Key Points
- Our choice for the #1 Best Overall laptop for nursing students is the Acer Swift Go, an affordable system with premium specifications.
- Laptops aimed towards students in nursing school should be comfortable to use with great battery life.
- Nursing school laptops are relatively inexpensive, with average prices between $350-1,000.
- Consider portability, usage, battery life, and the display before flagship features on laptops for nursing students.
Nursing school can be stressful, but finding the best laptop for nursing students doesn’t have to be. Our guide ensures that, and we scoured the net to come up with five models that stand out from the pack. Whether you’re a student with a tight budget or need something a bit more versatile, there’s something for everyone on our list. Here are our choices for the best laptops for nursing students:
- Best Overall: Acer Swift Go
- Best Apple Laptop: MacBook Air 2023
- Light and Agile: Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro
- Best Budget: HP Notebook 15 Laptop
- Best 2-in-1: Acer Spin 5 Convertible Laptop
Best Overall: Acer Swift Go
- 14-inch 1920 x 1200 100% sRGB touchscreen display
- Intel Core i7-1355U processor
- Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics
- 16GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 512GB Gen 4 SSD
- Supports Wi-Fi 6E
Acer has always been a student-friendly brand, and the Acer Swift Go is our pick as the #1 Best Overall laptop for nursing students. It has every key feature you’ll need for the classroom and has a price point that’s just as attractive as its design.
With a 14-inch display, this laptop won’t strain your eyes, and it has accurate color with 100% sRGB. It’s a touchscreen panel that’s eyesafe certified and one of the more powerful systems on our list. Intel’s 13th Gen i7 evo chip powers the PC, while 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM ensures programs stay snappy. Storage is solid and speedy thanks to a 512GB solid-state drive.
While not the lightest laptop on the market, the Acer Swift Go won’t take up much space in a backpack or bag. It’s only 2.76 pounds and has a thin aluminum body that gives it a premium feel. There’s a fingerprint scanner to provide security and Wi-Fi 6 for online classes and video chats. The 1440p webcam comes in handy, and so does the company’s noise reduction tech.
This laptop has more than enough power to get people through a day of nursing school with ease. It’s a great all-around laptop with excellent battery life, and you won’t need to worry about upgrades thanks to the specifications. The Acer Swift Go comes with a soft carrying case, but several bundles are available, along with an OLED variant sporting a 400-nit display.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| It’s powerful with a 13th Gen Intel processor and 16GB of RAM. | The touchpad on the Acer Swift Go could be better. |
| The laptop has an eyesafe-certified display. | This laptop only has Intel Iris Xe graphics. |
| It has a QHD webcam with AI noise reduction. | |
| The laptop is lightweight with a premium design. |
Check out the Acer Swift Go on Amazon.
Best Apple Laptop: MacBook Air 2023
- 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display
- 8GB of unified memory
- 512GB SSD
- 1080p HD webcam
- Touch ID
If you prefer Apple to Microsoft, the MacBook Air 2023 is the best laptop for nursing students in 2023. The company finally put out a more affordable system for the masses, and the new MacBook is both light and powerful.
The MacBook may not have as much RAM as our top choice, but it has Apple’s new M2 processor under the hood. The chip can run anything nursing school throws your way, even with 8GB of RAM. It’s efficient and helps this laptop get up to 18 hours of battery life per charge. That’s another reason it’s a lock as one of the best laptops for nursing students, plus the operating system is rock solid.
The MacBook Air is known for having a svelte design. This laptop is 3.3 pounds and 0.45 inches thick, despite having a 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display. That panel has a resolution of 2,880 x 1,864 with the P3 wide color gamut. Apple’s trackpad and keyboard are also top-notch. Whether you’re taking notes or watching courses remotely, the MacBook Air will never let you down.
While the cost of this laptop will rule it out for some, you’re getting a fantastic deal for the price. It’s the most affordable system from the company with the M2 chip, which can run circles around other models on our list. The flagship features and design are obvious perks as well. If you feel like you need more RAM or storage, this laptop is highly configurable, depending on your needs and budget.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The performance and build quality are top-notch. | The price tag isn’t exactly budget-friendly. |
| The MacBook Air has a large 15.3-inch retina display. | It has limited ports compared to other systems. |
| There’s plenty of power with Apple’s M2 processor. | |
| It’s packed with premium features and has excellent battery life. |
Check out the MacBook Air 2023 on Amazon.
Light and Agile: Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro
- Features a stunning Samsung AMOLED screen
- Battery lasts 21 hours on a single charge
- Weighs less than 2 pounds
- Features a 360° hinge
The Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro is one of the best laptops for nursing students in need of something small and light for school. Despite its size, this laptop is powerful. While it’s perfect for students that own a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, everyone can appreciate what this system brings to the table.
