Getting ready for school and looking for the best laptop for law school? It’s an exciting time and finding the right gear to help you study with all that’s ahead is critical. That’s 
why we decided to check out what colleges and universities were requiring for laptops for law school students. There are a ton of options available these days and whether you are looking for a MacBook for law school or a Surface Pro for law school, or any other laptop – You want to make sure that you get one that meets law school requirements and will last longer than law school will.
In our search to bring you the best laptops for law students, we reviewed the laptop requirements for over 60 universities and colleges. While not every college or university required a student to have a laptop, saying that they had technology centers and facilities at their school that students could access if they did not have their own laptop or desktop, they were in the minority. The majority of the schools reviewed did require or recommend a computer and, more often than not, a laptop over a desktop because of how much easier they are to transport.
Best Laptop for Law School – Minimum Requirements
Unlike some other fields of study that we’ve reviewed recently, laptops for law school students can easily be either Apple or PC. We didn’t see any schools that were definitely slanting their recommendations one way or another. So if you already have a laptop that you love, you are in luck – it can go with you! Of course, you want to make sure that older models will hold up to the standards that schools would like and that they will last you your full three years.
For those that are going to start law school with a new laptop, you can easily and quickly determine the specifications that you need to make sure that your laptop will meet the needs and requirements of the upcoming three year!
Best Laptops for College Students – By Majors and Fields
What to Look for in Laptops for Law School:
Operating System – For PCs: Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or for Apple: 10 OS X 10.11 “El Capitan”
Memory: 4GB of RAM is Ok but more (8GB STRONGLY recommended when purchasing a new computer) is definitely recommended
Hard Drive/SSD: 120GB or greater (such as 500GB) preferred but if you have one already with less, go with it!
DVD Drive: Many popular notebook/ultrabook models no longer include a built-in DVD drive. However, there may be times when one would come in handy. You might consider purchasing an external USB DVD drive if one is not built into the model that you select.
Screen Size: Most users find that a screen smaller than 13” is of limited use for online research and document composition.
Wi-Fi: 802.11G or higher (802.11N or 802.11AC are backwards compatible with 802.11G)
Ethernet: Optional. Wi-Fi is available at schools
Backup: Frequent backup is essential. You may use an external USB hard drive, thumb drive, or the cloud backup service (CrashPlan, Carbonite, Mozy, etc.). Whatever your choice, backup often!
Office Suite: Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Office 2011 or newer.
Anti-Virus: Any free or commercial anti-virus application which is suitable for the notebook. Some schools will also provide anti-virus programs for you.
The above listed specifications give you a few different options to consider depending upon what you have already for a laptop or on what you might want to select. Obviously, the higher specifications will, generally, be more expensive as well.
Based on our review, we’ve come up with five excellent laptops that fit our specifications and college & university requirements for the best laptop for law school.
Acer Aspire VX 15 – Best Laptops Under 1000
Before taking a deeper look at the tech specifics for this Acer VX15 model, it’s worth mentioning it’s not surprising for Acer to be among the best laptop for law students. Acer is a top ranked and popular brand that is famous for use by students studying a wide variety of majors including computer science, journalism, chemistry and biology. Given its versatility, you can expect it will perform incredibly well for law students as well. The best thing about Acer Aspire VX 15 is it’s a top notch quality laptop that is reasonably priced but has an impressive performance and service delivery record.
This model has definitely good reviews and is a good contender for the best laptop for law school 2017.
If you didn’t know, this is a gaming laptop and therefore, you can already expect thunderous speeds that allow you to comfortably work and multitask. So for those gaming law students or those looking for a high performance laptop, this is a machine worth checking out.
Let’s discuss what makes Acer VX15 laptop ideal for law students? Acer Aspire VX 15 has a 7th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, 2.8GHz with Turbo Boost technology up to 3.8GHz, 16GB DDR4 2400MHz memory, 4GB dedicated GDDR5 VRAM and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with 256GB SSD. In addition, enjoy crisp clear images thanks to the 15” Full HD 1920 X 1080 widescreen IPS display. Furthermore, this workstation has Bluetooth 4.0, USB 3.0 and a 1280 x 720 HD webcam. From the specs, it’s clear this laptop is built solely for high-end multitasking use.https://www.techiesense.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=6450&action=edit
ASUS ZenBook UX330UA – Best Laptops Under 700
ASUS ZenBook is a superb laptop and definitely belongs on the best laptop for law students list thanks to its superb specs, ultra slim design and lightweight capabilities. It’s an ideal laptop for those who want to stay on the move. This is also one of the best selling laptops on Amazon which is saying something!
