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  • The best budget TVs and streaming gadgets for students

    The best budget TVs and streaming gadgets for students

    There’s no such thing as a watch party with a laptop screen. If you’re the sort of person who enjoys watching movies and TV shows with friends, then it’s worth nabbing an inexpensive TV for your dorm room. And if you’re living alongside other students with too much time on their hands, you’ll want a TV for impromptu Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sessions. (If you need another justification, or just a way to sell it to your parents, TV sets can easily be repurposed as secondary monitors for any computer). Below, we’ve gathered some of the best TV and home entertainment options for students — ones that provide a great experience without emptying your wallet.

    TCL

    A television with Roku or Google TV built-in is one of the easiest ways to start streaming content, making them ideal for most students. This 4-series TCL model sports a 4K screen (with upscaling from lower-res sources) and HDR, for better dynamic range. But best of all, you can usually find it under $300. It’s not the most feature-packed TCL TV (the 5-series costs around $200 more and adds Dolby Vision), but it’s one of the best options at that price. And at 43 inches, it’s small enough to fit in most dorm rooms, while still offering enough screen space to immerse you in a film.

    $330 at Amazon

    VIZIO

    Vizio has spent decades cornering the cheap TV market, and while Chinese rivals like TCL and Hisense have quickly encroached on its territory, Vizio still manages to deliver excellent TV sets that don’t break the bank. This M-Series Quantum Q6 set is one example: It’s a 43-inch system with most of the mid-range features you’d want, including quantum dots for richer colors, Dolby Vision HDR support and AMD FreeSync to make games look silky smooth. Its Wi-Fi 6E connectivity also means you’ll be able to enjoy streaming movies (and games!) without much trouble.

    $348 at Amazon

    TCL

    If you’ve got room for something slightly larger, and you want the Google TV experience, TCL’s latest Q6 Q-Class sets are worth a look. Its QLED screen features quantum dots, Dolby Vision and AMD FreeSync with support for simulated 120Hz gaming. And since it’s running Google’s software, the Q6 also offers built-in Chromecast support alongside tons of apps. Best of all, you can often find the 65-inch model for under $500. If you’re looking for a slightly higher quality screen, TCL’s Q7 series typically cost a few hundred dollars more, but you’ll get a native 120Hz refresh rate, which could be useful for some PC games.

    $370 at Amazon

    Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

    If you’re a heavy Google user, there’s no better streaming device than the Chromecast with Google TV. Unlike previous versions of Google’s puck, it has an interface of its own, along with a suite of streaming apps to choose from. And yes, you can still cast video from Android devices or the Chrome browser. The Chromecast is a great option if you’re buying a cheaper TV, but be sure to check if your set already has Chromecast streaming built in.

    $48 at Walmart

    Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

    If you own an older TV, or you just want something a bit zippier than your set’s onboard apps, Roku’s Streaming Stick 4K is worth snapping up. It’s just $40 (and often less), supports 4K (with HDR and Dolby Vision), and it gives you access to Roku’s entire app library. Best of all, though, it’s so tiny you can easily bring it along when you’re traveling. The Streaming Stick 4K also supports Apple AirPlay, giving you a way to cast video from iOS devices and Macs. Roku’s bundled voice remote also makes it easy to search for things without pecking away at an onscreen keyboard.

    $39 at Amazon

    Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

    The Streambar is an unusual device. It’s both a decent soundbar and a media streaming box. That’s just so Roku. Honestly, if you’re picking up a TV, you should really consider a soundbar of some kind. (We have a whole guide dedicated to that.) But we’re recommending the Streambar here because it’s a relatively simple and inexpensive solution that solves two common pain points: getting streaming apps and better sound. It’s also a nice thing to have around to play a bit of music when you’re not watching anything. For even bigger sound, you might also want to consider the slightly pricier Streambar Pro.

    $129 at QVC

    Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

    So hear me out: There’s room for the Apple TV 4K in your budget entertainment setup, especially if you’re going to save money by picking a cheap TV with slow apps. At $129, the Apple TV 4K is only slightly more expensive than the Roku Ultra, and it also plays nicely with iPhones, iPads and MacBooks. If your TV doesn’t support AirPlay, an Apple TV is also helpful for projecting content from your phone. There are also plenty of apps on the Apple TV platform you won’t find on TVs, including a large library of games.

    $130 at B&H Photo

    Soundcore

    A great pair of headphones is essential for late night studying and movie-watching. The Soundcore Space One proves you don’t need to spend a ton to get great sound quality and powerful active noise cancellation (ANC). The $100 headphones offer 40 millimeter dynamic drivers and 40 hours of noise-canceling playback (or 55 hours without ANC). If you have a supported Android phone, you can also take advantage of detailed Hi-Res Audio using the LDAC codec. While the Space One doesn’t have the cultural cachet of a pair of Sony or Bose premium noise canceling headsets, you can take the money you’re saving to get Anker’s Space A40 noise-canceling buds as a companion device.

