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What kind of laptop should I buy for college?

I'm majoring in studio art with an emphasis on illustration, as we all do graphic design. My minor is in art therapy, and I'm also taking gen-ed classes. I'll be attending Minnesota State University Moorhead this coming fall as a freshman.

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Eric’s Answer

Hi Leo:

Here is the PC that I bought for my Technical Writing service business. This should have everything you need:

HP-Envy 17.3-Touchscreen Laptops-i7 13th Generation 14Core Intel i7-13700H| Stylus Pen| Backlit Keyboard| Thunderbolt4| Wi-Fi6E| Microsoft 365| Business Laptop (Windows 11, 32GB RAM |1TB PCIe SSD)
Visit the HP Store

Hope this helps...!

Kindly,
Eric De Biasi
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Dheeraj’s Answer

That’s so exciting — congratulations on starting your journey at MSUM! 🎨🖌️ Since you’re majoring in studio art with a focus on illustration and doing graphic design as well, you’ll definitely want a laptop that can handle creative software smoothly and last you all through college.

Here’s what I’d recommend:
1. MacBook Pro (14-inch, M2 Pro or M3 chip)
- Super powerful, runs Adobe Creative Cloud like a dream (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.), and has amazing color accuracy with the Liquid Retina XDR display — great for digital illustration.
- Battery life: Excellent
- Bonus: Many artists prefer macOS for creative workflows.

2. MacBook Air (15-inch, M2 or M3)
- Lightweight and still very capable for art/design work. Perfect if you’re commuting or want a more affordable Apple option.
- Best for: Light to moderate Adobe usage and sketching with tools like Procreate (on iPad) in combo.

3. Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
- Built-in touch screen and stylus support make it amazing for illustration. It’s like a laptop and drawing tablet in one.
- Perfect for: Illustration majors who want everything in one device.

Minimum Specs to Aim For
- Processor: Apple M2/M3, or Intel i7/AMD Ryzen 7+
- RAM: At least 16GB
- Storage: 512GB SSD minimum (art files get big fast!)
- Display: High resolution, color-accurate (100% sRGB or better)
- Graphics: Dedicated GPU is a plus for heavier design work (e.g. NVIDIA GTX/RTX or Apple’s integrated GPU in M2/M3)

If you like to draw digitally, consider pairing your laptop with an iPad + Apple Pencil or Wacom tablet — many art students love that combo.
Don't forget to avail student discounts when buying new laptops/iPads. Almost all companies have them!
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Ibrahim’s Answer

🎨 What to Look For in a Laptop (for Studio Art & Graphic Design)

If you're diving into digital art and design with tools like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or maybe Procreate, you'll need a laptop that can keep up without slowing down or getting too hot.

Here's a good starting point:

💻 Recommended Specs:
- **Processor (CPU):** Intel i7, Apple M1/M2/M3, or AMD Ryzen 7
- **RAM:** At least 16 GB (crucial for using multiple art programs!)
- **Storage:** 512 GB SSD or more — fast and spacious for your files
- **Graphics (GPU):** A dedicated GPU (like NVIDIA GTX/RTX or Apple’s M2 Pro) is helpful for speed, but not essential unless you're into heavy 3D work.
- **Screen:** 13–16" Retina or color-accurate display (look for IPS panels or 100% sRGB/AdobeRGB for true colors)

🖌️ Top Laptop Choices for Art Majors:

💻 **MacBook Air M2 / M3 (13” or 15”)**
- Light and speedy
- Beautiful, color-accurate display
- Long battery life — perfect for class and coffee shops
- Handles Adobe software smoothly
- Great for digital drawing and easy to carry around

💻 **MacBook Pro 14” M2 Pro or M3 Pro**
- More power for future 3D or video projects
- Top-quality screen for color accuracy
- Longer-lasting if you invest now

💻 **Windows Option: Dell XPS 15 / HP Spectre x360 / ASUS ZenBook Pro**
- Excellent for Adobe and other design apps
- Often come with touchscreen and stylus support
- Usually better for custom upgrades
- More flexible if you use Windows-only software

🎯 If you're comfortable with Apple and want simplicity, choose a MacBook Air M2/M3. If you want more options or plan to game or explore 3D, a high-end Windows laptop might be better.

📝 Bonus Tips:
- Consider a drawing tablet (like Wacom One or XP-Pen) if your laptop doesn't have a touchscreen — super handy for illustrations.
- **Student Discounts:** Apple, Dell, and Adobe often offer student discounts — make sure to use them!
- **Cloud Storage:** Regularly back up your projects with Google Drive, iCloud, or Dropbox to avoid losing work.

❤️ Final Thought:
You don’t need to spend $3,000 on a "pro" setup. Just get a reliable laptop that won't crash when you're in the middle of a project or using Zoom, Canva, and Adobe all at once. Start with a solid machine, and you can upgrade as your skills grow.