This version of the Galaxy Book2 Pro has a 13.3-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080. It’s just as colorful as you’d expect from Samsung, and the size helps keep the weight down. This model weighs 1.92 pounds and is 0.44 inches thick. It has the same amount of RAM and storage as the MacBook Air at 8GB and 512GB, but it is powered by a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. It’s certainly not sluggish.
This lightweight laptop has additional security through Samsung Knox and a fingerprint scanner. Private Share and other features work hand-in-hand with Galaxy devices allowing users to form their own personal network. It’s also versatile with a unique 360-degree hinge. You can transform this laptop into a tablet in seconds and take notes using the included S Pen.
There’s a lot to love about with the Galaxy Book2 Pro and not very much to dislike. It’s easy to carry around, has great battery life, and a bright display that you can write on with a stylus. Samsung also priced the 13.3-inch model competitively. The only drawback is the 2-in-1 nature of this laptop, which means the keyboard and trackpad are a bit mediocre.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| It weighs less than two pounds and has a 360-degree hinge. | The screen could be too small for some users. |
| There is a vivid 13.3-inch AMOLED display. | The trackpad and keyboard aren’t the best. |
| The laptop has a 1080p wide-angle webcam and Dolby Atmos. | |
| The S Pen is great for taking notes. |
Check out the Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro on Amazon.
Best Budget: HP Notebook 15 Laptop
- Intel Pentium Silver N5030 processor
- Clock speed up to 3.1GHz
- 16GB DDR4 RAM
- 512GB PCIe SSD
- Windows 11 Home S plus 1-Year Office 365
Nursing school can be expensive, and the HP Notebook 15 Laptop is the best choice when your budget is tight. This budget-friendly system from HP was designed with students in mind, and it is the ideal companion for people who want a solid, entry-level laptop.
This laptop is a bit of an oddball from a specifications standpoint. It’s highly configurable, with memory ranging from 8GB-32GB with storage up to 2TB. Intel Pentium processors power this PC, which helps keep the price down, but it puts it a step behind comparable systems on our list. In this case, it’s the quad-core N5030. It will get the job done, but it isn’t in the same class as the company’s Core processors.
While the tech specs are middling, the HP Notebook 15 has a large 15.6-inch display. It’s bright and colorful with a resolution of 1,366 x 768. The Intel UHD 605 integrated GPU handles the graphics. It’s light on ports, although there is a USB Type-C port along with dual 3.1 Type-A ports and a combo jack. The build quality is about what you’d expect from a budget-class PC, and it’s a bit hefty at just under four pounds.
It’s safe to say HP didn’t win any awards for the design of this system, and the quad-core chip is underwhelming. Aside from that, the HP 15 is solid, and we like that it’s affordable in every configuration, whether you need 32GB of RAM or a 2TB hard drive. Just keep the weight in mind and don’t plan on using it for PC gaming.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The price tag is perfect for students on a budget. | It’s a heavy laptop that feels a little cheap. |
| It’s configurable with up to 32GB of RAM. | The quad-core Intel Pentium processor is not as good as their Core processors. |
| The HP has a fast solid-state hard drive. | |
| It has a TrueVision 720p webcam with dual microphones. |
Check out the HP Notebook 15 Laptop on Amazon.
Best 2-in-1: Acer Spin 5 Convertible Laptop
- 14-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS touchscreen display
- 425 nits brightness and 100% sRGB color
- Intel Core i7-1260P processor
- 16GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 1TB SSD
- Supports Wi-Fi 6E
The Acer Spin 5 Convertible Laptop is one of the best laptops for nursing students who want to take notes in class along with video courses. This system is decked out with some of Acer’s best tech and has a display that puts it in a class with tablets from Wacom.
If you love to take notes, you’ll appreciate the Acer Active Stylus. Thanks to Wacom AES 2.0, the pen has 4,096 levels of pressure and a 266Hz report rate. It provides a realistic writing experience on the beautiful 14-inch display. That panel is blisteringly bright at 425 nits and has a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. It also has 100% sRGB with TÜV certification on the low-blue light touchscreen display.
When it comes to power, the Acer Spin 5 does not disappoint. That’s due in part to the Core i7-1260P processor and 16GB of RAM. There’s a 1TB solid-state drive for storage, and it’s designed to keep cool under duress. The Acer TwinAir cooling system ensures that with dual copper heat pipes. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6E, dual USB Type-C ports, and HDMI with HDCP support.