    $100 at Amazon

    Devindra Hardawar

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  • The best laptops for college students

    The best laptops for college students

    Whether you commute to a physical campus, take classes online or do a little of both, a laptop is likely the center of your studies. If you’re working with an aging machine, upgrading to a newer model can make all of your academic pursuits a little easier by helping you stay on top of your schedule and multitask better with dozens of tabs devoted to research while you write your essays. While almost every new laptop the comes out is a bit more expensive than the last, there’s good news, too: laptops are lasting longer than ever before, so your new machine should serve you well for years to come. That is, as long as you pick one from a reliable company and with the right specs. To help you find the best buy as you shop, we put together this collection of things to look out for as well as a list of the best laptops for college.

    What to expect

    Apple has completed its transition to its own Silicon, so you’ll no longer have the option of Intel-powered Macs. Nor should you want to, really, since the M-series MacBooks have proven to be reliable, speedy and long-lasting. And with each new generation of chip, older models get cheaper while still offering excellent performance. This means you’ll have more options to consider without having to stretch your budget.

    Meanwhile, new PCs keep getting announced, with the latest models typically powered by 13th-gen Intel processors or the latest AMD Ryzen chips. Though the shift to ARM-based systems has been successful for Apple, the PC industry is still struggling to keep up, and Windows on ARM is basically dead in the water. Don’t waste your time or money on an ARM-based PC; they’re hard to find nowadays anyway.

    Speaking of, laptops with top-of-the-line specs can cost you around $1,800 to $2,000 these days. For most college students, though, a midrange machine to use primarily for writing papers and web browsing might be enough. Depending on your field of study, you could get by with an Intel Core i3 processor or equivalent, with at least 6GB of RAM. If you need to run specialized software for design or programming, consider upgrading to a beefier system with more processing power and memory. On the other hand, if you do most of your coursework online or in a browser, getting a Chromebook could save you a lot of money.

    You’ll also want to pay attention to a device’s weight, especially if you plan on lugging your laptop to classes in person. There are a lot of premium ultraportables in the 13-inch category, with chips like Intel’s Core i3 or i5, that cost around $1,000. If these light laptops are too expensive, you’ll still have respectable options in the $600 to $800 price range, but they might be heavier and use older, slower processors. I’ve included our recommendations for the best budget laptops in this college-centric guide but we also have more affordable top picks that you can check out as well.

    See Also:

    With some laptop makers deciding to get rid of headphone jacks, it’s important to check specs lists when you’re shopping for newer machines. If you don’t have wireless headphones or use equipment that plugs into the 3.5mm jack, you’ll want to steer clear of devices like Dell’s XPS 13 Plus.

    Finally, while most laptops offer WiFi 6 or 6E and Bluetooth 5.0 or later, you may not have one of the compatible routers or other devices that would enable those faster connections yet. Chances are, your campus WiFi might still be stuck on an older setup, too, so it’s not crucial that you get a system with the latest standards yet. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to get a laptop that’s future-proof, but just know that of all the things to look out for, WiFi 6E shouldn’t be a dealbreaker in your decision-making process.

    The best laptops for college students

    Photo by Devindra Hardawar / Engadget

    Read our full review of the Apple MacBook Air M3

    It’s hard to beat Apple’s MacBook Air if you want a powerful machine for college that won’t weigh you down. You have a few good options this year — the 13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Air M3 and the MacBook Air M2. The M3 laptop earned a score of 90 from us for its impressive performance, gorgeous 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display and its thin-and-light design. However, the M2 remains a fantastic machine and, with the launch of the M3 models, it received a $200 price cut. We recommend springing for an M3 Air if you want a more future-proof laptop, but the MacBook Air M2 will likely be enough for most students’s needs.

    Apple has officially stopped selling the M1 MacBook Air in its online store, but it’s still floating around the internet for under $1,000. It has the wedge design of older MacBook Airs, larger bezels and only a 720p webcam. But if you’re coming from an Intel machine, the performance gains will be noticeable even if you pick up an M1 machine on clearance. However, we expect stock to become limited as the year goes on.

    $1,050 at Amazon

    Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

    Read our full review of the Dell XPS 13 Plus laptop

    The best PC has long been Dell’s well-rounded XPS 13 series and I still recommend it to anyone that doesn’t want a Mac. Yes, the XPS 13 Plus lacks a headphone jack, and some of its buttons are hard to see and use. But the XPS 13 is a well-rounded machine and reliable workhorse that will get you through classes and late-night writing sessions without breaking a sweat.

