Laptops are a necessity for every student, especially those who are studying nursing. Choosing the right laptop which can accompany you throughout your studies is as complicated as studying nursing itself. You never know when you have to attend your classes online- all thanks to COVID.
Laptop specifications can be confusing which is why we have explained in this post, Which features to look for and Which Laptops are best for college nursing students in detail and in easy words.
There are some specific requirements in nursing school that need to be well-thought-out while seeking the best laptop for nursing school. Before making your choice, never overlook the technical aspects provided in them. As a student of nursing, you certainly need a good spatial memory to accumulate and save critical videos of practical OTs.
8 Best Laptops for Nursing School Students
Comparison Chart
Apple MacBook Air (13-inch Retina Display, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage) – Space Gray (Previous Model)
Dell XPS13 XPS13-9343 13.3-inch Ultrabook Computer (2.2 GHz Intel Core i5 Processor, 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 128 GB Solid State Hard Drive, Windows 8)
ASUS Chromebook Flip C434 2-In-1 Laptop, 14″ Full HD Touchscreen 4-Way NanoEdge, Intel Core M3-8100Y Processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC Storage, All-Metal Body, Backlit KB, Chrome OS- C434TA-DSM4T, Silver
Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM 15.6-Inch Full HD Notebook (Intel Core i3-7100U Processor 7th Generation , 4GB DDR4, 1TB 5400RPM Hard Drive, Intel HD Graphics 620, Windows 10 Home), Obsidian Black
HP Pavilion 15 15.6″ IPS Touchscreen Full HD (1920×1080) Business Laptop – 8th Gen Intel Quad-Core i5-8250U, 8GB DDR4, 1TB HDD, USB Type-C, FHD IR Webcam, WiFi AC, HDMI, Ethernet RJ-45, Windows 10
Lenovo IdeaPad 330 15.6″ HD Business Laptop, Intel Dual-Core i3-8130U Up to 3.4GHz (Beat i5-7200U), 8GB DDR4, 1TB HDD, 802.11ac, Bluetooth, HDMI, Windows 10
1. Apple MacBook Air
MacBook is the most portable, affordable in the series, and suitable for everyone. The laptop is thin and lightweight, only 2.75 pounds. The built is rock-hard and durable; thus, no bents and dents.
Display: MacBook offers a 13.3” IPS display with 2560x1600p resolution and backlit LED. The Retina True Tone display products sharp and stunning colors, and with thin bezels, you get a greater view. The 300 nits of brightness are insufficient and with a higher brightness setting, it will drain more battery.
Performance: MacBook runs on MacOs, which performs way better than many Windows laptops. MacBook has an Intel Core i5 5th Gen processor combined with 8GB DDR3 RAM. The laptop offers two storage variants, either 128 GB or 256GB SSD.
Battery life: The long-lasting battery life is a necessity for nursing students; they have to carry it whole around the campus. MacBook Air’s single charge can last up to 12 hours; hence more productivity without any worry.
Ports: The MacBook misses the mark in the ports section, as it only comes with 2 thunderbolts 3 ports, and on the other side, a headphone jack. To connect more devices, you have to purchase a USB Type-C hub to attach ports and an additional SD memory reader.
Pros
- Great performance
- Longer battery hours
- Ultra-slim and Lightweight
Cons
- Expensive
- Expensive
2. ASUS Chromebook Flip
The Chromebook has a durable and sturdy built provided by the aluminum alloy. The matte-silver aluminum finish contributes to the premium feel and looks of the laptop. The Flip is slim and weighed almost 3 pounds, so it’s portable and easy to carry around for college students.
Display: It has a screen of 14 inches, an LCD touch-screen display with full HD 1920x1080p resolution, and LED-backlit. It provides a 16:9 and 87% screen to body ratio, which gives higher space to view content without much scrolling. Additionally, it comes with a 5mm side and 7mm bottom bezel to enhance the big screen. The colors and brightness are great for indoor use, but the brightness is not reasonable outdoors.
Performance: The Chromebook comes equipped with an Intel Core m3 processor and 4GB RAM. It offers an impressive 64 GB storage capacity. The multitasking runs with effortlessness; the multiple tabs, an app, or anything else, all run smoothly at once without lagging or freezing. The bigger storage is sufficient for all the apps and file documents.
Battery life: The Chromebook Flip provides a 39Wh battery, which lasts 8 hours. The long hour battery is essential for college students because they need to carry it around without worrying about the battery dying.
Ports: The Chromebook does not offer various ports, only a USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 port, USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 ports, and a microSD card reader.
Pros
- Long battery life
- Strong build quality
- Great performance
Cons
- Average display
3. Dell XPS 13
Dell XPS 13’s aluminum built and carbon fiber in keyboard make it sturdy. Despite that, it is lightweight, weighing only 2.7 pounds—a perfect example of durability and portability with an affordable price tag.
Display: The laptop has a 13inch infinity-edge thin bezels touch screen with an FHD 1920x1080p display, which provides a greater and sharper display. It has a great 372 nits of brightness, good sharpness, and color quality. It has a fingerprint reader attached, which makes the screen unlocking easy.
