(Image credit: Asus)
If you’re looking for a laptop for school, you need something reliable that’ll get you through classes without needing to ask your professor where the closest outlet is. You need a laptop that is both sturdy and light, so you don’t feel like you’re lugging around a bag of bricks. Some of these textbooks are heavy enough as it is.As long as you know what you’re looking for, you can suss out the perfect laptop out of a crowd. Don’t worry, I’m going to help guide you along through the key features you need to keep an eye out for when shopping just before the semester starts.A great example is the Asus Vivobook 16. It encompasses all of the qualities that you want out of a school laptop.Here’s what you should be looking for.PortabilityYou’re going to be zipping around from class to class, so you want a laptop that is light to carry and won’t shatter to pieces if you drop it.Larger laptops are more likely to be heavy, so usually I’d recommend something around or under 4 pounds. The Vivobook 16 does ride that line, at 4.14 pounds, but it is a 16-inch laptop, so you’re getting a lot of real estate in exchange. And it still manages to stay relatively thin, at 0.78 inches. Any laptops within this range should be able to slip into your pack with ease, and hopefully you remember it’s there before you toss your bag to the floor when you get home.However, if you do hurl your bag across the room, a proper school laptop will be fine. With regard to durability, the key feature you’ll want to look for on any laptop is that US MIL-STD 810H badge. It’s proof that the laptop underwent 12 military-grade tests, which include pitting the laptop against drops, vibrations, extreme temperatures, sand and dust, humidity, and more. The Asus Vivobook 16 underwent these tests, and you can see them in greater detail here.With the external portability aspects covered, the next thing you should worry about is battery life. Being able to carry a laptop anywhere with ease is great and all, but if it dies before your first class ends, then what’s the point? I recommend looking for laptops with at least over 10 hours of battery life. That should be enough to get you through a school day.