    Like its predecessors, the XPS 13 Plus offers a lovely OLED screen with impressively thin bezels and packs a roomy, comfortable keyboard. It also features a new minimalist design that looks more modern and offers a performance boost over the standard model. The row of capacitive keys at the top in lieu of traditional function keys may irk some as they can be hard to see outdoors, but if you become familiar with where they are you might not need to see where they are to find the right ones. The invisible trackpad can also be tricky since its boundaries aren’t clear.

    If you don’t like the changes Dell has made to the XPS 13, or if you definitely need a headphone jack, the older generations are still solid options. There’s also the Samsung Galaxy Book series, which feature beautiful OLED screens and sharper webcams in thin and light frames. I also like Microsoft’s Surface Laptops, and the most recent edition offers great performance and battery life, albeit in an outdated design.

    $1,400 at Dell

    Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

    Read our full review of the Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop

    Just because your laptop might primarily be for coursework doesn’t mean you can’t use it for fun, too. Those looking to game on their machines should prioritize responsive screens and ample ports for their favorite accessories that can best help them defeat their virtual enemies. If you’re considering a gaming-first machine that you can use for school, check out our guide to buying a gaming laptop. It covers details about different CPUs and GPUs, minimum specs and more. Our favorite gaming laptop is the Razer Blade 15, which has an Intel Core i7 processor, and an NVIDIA RTX 3070 graphics for $2,500.

    At that price point, it’s the most expensive item on this list, but you also get a 15-inch quad HD screen that refreshes at 240Hz. Different configurations are available, depending on your preference, including Full HD 360Hz and 4K 144Hz versions. The Blade series is also one of the most polished gaming laptops around, and Razer consistently updates it with the latest processors, graphics and other hardware advancements. If you really want to go all-out, you could consider the new Razer Blade 16 that has NVIDIA’s RTX 4060 or 4070 GPUs.

    Students and gamers looking for something cheaper and more portable should consider the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, which was our favorite model in 2021. The main reason it got bumped down a notch is because the 2022 refresh is almost $600 more expensive. It’s still a solid gaming laptop though, with an excellent display, roomy trackpad and plenty of ports in spite of its thin profile.

    $2,900 at Razer

    Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

    If you can do most of your schoolwork through web-based apps, a Chromebook is worth considering for your college laptop. Sure they don’t generally look fancy, nor have high-end specs. Our favorite Chromebook is Lenovo’s Flex 5 Chromebook, which Engadget’s resident Chrome OS aficionado Nathan Ingraham described as a tremendous value. This laptop nails the basics, with a 14-inch Full HD touchscreen, a great backlit keyboard and a 13th-gen Core i3 processor. The latest model has an upgraded 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which when paired with the Core i3 CPU, make for a speedy, capable machine. It’s also nice to see one USB-A and two USB-C ports, six hours of battery life and a 360-degree hinge that makes it easy to use the Flex 5 as a tablet. This could be the ideal laptop for Chrome OS fans, and it’ll hit the sweet spot for a lot of other buyers out there, providing a level of quality and performance that’s pretty rare to find at this price point.

    $499 at Amazon

    Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

    Read our full review of the HP Pavilion Aero 13 laptop

    If you’re looking for a sturdy student laptop under $800, your best bet is the HP Pavilion Aero 13. Yes, it’s almost two years old, but it’s still one of the best cheap laptops for college students available now. For an affordable price, you’ll get a Full HD screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio and surprisingly thin bezels, as well as a comfortable keyboard and spacious touchpad. Importantly, the Aero 13 provides relatively powerful components compared to others in this price range, with an AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor and Radeon graphics. Plus, it has a generous array of ports and enough hours of battery life to last you a full day and then some.

    $600 at HP

    Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

    Read our full review of the Microsoft Surface Pro 9

    For those who need their laptops to occasionally double as tablets, the Surface Pro series is a no-brainer. Compared to notebooks or 2-in-1 laptops with rotating hinges, tablets with kickstands are often much slimmer and lighter. The Surface Pro 9 is the most recent model and it features Microsoft’s sleek design with a thinner profile and minimal bezels. The Pro 9 also has a 120Hz display that makes scrolling long documents or spreadsheets feel much faster, and you can drop the refresh rate down to 60Hz if you want to conserve battery life. Just make sure you get an Intel processor rather than an ARM-based configuration, since app compatibility might be an issue on the latter. You don’t want to be the only one in class who can’t install the obscure app that your professor wants everyone to use, do you?

    We also like Microsoft’s Type Covers and the Surface Pens, though it’s worth noting that they’ll have to pay extra for both if you want them. Unless you’re bent on sticking to Apple’s ecosystem, in which case an iPad Pro would suit you best, the Surface Pro 9 is arguably the best convertible laptop around.

    $833 at Amazon

    Cherlynn Low

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