Looking for a laptop for college in 2024? Look no further, many people will advise solely based on the specs of the device. Instead I’m focused on models of laptops that are more durable and that will last your college years without much issues. Unfortunately it isn’t as simple as just picking a brand, Unless you pick a MacBook, which at least has mostly consistent quality. But for most other brands that sell windows laptops the quality can be quite inconsistent with some models being very cheaply made and falling apart pretty easily. A lot of this is based on my opinions and experience as well as the opinions and experiences from IT professionals. I am only human and if there is anything I say you feel is incorrect please feel free to correct me.
Timestamps for the models I recommend
4:35 New and Used ThinkPads I suggest
6:32 New Dell Latitudes
6:47 Used Dell Latitudes
8:21 Used Dell Precision
9:29 HP models
10:48 MacBook
Below are the models That I recommend:
New ThinkPad models I suggest:
ThinkPad T14 Gen 5
ThinkPad T16 Gen 3
ThinkPad X13 Gen 4
ThinkPad P16 Gen 2
I don’t suggest the P1 because the cooling isn’t as good, also it might be better to get a desktop for performance.
Used ThinkPad models I suggest:
ThinkPad T480 2018 i5/i7-8xxx processor
ThinkPad X280 2018
ThinkPad T490/T495 2019
ThinkPad T14 Gen 1, 2 , 3 , 4 (2020,2021,2022,2023)
ThinkPad X1 Gen 1, 2 , 3 , 4 (2020,2021,2022,2023)
ThinkPad P52, P53, P72, P73 (2018 , 2019)
New Dell models I suggest:
Dell Latitude 5550 or 5540 (15 inch w numpad)
Dell Latitude 5450 or 5440 (14 inch)
Dell Latitude 5350 or 5340 (13 inch)
Used models I suggest:
Dell Latitude 7490 2018 (medium sized medium performance)
Dell Latitude 5490 2018 (medium sized medium performance)
Dell latitude 5400/5500 2018 (medium sized medium performance)
Dell Latitude 5410/5510 2020 (medium sized medium performance)
Dell Latitude 5420/5520 2021 (medium sized medium performance)
Dell Latitude 5430/5530 2022 (medium sized medium performance)
Dell Latitude 7330 2020 2022 (small sized medium performance)
Used Precision models I suggest:
Dell Precision 5540,5550,5560,5570 (2019,2020,2021,2022)
Also Similar to the Dell XPS
Dell Precision 7540,7550,7560,7670(2019,2020,2021,2022)
HP models I suggest
HP EliteBook 840,845,860,865,1040
MacBooks
MacBook pros and MacBook airs might also be fine for your use case.
DISCLAIMER: I don’t claim that any of these laptops would have zero problems, as it’s possible for every laptop on the planet to have issues (new or used) also, Older devices of every brand could have a failed battery, you should expect than you might have to replace it in the future. Any model you consider you should do your own research to see if it's right for you and what issues it may have. Also make sure it does not have a locked bios.
