graphical designs using this laptop. Hinges have an impressive and sturdy design. If you are looking for the best budget laptop for computer engineering students then you will not regret it if you consider this one as buying option.

Specifications

Computer Science Discipline and Laptops – Why?

The world today is highly active and mobile. On one side times have become shorter while on the other side our routines have become much tighter. This is happening all around the world but in the field of computer science, it is happening even faster.

Computer Science is an enormously engaging, demanding, and practical field. Technology and trends are updating within no time. For a computer science student, practical matters a lot so, having a computer is an absolute must.

Gone are those days when you used to rush to your home or public computer lab or even hostel to practice out different things related to your academics and self-learning programs. This wastes your energy, money and sometimes you have to wait for your turn especially if you are going to a public computer lab.

Buying a laptop as a computer science student is the most promising and ultimate solution to these problems.

It provides you different advantages:

• You can learn different things using your laptop while you’re on the move
• During lectures, you can type the lecture notes in electronic form, store them for future reference and share them with your friends
• With the latest laptop and 4G mobile internet device, you are fully equipped to get connected to the digital world and stay updated
• Your laptop frees you from time restrictions so you can use it anytime, anywhere, and for any purpose
• If you have some free lectures at university you can sit and use your laptop for academic and learning purposes easily
• A laptop provides huge data storage space which enables you to carry your important data with you
• For proper understanding getting through practical tasks quickly is necessary so a laptop is very handy with these sort of things

7 Features of a Best Laptop for CS Major for Students

You’ll find a variety of laptop brands and specifications but the best laptop is the one that meets or exceeds your needs. As we’ve described earlier the computer science field comprises various sub-fields. Each field has its demands so to fulfill these needs the choice of the right laptop matters a lot.

Suppose you’re enthusiastic about android application development. To do this effectively, you need a laptop best for android development. You’ll be searching online and might end up having a list of hundreds of laptops suitable for your purpose which is confusing. So, to be clear, you need to narrow down this list using some systematic process that is based on certain factors or features.

To cut it short, picking the best laptop for a CS student can be extremely challenging, time-consuming, and crucial. However, we are presenting you with different features that will ease out this thing for you. Take a look at these:

Budget

For selecting a suitable laptop as a student, you need to keep your budget and discipline needs in your mind. It is natural human psychology to get inclined to the latest laptops with high specifications but these are quite expensive. Though an expansive laptop fulfills your need it will ask for too much which is, at times, not possible.

On the other hand, a cheap laptop might solve your problems for the time being but after some time you may fail in fulfilling your upcoming requirements. In the latter case, you need to buy a new one for sorting out your problems causing you trouble and sometimes even costs more.

To keep things financially manageable please do consider your requirements: both present and future. So, just take a page and draw two columns on it: one for present needs while the other for future. Think smartly and write your needs in respective columns. Remember both these things and your budget, then start making a list of laptops. We are sure you’ll get one in no time.

Speed and Performance

In the computer science field, you need to work with different tools and software packages. All these software packages are not identical and each has different demands of speed and performance.

For instance, deep learning or Artificial Intelligence (AI) requires a hell of processing speed so you will need a laptop computer for deep learning which provides you extraordinary performance. However, if you need a laptop for coding in Java then you can easily go for an ordinary laptop.

How much speed are you going to get? The answer lies in your selection of CPU, RAM, and Cache Memory. 4 GB RAM and 4 MB Cache are standard sized and these are pretty decent. However, you can go for bigger RAM and Cache Memory if you need better performance.

All the modern CPUs are multi-core and offer you the latest Turbo Boost technology which provides excellent support for running multiple applications simultaneously. The latest Intel Core i5 and Intel Core i7 processors come up with superb Cache Memory ranging between 4 MB to 12 MB.

We recommend you to go for a standard Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7 processor with RAM size anywhere from 4 GB to 8 GB. However, the selection of these specifications depends upon your budget. So, if you have a flexible budget then you can choose an expansive laptop having much better specs.

Display and Graphics

As a computer science student, you may have to keep working on your laptop for continuous hours. So, you need a highly ergonomic display screen that doesn’t put stress on your eyes. Choice of screen size is totally up to you but we will recommend you to go for a standard 15.6-inch widescreen with HD resolution. This gives you a high display quality, sharp colors, and excellent view.

Laptops have two graphical controlling options:

1. Shared and
2. Dedicated

Laptop with dedicated graphics are expansive but these provide the best results. If you are looking for a laptop for programming, IT work, or software development, then a laptop with a shared graphic card is sufficient for you.

However, we will suggest you go for a dedicated graphics card if you’re looking to buy a laptop for game development, computer vision, deep learning, and data science.

Storage

We will suggest you buy a laptop that provides you ample storage space. Laptops have two storage options (SSD and HDD) for you. Solid State Drive (SSD) is speedy, reliable, and provides decent storage space (128 GB to 512 GB). The only negative about SSD is that it is quite expensive.

However, an HDD is slightly slower and produces sounds when compared to SSD, which we think, is a slight on the darker side. However, Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is cheap and provides an excellent archival storage option (500 GB and more). So, you can store your photos, videos tutorials, and all other sorts of data there for safekeeping.

Quality Human Interaction Devices

Computers are all about typing, pointing, and communicating. All these happen smoothly via high-quality human interaction devices. The best laptops for computer science students should offer excellent quality keyboards, trackpads, and webcams. So, you should look for these things with great care.

You can achieve fast typing speeds only if the keyboard is well-constructed. Touchpads that support multi-figure gestures work outstandingly well in controlling the mouse pointer. A high-quality (HQ) webcam can easily manage your video conferences with fellows as well as teachers.

Build Quality

You are spending a good amount on buying a laptop so you would want it to be long-lasting. Laptop lid hinges and laptop frame material are two critical things. Laptop hinges are critical as these have necessary cabling and control lid opening or closing.

Laptops constructed using plastic are lightweight and portable. However, the metallic frames are quite solid and look attractive. We would suggest you go for the one that you prefer because both materials are absolutely fine.

Usability

It always feels good to have an easy-to-use laptop that provides different connectivity options. If your laptop has several connecting ports then you can easily attach it to different things like printers, LED TVs, storage devices, and the Internet. You can easily transfer your data from internal storage to your backup flash drive.

Battery backup is another factor that enhances usability. Although battery backup depends upon laptop usage best laptop for computer information systems students must provide the backup time of at least 6 hours in performance mode. This helps to keep you powered for an entire day at your university campus.

Add-Ons

These add-ons can increase your productivity as a student as well as a professional. So, getting these on a laptop is a real plus for you.

Different add-ons that often come in laptops are:

1. Pointing stick
2. Dual click buttons
3. Security lock
4. Fingerprint scanner
5. Backlit keyboard
6. Fast charging

Wrap Up

Being in CS major field you are faced with a wide range of tools and applications for doing practical tasks. Best laptops for computer science students will serve your purpose. As your field demands multiple skillsets, so you’ll need a multi-purpose laptop to tackle all these. We have kept the dynamic needs of computer science, IT, and software engineering students in mind while compiling this list.

Our ultimate list has a variety of laptops for brand, performance, and aesthetic lovers. All these laptops are thoroughly tested and reviewed by expert students. We have the specifications and recommendations for you. However, if you need any further information please don’t hesitate at all. Just go on and write to us.