Whether you’re taking classes remotely and using Acer’s AI noise reduction or jotting down notes in class, the Acer Spin 5 is a system that nursing school students will love. The 360-degree hinge allows you to watch content when you’re not in class, and the stylus is a great way to unleash your creativity. We chose the base model, but this laptop is available bundled with various accessories, including a dock and laptop bag.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| There is a 360-degree hinge system and it includes Acer’s Active Stylus. | It doesn’t have a dedicated GPU. |
| The display is 425 nits with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. | The speakers are subpar compared to the rest of the laptop. |
| Acer’s cooling system increases performance. | |
| It has premium specifications and components. |
Check out the Acer Spin 5 Convertible Laptop on Amazon.
How to Pick the Best Laptops for Nursing Students: Step by Step
Students in nursing school need access to a laptop, whether it’s for online courses or lectures where you’ll want to take notes. The best laptop for a nursing student doesn’t need flagship specifications. Instead, focus on areas like portability and battery life, along with any specific requirements outlined by your nursing school.
- Portability
- The Display
- Battery Life and Charging
- Features
Portability
Do you spend half your day commuting to nursing school, or do you just need to move to a different building on campus? For full-time students, portability is crucial, but that’s not a huge concern if you’re taking online courses.
Most laptops weigh less than five pounds, unless they are geared for gamers. You’ll notice a significant difference in weight between a laptop that weighs two pounds and one designed for home use or gaming. The components inside the laptop have an impact on weight, along with the materials it’s made from and additional features.
The next factor is one of the most important parts of a laptop for students. While they are thin, a big display results in a larger, heavier laptop.
The Display
When you have to stare at a computer screen for an hour or more, you want to be comfortable and not deal with eye strain. Your eyesight plus classroom or household conditions play a part in that, but the display can make or break that experience.
Laptop displays that feature low blue light technology help reduce eye strain. It’s not ideal when watching a movie, but it’s perfect for long hours spent studying on a laptop. It’s helpful, and so is having a large display that gets bright enough to handle various conditions.
Pay attention to the nits rating if you plan to use your laptop outdoors or in brightly lit areas. A 17-inch AMOLED monitor may have excellent color, but it will be useless in a bright room if it’s only 200 nits. Resolution is important, but a 2K panel could be considered overkill, whereas a traditional FHD laptop is perfect for nursing school.
Battery Life and Charging
This is another area that can ruin an otherwise great experience with a laptop, especially for students. Power outlets on campus can be hard to come by, and nobody wants to stay tethered to a wall outlet. Buying a laptop with solid battery life can prevent that, but charging times are often overlooked.
Whenever you look for a laptop with good battery life, always consider the charging times. As a rule of thumb, the larger the battery, the longer it will take to charge. Fast-charging technology is common on smartphones and tablets, but it is typically only found on laptops in the premium class. It’s also hard to narrow down battery life and charging times.
While manufacturers give consumers a guideline, it’s often under specific conditions. Battery life shouldn’t be an issue if you only plan to use the laptop for studying, taking notes, and using the web during school. Those numbers can dip drastically for mixed usage with media, video calls, or gaming.
Features
It’s easy to become overwhelmed by flagship features when shopping for a new laptop. 4K displays and dedicated GPUs are nice, but do you need them for nursing school? The answer is no, so it’s better to focus on features beneficial to classroom use.
For nursing school, you’ll want a laptop with a good webcam. 720p is acceptable, but we recommend a 1080p webcam if possible. It’s a feature you can upgrade externally, although that’s not ideal, whereas you can use headphones if the laptop has poor speakers. If you take a lot of notes, consider a laptop with a stylus-friendly display.
The ability to turn a laptop into a tablet shouldn’t be overlooked, and neither should connectivity. Having a system with the most recent version of Bluetooth isn’t as important as dual-band Wi-Fi capabilities on a laptop. Think about your needs and how you’ll use the laptop in school and outside of it before deciding on any flagship features.
What to Know Before Buying a Laptop for Nursing Students
The areas we covered are the most important ones, but there are some other key aspects of laptops designed for students. One problem users run into is the keyboard and trackpad. It’s hard to know how you’ll like them unless you can try before you buy.
You’ll want to turn toward user reviews in both areas, although you can replace a poor trackpad with a mouse. It’s also a good idea to consider the form factor, whether you just plan to use the laptop for school or it’s an all-around system.
The price difference between 2-in-1 laptops and systems with traditional form factors is minimal. Don’t rule out hybrid laptops, considering systems geared toward nursing schools don’t require flagship specifications.
Using a Laptop for Nursing Students: What It’s Like
If you’ve never used a laptop or you are transitioning to a new system for school, the differences depend on what you’re used to. For people partial to desktop PCs, you can look forward to a lightweight system that may feel underpowered but lets you study from anywhere.
People who are used to laptop life won’t notice much difference unless they are downgrading. When moving to a lighter system for school, you may notice a slight decrease in performance if you’re used to a gaming laptop or premium system. While that may seem disappointing, you only need a handful of features for school and this may get you a significant increase in battery life.
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