Congrats on getting into MSUM — wishing you a creative and exciting college experience! Let me know if you need help comparing laptops or choosing a tablet. 😊
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Teklemuz Ayenew’s Answer

There are many laptops to choose from, depending on what you need and how much you want to spend. Here are some helpful tips to make your choice easier.

If you're looking for a budget-friendly option, consider these:

The MacBook Air M1, starting at about $750, features Apple's M1 chip, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It has amazing battery life, great performance for design work, and a clear Retina display, making it a fantastic choice for creative tasks without breaking the bank.

The ASUS VivoBook Pro (OLED), priced between $800 and $900, comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 or Intel Core i5, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Its OLED display offers superb color accuracy, making it ideal for design projects.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 (13.5), starting at $900–$1,000, includes an Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It’s lightweight and easy to carry, perfect for everyday design work, especially when used with a drawing tablet.

The HP Envy x360 (2-in-1), priced around $750–$950, offers an AMD Ryzen 5 or Intel i5, 8GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Its 2-in-1 design and touchscreen are great for digital drawing.

Overall, the MacBook Air M1 is highly recommended, especially if you want something portable with strong performance and battery life. For more affordable Windows options, the ASUS VivoBook Pro or HP Envy x360 are excellent choices.
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Kody’s Answer

Hi Lucky!

I studied graphic design and took illustration classes as well in college. I'm not the most "techy" person when it comes to laptops, but I can provide a general answer. Generally, you'll want something with a good bit of storage (usually at least 1TB), decent RAM (at least 8GB), and decent processing power for Adobe's programs. Unless you'll be animating or processing intense videos, you don't need to max out your specs. I'd also recommend a screen that's 15-16 inches. You can work with 13, but in my experience the bigger screen is nicer so you can see more, especially if you split your screen for design, and then reasearch/inspo.

A lot of people will suggest a Macbook Pro, and I personally use one because I'm used to it these days, and I like how easy it is to work between it, my iPad, and my phone on the go. But in college and for a few years afterwards, I used an HP Pavillion, and it was fantastic! I would just avoid a laptop that is considered a "notebook" since they can't always handle Adobe programs. And I would go for a laptop over a tablet (exception is the laptops that convert to a tablet-like mode), since some have a mobile OS and their desktop equivalent may not have all the same features in the tablet version (this is more apparent on iPad vs Mac to me).

TLDR; If you're working with a specific budget, you don't need something top of the line with maxed out specs. I would focus more on storage, RAM, processing power, and screen size rather than brands.
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Leo’s Answer

Hi Lucky,
Buy a Windows-based laptop for that type of work that has a minimum of 16 Gigabytes of memory, 1 Terrabyte of storage and has a processor no less than an intel Corp i7. Save money on the laptop and put the money in the software.

If you use Adobe, it's not a subscription model. You can save money as a student, but it's still an ongoing cost.
If you are not locked into the Adobe system, I suggest Serif's Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer software which has a one-time purchase price and in most cases are better than Photoshop and Illustrator (saying from professional experience).

If you need a mac and want to save money, look at refurbished macbook pros on Amazon. You get great savings there and the systems are almost perfect. I've personally purchased 4 or 5 that way with no issues and saved thousands.

If you are willing to do refurb on a windows laptop, I suggest that as well. Make sure the seller is from a marketplace like Amazon because if there is an issue, they will take the old system back and rapidly ship out a new one at no additional cost (as long as you use the prepaid lable to ship the old bad one back).

Hope that helps. Best of luck to you. If you have some work you've done, please share a link with us here.
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Lilliana’s Answer

Hi Lucky,

First of all, congratulations on your acceptance to MSU! Since you mentioned you're going to do graphic design as well, you need to have a good computer that can handle softwares such as Adobe, so it can work like it's supposed to and last you a long time.

I recommend that your computer have the following:

RAM: Minimum 16 GB
Graphics card: Nvidia GTX 1650 or better (if you get RTX, even better), there's also the AMD Radeon (it's cheaper and is good)
Hard drive: SSD
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7000 series 5 or higher or Intel i7 or i9.

Computer brands:
Apple
Lenovo
Asus
Acer
Samsung
Dell has very good components, but as for the hardware, the physical condition is too delicate, I don't recommend it because it breaks easily.

I hope this helps for you. I wish you the best on this new journey that's coming ahead of you.
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Gishan’s Answer

Hi Lucky,

Congrats on your acceptance to MSU. As for the kind of supplies for classes, you can use pretty much anything. I would recommend an apple laptop but its not required. You may also do your design work on a windows, as long as it has sufficient storage space. Also any other supplies like a stylus pen or flash drive. Just get what you can afford, no need to go expensive.

Best,
Gishan
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