Performance: The laptop is loaded with a Core i5-8250U processor, a hi-tech version of the previous model, and paired with 8GB DDR3 RAM and 128GB SSD. It is adequate for multitasking and loading all the required files because the CPU performs smoothly under heavy load. It works excellent for students; they have to meet deadlines and can’t pay for the lagging and short on memory problems.
Battery life: The battery life is pretty remarkable. It can last for 10 to 12 hours, depending on the usage. The max brightness and high-resolution video playback ultimately decrease battery life, and lighter jobs will make the laptop last for an extensive period.
Ports: It comes with a USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 3), two USB3.0, a full-sized SD card slot, and a headphone jack. The wireless connection comprises 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth; the Wi-Fi adapter has load balancing capability, which gives smooth performance while watching videos.
Pros
- Long battery life
- Great build and display
Cons
- Expensive for students
4. Acer Aspire E 15
This laptop offers excellent features at a reasonable price. The laptop is sturdy and durable, which makes it bent and dents-proof. However, it is a bit bulky, weighing 5 pounds.
Display: It has a tremendous 1920x1080p resolution 15.6 inches HD screen. The aspect ratio is 16:9, which generates 216 nits of brightness, and displays decent colors.
Performance: The laptop has a Core i3-7100U CPU, paired with 4GB of RAM and 1TB 5400-rpm HDD. It delivers just enough power for light multitasking. The laptop may holdup due to many different tasks working but works well under light tasks. It has an option of an extra RAM slot, which enables you to add an extra 8GB of RAM to improve the performance of the laptop.
Battery life: The laptop offers remarkable long hours of battery life. The general usage like editing documents, web browsing, and entertainment the battery can easily last 7-8 hours. This battery duration with this price tag is an excellent deal for nursing students.
Ports: The left panel has an HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports, an Ethernet jack, a VGA connection, and even a USB-C port. On the other side, you see a headset jack, a USB port, and a DVD drive. On the front, you will find an SD card slot is available. Wireless connections being offered are Bluetooth 4.1802.11ac and Wi-Fi.
Pros
- Reasonable price
- Decent built body
- Good battery life
Cons
- Heavy
5. Microsoft Surface Pro 4
The Surface Pro 4 is a portable 2 in 1 convertible laptop with having magnesium casing. It comes with a kickstand that grips the laptop steady in any position. It is super slim weighing 1.7 pounds, which makes it highly portable.
Display: The 12.3 inches touch screen with thinner bezels allows more content on display without much scrolling. It has a 2736x1824p resolution sharp and bright color display. The laptop is pen-supported; however, it is not included in the packaging but can be bought separately. The pen is responsive, and you can draw smoothly or take notes; at the back of the pen is an eraser, which itself is a pretty useful tool.
Performance: The laptop comes with a 6th Gen Intel Core i5 processor balancing with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. It is not an up-to-date processor, but it works great. The system works faultlessly, and all the programs run smoothly without pausing.
Battery life: Surface Pro offers pretty average battery life; with lighter tasks, the laptop persists for 5-6 hours. While running extreme tasks or playing games, the battery only lasts for 2-3 hours.
Ports: The laptop has only come with few ports, i.e., micro-SD card reader, mini display port connector, full-size USB 3 port, and 3.5mm headset jack. To attach extra ports, you have to buy a USB adapter separately.
Pros
- Lightweight and portable
- PixelSense display
Cons
- Average battery life
- No accessories, to be purchased separately
- Expensive
6. HP Pavilion 15 Business Laptop
HP Pavilion 15 Business Laptop provides several plus points which are highly suitable for nursing students. However, with 4.2 pounds weight, it might not fell under the slim category.
Display: It comes with a widescreen 15.6 inches screen and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels; no doubt the image quality is super clear. What makes it stand out is the B&O PLAY with dual speakers for loud and crystal-clear sound.
Performance: It comes with a quad-core 8th generation processor coupled with 8 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM. Another outstanding feature is the 1TB mechanical Hard Drive, which makes multitasking easy as pie for any nursing student.
Battery life: The HP Pavilion 15 provides a great 8 hours of battery life with HD or FHD display use. Additionally, on those long, extended days with mixed work, college, and play, you’ll love the HP Fast Charge feature that takes the battery from zero to 50% charged in just 45 minutes.
Ports
HP is known to provide its users fast data transfer – the HP Pavilion 15 Business Laptop comes with two USB 3.1, 1 USB type C port, 7 HDMI, and a headphone jack.
Pros
- Good image quality
- Huge storage capacity
- Large keyboard
Cons
- Heavy
7. Lenovo Ideapad 330 15.6″
Lenovo offers plenty of good laptops for students, and this means the laptop is no exception. The laptop is made of hard plastic and rectangular with rounded edges. Though it’s not a convertible laptop, it has 180 degrees pivots so it can lay flat and share a screen with the person sitting in front of you. The 15 inches laptop has 4 pounds in weight.
