If you are looking for a laptop for students, a laptop to use for school and you don’t know what to choose among the plethora of laptops on the market today, you are in the right place. I have written this article with the purpose of guiding you through the selection process, so that you end up choosing the best laptop for school activities.

These laptops must meet minimum requirements that all students have.

First, you’ll need a hard drive with decent storage capacity so you can store as many files as you need. 500 GB is enough to store all the documents and e-books you’ll need in class, as well as your favorite movies and music files. If your budget allows, you can go for 7200 RPM hard drives, which are a bit faster than the standard 5400 RPM.

A student laptop should have enough connectivity options. Most laptops already come with a wireless network card. A bluetooth device is necessary if you want to transfer files between your mobile phone and laptop without using a data cable. A card reader will also come in handy.

The numeric keypad is not necessary, but it can be an advantage when you have to write, for example, a project that requires numeric data entry.

Another aspect to take into account is the useful life of the battery. A dual-core processor and standard graphics card are sufficient for student computing requirements and won’t consume much battery power. A battery with a useful life of 4 to 5 hours will allow you to give a presentation during classes, edit your document files and surf the Internet.

You will need at least 4 GB of RAM if you want to run multiple applications simultaneously, such as Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Media Players, and instant messaging programs.

The laptop screen should offer good visibility even in bright light, which is useful when you want to use the laptop on campus or on a terrace where direct sunlight can affect screen visibility. A 13-14 inch screen is enough. You can also consider smaller laptops with 10-inch screens, which are easier to transport and often weigh less than 4 pounds.

The operating system is not that important and most laptops come with a pre-installed version of Windows so you don’t have to worry about that. Another option is to look for a laptop without OS (no operating system installed) and you will have to install your favorite operating system to be able to use it.

I’ve compiled a list of the best student laptops of 2012, affordable laptops that have a decent setup for school use. Check out the best laptops for students!