Probably, none of us can imagine a life without using a laptop. It has become an indispensable thing, especially for college students. In fact, a laptop makes their homework tasks much easier to complete. Thanks to its portability, young people have more flexibility and freedom while studying, they are not limited by a certain location at all. They can access necessary information from anywhere and work on academic projects from different places. Let’s consider how students can benefit from having a laptop in more detail!
Effective assignment writing
One of the greatest advantages of laptops is that they make the learning process much more efficient. For example, typing an essay can be twice faster as writing it by hand. Hence, you can use saved time on other tasks. Also, you can contact experts that help to write your assignment through special web platforms. Thus, you will get assistance with complicated tasks and earn better grades. These are just a few ways of using a laptop for productive studying. In fact, you can discover many more of them!
Choosing a portable computer
The modern technology market offers a wide range of products to choose from. However, it’s still not that easy to pick a thing that will perfectly meet your needs, since you might be confused by a large variety of options. So before buying a laptop, you should thoroughly research its characteristics and make sure that they match your requirements.
In this article, you are going to read about the major differences between a Windows laptop and Chromebook. Hopefully, this will help you to make a thoughtful choice when buying a computer for your studies.
Windows laptops
Windows laptops can beat any other types of portable computers when it comes to versatility, which makes them stand out among competitors. Apart from being really powerful, they offer a lot of extra features giving them more functionality. The Windows operating system is also very flexible so it can be used for various academic purposes. It can be easily customized to suit the user, so it’s not a problem to complete even resource-intensive tasks after adjusting some settings.
It’s important to note that over 50% of computers around the globe run Windows OS. This popularity is one of its key advantages. Why so? Because this means that you are less likely to come across a software package that can’t be installed on your computer.
Moreover, the latest version of the Windows operating system has features specifically designed for students. They include apps for taking screenshots, tools to easily convert documents and instruments to increase available storage. Additionally, you can use the Night Light feature if you prefer studying at late hours. In this mode, a laptop displays warmer colors, which puts less strain on your eyes. And last but not least, if it’s critical for you to use different browsers while studying, you are not limited by Chrome only.
The good thing about buying a Windows laptop is its affordable price. If you have a tight budget, it’s not a problem to find the one for a moderate price, like the HP Stream 11 for $199 or the $219 Lenovo Ideapad 120S.
Chromebooks
Recently, Chromebooks have emerged as a popular choice in the education market. One of the main reasons why it’s happened is that they run on Chrome’s lightweight operating system that is preloaded with a number of helpful apps. They include mail, calendar, text editor programs, and many other tools available via the Google Play store. Additionally, most Chromebooks have a great camera suitable for remote learning.
Note, that these portable computers were designed to store most files in the cloud, so they have very limited onboard storage. Actually, they don’t offer a large hard drive, a DVD player, or a graphics card. However, since Chromebooks don’t contain many of the internal components that are present in Windows laptops, they are much lighter. Also, their battery has a longer life than that of most Windows computers.
To update the Chrome OS, you don’t need to take any action because all updates occur in the background. However, they are dependent on Internet connectivity. This means that some of the Chromebook features are limited when you’re offline or your connection is slow. Also, Chromebooks are typically built with low-performance processors, so you won’t be able to run your favorite games on them.
Pros and cons summary
Chromebook pros
- Speed: it boots up in a matter of seconds and runs with a very short lag.
- Stability: it rarely crashes.
- Battery life: its battery expectancy is between 9-11 hours.
- Viruses: it has a built-in antivirus.
- Size: it’s thinner and lighter than most laptops.
Chromebook cons
- Local storage: it has only 32GB of local storage available.
- Printing: it is not compatible with some printers.
- Availability: it is useless offline since you can’t access cloud storage.
- Gaming: it doesn’t have any advanced gaming capabilities.
- Photo and video: there is no high-quality editing software available for it.
Windows laptop pros
- Layout: it’s more familiar for PC users, which can be comforting.
- Upgrade: it’s easier to upgrade, so you can improve laptop’s performance.
- Microsoft programs: it lets you run Word, Excel, etc.
- Price: it varies in prices greatly, so you can choose a model that fits your budget.
Windows laptop cons
- Battery life: it lasts off its charger in 3-4 hours.
- Diversity: it comes in all shapes and sizes.
- Viruses: it’s more vulnerable to viruses than a Chromebook.
Final thoughts
It’s completely up to you whether to choose a Windows laptop or a Chromebook. However, it’s important to learn about both pros and cons of each of them before making a purchase. No matter what portable computer or laptop for are going to buy eventually, your study will benefit in one way or another.
Also read:
- Windows 10 for Education: Overview, Benefits, Challenges, and Management
- 7 Tips To Maximize Battery Life on Windows 10 Laptops
- The Difference Between Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro OS
- How to Upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 Free of cost
- Solved: Windows 10 brightness slider not working or Grayed out