Display: The 15.6inch laptop has a 15.6″ FHD LED Backlight (1920 x 1080) display, which displays average visuals. It has a rectangle responsive touchpad and is sensitive to multi-finger gestures and provides accurate navigation.
Performance: The laptop has an Intel Core i5 processor 8th gen, 8GB RAM, and 1TB of storage. It is loaded with all the essentials for multitasking to perform flawlessly, and massive storage allows more than enough room to stock all that you want.
Battery life: The laptop offers average battery life. It lasts for 5-6 hours with lighter tasks, which is pretty fine, The nursing students can do their work at college without worrying about charging the laptop.
Ports: The laptop comes with a USB 3.1 port, an HDMI, a USB 2.0 input, an RJ45 Ethernet port, and a headphone/mic combo jack. Besides these, a DVD drive and 4in1 card reader are also available on the side.
Pros
- Great aluminum-built body
- HD display
- Portable
Cons
- Mediocre storage space
- Average battery life
8. ASUS ZenBook UX330UA-AH55
The ZenBook has an all-metal body made using silver aluminum alloy, which makes it durable and gives it a stylish and modern look. The 0.53-inch thin Zenbook only weighs 2.7 pounds, which makes it easy to carry for college students without any trouble.
Display: The 13.3 inches HD 1080p non-touch display bargains a decent amount of color and excellent brightness. The touchpad has a reasonable size and offers a fingerprint reader on the right corner.
Performance: The laptop has Intel’s latest 8th gen i5-8250U processor paired with 8GB DDR3 RAM. This pair provides excellent performance for hassle-free work, and heavy tasks run smoothly without crashing. In addition, it comes with a 256GB M.2 SATA SSD, which is more than enough space for a nursing student’s work.
Battery life: The battery life is excellent; this laptop can perform 11 hours on lighter tasks with a single charge. It is an exceptional choice for college students who need to carry a laptop with them all day.
Ports: As for the ports, on both sides, you will find USB 3.0 ports, a micro-HDMI port, a non-charging USB Type-C port, and the power jack. On the other side, it has an SD memory reader and headphone jack.
Pros
- Lightweight and portable
- Long battery life
- Good performance
Cons
- Average touchpad
- Not best viewing angle
How To Pick The Best Laptop For Nursing Students?
The best laptops for nursing students might start at the minimum requirements, but some students prefer more bells and whistles and pay more for advanced features. So, Let’s break each of these specs down:
What features to look for?
The Operating System: Windows or Mac OSX
A necessity for nursing in medical school laptops is that they can run either a Mac OSX 10.5 (or higher) or Windows 10 Pro (or higher). It is better not to purchase a laptop that cannot support one of these operating systems!
Laptop Processor: Intel Core i5 (or higher)
The main processor gives your laptop the authority to multitask. You may be downloading study materials the listening to music, same time opening up a spreadsheet, and running statistical software. If you have an outdated laptop or a laptop with a core processor that is less than i5, it may be sluggish at running all these programs at once or may even lead to a loss of files and crash.
RAM: 6 GB (or more)
RAM is an abbreviation for random access memory and is fundamentally a temporary storage location on your laptop. To better understand RAM, you can consider it as an office desk. It supplies all the things you may need immediately, such as documents, pens, a lamp, etc. 6 GB of RAM is sufficient enough for nursing school.
Are Macbooks good for nursing?
The long-standing debate of whether to get a windows laptop or Mac can now be considered as a personal choice versus one out of necessity. Both Windows systems well as Mac OS X meet the requirements set out by nursing programs and can fulfill the demand. In nursing school, you will be doing research on the internet, using office apps, and utilizing domain-specific software such as statistics. A laptop that supports Mac OSX or Windows 10 (or higher) will be flawlessly capable of opening and running these programs, assuming it meets the rest of the necessities too.
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
Q. IPAD vs. Laptop; which is the better choice for nursing school students?
See, the laptops and iPad are quite similar. As for the nursing student, we will suggest laptops. If you need an alternative smart gadget for transferring data that your laptop can’t handle as it’s already overdoing things, then the iPad can be an additional companion to your laptop. Along with Apple Pencil, you can, however, try to make awesome study notes in I pad.
Q. MacBook Air or Pro – Which one sounds like the best laptop for nursing students?
If budget is not your fear, go for a 13 inches MacBook Pro. The battery life of Apple MacBook series laptops remains the best bargain, and its 8 GPU core and 8 Core CPU are the same as that of MacBook Air. There isn’t much alteration. If you’re searching for Which Laptops are best for college nursing students, then MacBook Air will be our primary choice out of your buying list.
Final Words:
If you’re going to buy a laptop after reaching the market, then probably you may end up buying a different laptop than you’ve anticipated buying. With proper analysis and research about Which Laptops are best for college nursing students in 2021, you have maximum possibilities to select the perfect laptop.
For that, you should take a closer look at the list of the laptop provided in our list. Who knows, you might end up pick out the best laptop to buy for yourself after scrolling down the entire list.
Best of luck!