This laptop comes with the latest 7th Generation Intel Core 2.5GHz i5 processor, 256 GB SSD and 8 GB of RAM to ensure your laptop not only boots in seconds but keeps working at a rapid pace as you navigate through various applications and browsers. This model comes with a built-in fingerprint reader which prevents unauthorized access; every law student will love this feature. This 13.3 inches laptop is slimmer, lighter and faster with unmatched power making it rank high as a best laptop for law students.
Other great features for this laptop include; super fast 3 USB 3.0 ports and USB 3.1 Type C which offers speeds of up to 10 times faster than normal USB ports. The battery life remains in use for a long period of time which enables students to enjoy long hours of studying without getting interrupted. Considering the specs the ASUS ZenBook UX330UA has, this laptop meets all the requirements for student lawyers keen on investing in a good quality laptop.
Microsoft Surface Pro 4 – Best Laptops Under 700
The entry of the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 to the list of best laptops for law school 2017 doesn’t come as a surprise. The Surface Pro for law school is becoming increasingly popular among law students because of its fine features and super performance capabilities. This Surface Book Pro comes with a 6th generation Intel Core i5 processor, 256GB storage and 8GB RAM. The Surface Pro 4 is powerful and can comfortably multitask. In addition, this laptop is light and therefore, a great option especially if you are looking for a laptop that is highly portable.
You can switch from a tablet to a laptop in a snap allowing you the convenience of enjoying your computing experience the way that you want to.
Overall, this is an incredible laptop for law students looking for a fast and portable laptop. Remember, there are numerous variations of Surface Pro 4, so feel free to check out the specs and choose the one that best suits your needs and budget since they start under $700. This laptop not only works well for law students but also is a good pick for the best laptop for lawyers as well!
Apple MacBook Air – Best Laptops Under 1000
Apple is a good choice for law students looking for a nice laptop with cool specs. Apple MacBook Air makes it to the list of the best laptop for law students because it’s slimmer than a notebook so you won’t even notice you’re carrying it. The MacBook Air is truly impressive and will enable you to enjoy using it considering its features allow for a smooth computing experience.
For starters, this MacBook Air is built with a 1.6 GHz dual core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 2.7 GHz and 3MB shared L3 cache. In addition, it comes with 128 GB PCle-based storage (flash memory), a 13.3 inch LED 1440 X 900 resolution for crisp and clear images and Intel HD Graphics 6000. The operating system is OS X El Capitan with up to 12 hours of battery life; this is so cool. If you intend to store a high volume of documents, you may need to invest in an external hard drive to store what cannot be catered for on the hard drive.
Apple MacBook Pro – Best Laptops Under 2000
Apple MacBook Pro 13 inch has not been left behind in its quest to appear in the Best Laptop for Law School 2017 category! Given its impressive specs, you don’t need to worry about how the laptop will perform when you use it as a law student. With a 1.6GHz dual core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz, 8GB of 1600 MHz LPDDR3 RAM and 128 GB PCle-based flash storage, this laptop rapidly responds to requests and allows you to comfortably run memory intensive programs. It’s a stylish beast for performance and looks.
In addition, it comes with a 13.3 Inch 1440 x 900 LED Widescreen Display and Intel HD Graphics 6000 to insure that you enjoy top notch HD quality images. We cannot forget the fact this laptop’s battery runs up to 12 hours allowing you to move around with your laptop without getting disconnected. And there’s not a student around that hasn’t panicked at some point about running out of power at the wrong possible moment.
This is a top of the line machine that we had to add in the laptops for law students list!
Getting ready for law school is exciting and nerve wracking time! It’s going to be a hectic and challenging 3 years ahead. So making sure that you find the best laptop for law school is key since it’s going to be the one gadget that you’ll be using just about every day! Choosing one of the laptops listed here is sure to eliminate one item on your to-do list this year.