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1. Apple MacBook 13 inch 2GHz

Main Features
13.4", 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, 2GHz (duo), 1.96kg

Price: £865

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2. Dell Studio 17

Main Features
17.3", 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 2.26GHz (duo), 3.6kg

Price: £699

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3. Toshiba Satellite A350D-202

Main Features
16", 4GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 2.1GHz, 2.85kg

Price: £640

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4. Samsung Q320

Main Features
13.4", 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 2GHz, 2.17kg

Price: £595

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5. HP Pavilion DV3-2055

Main Features
13.1", 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 2GHz (duo), 2.25kg

Price: £730

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6. Dell Inspiron 17

Main Features
17.3", 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 2.1GHz, 3.1kg

Price: £499

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7. Lenovo ThinkPad SL500 

Main Features
15.4", 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 2GHz (duo), 2.9kg

Price: £545

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8. Samsung R522


Main Features
15.6", 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 2GHz, 2.84kg

Price: £560

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9. Dell Studio 1555

Main Features
15.5", 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, 2GHz, 2.52kg

Price: £449

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10. Toshiba Satellite Pro L300-291

Main Features
15.2", 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, 2GHz (duo), 2.6kg

Price: £299

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Rest of the Best

Best Low Budget student laptop:
Dell Inspiron 15


Big budget:
MacBook Pro 13"


Ultra-Portable:
Samsung N120 10.1"

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Choosing your laptop for university

The laptop has quickly become the perfect learning tool for university students. They are easy to take to and fro into uni and back, able to connect to the internet anywhere wirelessly, store all your essays and notes and effortlessly stream on-demand TV! More than that, they have crashed in price in terms of what you get for your money. Here are some things for students to consider when buying a laptop for your studies:

Portability

Consider size and weight, and whether you are likely to take it out of your room often.

How tough?

Are you prone to dropping expensive things? There are special notebooks which are designed to withstand a punishing owner. In any case, it's worth getting one that's not too flimsy as it only takes a second for a laptop to slip out of your hands. Consider the thickness of the lid and covering plastic.

How powerful?

This isn't as important now that laptops have caught up in terms of performance and usability of desktop computers. Though if you like your gaming or use your laptop as a media centre (watching Blu-rays etc), then it's important to consider. RAM is one of the most important indicators alongside the processor speed.

Features

Most laptops come with an inbuilt wireless card, 3 or 4 USB ports, DVD drive and a small webcam. If you're a media fiend, you should think about getting a laptop with a HDMI port, Firewire port, Blu-Ray disc drive to give you another dimension and more use from your laptop. In terms of storage space, unless you download lots of movies and songs, most laptops will be fine as even the cheapest come with huge Hard-disc drives (100GB+).

Battery life

You'll want at least 5 hours constant use out of your laptop at least. Upgrading your batterys is typically quite expensive but can be worth it if you're out a lot and when the library is busy over exams and there's no plugs!!

Price

Laptops have fallen in price and continue to do so, though there's still a significant price range between the budget and the high-end. Most students would be looking at spending around £500-800 on a good laptop. It is worth remembering that you will use your laptop a lot and setting a reasonable budget will give you a laptop with more life and getting the best possible now will mean you won't need to upgrade and buy another one for several years. So spend what you can afford, but don't skrimp.


Where to buy?

95% of the time you'll get the best deal by shopping on the internet, though sometimes you may be lucky getting a clearance laptop bargain from the high street. Amazon, Dell, eBuyer are good places to start your search. Remember to use a price comparison website such as Kelkoo to get the best deals.