10 Best Laptops for Nursing Students in 2021 – Cheap Laptops

In this article, we have reviewed the best laptops for nursing students. A good PC is the most important thing to pick in your nursing educational journey. Because you need a computer to do a school project, read e-learning books, make classroom notes, and take online classes and exams (even it is more demanding after Covid-19). Furthermore, to browse academic-related queries, to save essential files in soft copy, and many other things demands to have a decent PC.

Also, a good personal computer is a must you have before enrolling in nursing school. Like most nursing education institutions in the USA recommend their students to buy high-performance Laptops, even if your computer is three years old, it will not be acceptable, so you need a good and latest PC. Although it is not necessary and required to buy a high-resources laptop, all you need is to buy a suitable system.

But as a medical student, you don’t have enough knowledge or expertise about IT to decide which laptop is best for students that are suitable for your requirements. Likewise, the non-technical user only takes price as a factor. Price is not a single factor to look at, and some other features and hardware specifications are necessary for the machine to run demanding tasks smoothly. Nevertheless, you don’t need to worry; we have covered everything in our review.

Nursing School Laptop Requirements

There are different specifications that the machine must have like the Laptop should have enough storage space, good RAM, a powerful processor to run word processor software at once for example capable to handle MS Office applications including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or Ubuntu office app. It should have an excellent vertical display screen with an ideal aspect ratio that helps to make college assignments in a more comfortable environment. Also, it should work smoothly to stream online videos or watch lectures.

Furthermore, it should be lightweight, durable, affordable, beautiful, and stylish design. Additionally, it must have good battery timing that keeps you connected throughout the day. A high-quality web camera for an online video meeting, a quality internal speaker, and a mic are also vital requirements for a nursing laptop.

These are all features that you should look for while buying a laptop. Keeping all these factors, we have prepared a list of the best laptops for nursing students that you must look at before purchasing. And surprisingly, our list contained cheap laptops that are affordable for everyone, and some are under 500$. Even some laptops are capable of running Windows 11, which is the latest OS by Microsoft.

10 Best Laptops for Nursing Students

1 HP Envy 13 Laptop

Pros
  • Much powerful machine in affordable price
  • Excellent battery life
  • Very lightweight
  • Great performer CPU
  • Solid build quality
Cons
  • A noising fan during heavy load
  • Plastic touchpad

A laptop packed in beautiful design and lightweight shape with solid specifications is the perfect choice for a nursing student. And HP Envy 13 is the winner in these requirements. There are not just a couple of features that make it ideal for students, Envy 13 has many features that even a premium Laptop doesn’t offer.


The most pleasant feature is its slim and well-designed ultra portable shape. Envy 13 is very lightweight, having only a weight of 2.88 pounds. So you can easily carry it in college without making ample space in your bag. But isn’t it a sturdy and durable laptop, and does it matter? Of course, there is no compromise on durability when choosing a computer for school or college because most of the time, you will keep it with you.

It means the shape should be strong to last longer. The good news is that the Product is built with a metal chassis which makes it durable. Moreover, the product comes with a one-year warranty that will keep your mind at peace. When we are talking about its portability, does it have a solid hardware configuration too?. Of course, HP Envy 13 offers powerful hardware components that ensure smooth multitasking without any performance lag.

You should expect faster productivity on a lightweight system with an Intel core 11th gen i7 processor. It includes 8 Gigs of DDR4 RAM, which will ensure to run multiple applications smoothly. Plus 256 GB SSD storage with PCIe(R) NVMe interface means faster booting and data processing on small machines. In other words, these specs can open dozens of Chrome tabs and other productivity applications software at once.

What about its battery timing? Does it offer high-performance battery life?. Yes, of course, it lasts longer hours without putting it on charge. However, timing depends on its usage, like if you’re watching video lectures, it can last 13 hours to 16 hours. But on internet usage, you can expect 11 to 12 hours battery timing.

Also with a 13.3 inches display screen with micro-edge technology plus multi-touch capability give you a great visual environment. Furthermore, the screen is brighter, even higher than 88%, which works great even in sunlight. So as a student, you can comfortably use it on the college lawn during off-class timing.

What is more?; its security and privacy focus on pre-designed features. Is it essential to look when buying a laptop for nursing school?. Yes, security should be your top priority. No doubt, technology brings a lot of benefits, but it also creates many real security threats. So in these insecure technology words, it is most important to choose a security focus device. Luckily products include a couple of standard security features that will keep your security and privacy in safe hands. The machine is also affordable that is available in the mid-pricing range. So you can easily buy Without making a big hole in your pocket.

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2 HP 14-inch HD Touchscreen

Pros
  • Low price
  • Great for students
  • Worthy investment
  • Lightweight
  • Good battery life
Cons
  • Basic keyboard-configuration

Finding a quality Laptop in a low pricing range is a nightmare; you have to dig deeper to find a suitable PC. But you don’t need to do further research when we have the HP 14-inch HD Touchscreen. Multiple solid all-around performance configurations make it the best Laptop for nursing students. It is not only suitable for schooling but also good to do other computing tasks.

. HD screen, storage, processor, RAM; everything is perfectly balanced in the Product to give you a premium machine experience at a much lower price. Two core 3rd gen, AMD Ryzen fast performance processor in 3.5GHz speed with 4MB cache memory, means it is fully capable of accommodating schooling tasks efficiently.

While 8GB DDR4 RAM in the machine can run multiple nursing applications simultaneously, when it comes to storing data, it has 256GB fast SSD storage space, which is adequate to hold all educational files. A 14 inches display with a micro-edge Touchscreen will give you a Tablet experience on a laptop.

Furthermore, It contains all necessary ports like USB 3.1 type A, C, microphone, HDMI. However, its keyboard is not very impressive, as its very basic style and layout. It doesn’t have a numerical keypad and backlit.

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3 HP 15-dy1036nr

Pros
  • The powerful machine at an affordable price
  • Noise removing software
  • It contains good battery timing with fast charging capability
  • In-built security
Cons
  • Deafening Fan

If you need the fastest and high-performance Laptop for school, then HP 15-dy1036nr is the best choice. There are many professional features like Intel-based core i5, 11th gen processor, 15.6-inch display, latest generation built-in wi-fi, longer battery timing, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage that makes it the best Laptop for nursing students. 15.6 backlit FHD large display screen is enough to give you entire vertical space to work on document files efficiently and watch lectures.

Also, it consists HD web camera that is perfect for online zoom classes or making videos calls to friends. A dual array with two integral mics gives you a clear sound by automatically removing background noise when you’re on call.HP 15-dy1036nr gives 256GB storage capacity that is enough to store all of your school files.

Plus, SSD storage and 8GB DDR RAM promise high performance, fast boot-up, faster data copying files, and the highest bandwidth rate to download internet files. When it comes to design, you will find it an attractive device; edge cut bezel design with silver colour enhances its beauty.

An essential feature regarding 15-dy1036nr is that it consists of built-in computer security that continuously keeps monitoring device health, provides solid system defence against authorized users and storage protection to secure files from being corrupt plus automatic boot up recovery.

Finally, 10hours of average battery timing is adequate for all day to work on Laptop. Furthermore, it has a fast-charging capability that will charge the device within 80 to 90 minutes. However, Noising fan is the only negative point that is associate with dy1036nr.

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4 Lenovo Flex 5

Pros
  • Great value at a reasonable cost
  • It allows you to set up the Laptop in a different mode
  • 16GB RAM
Cons
  • Average battery timing
  • Some wi-fi connectivity issues

Do you need a Laptop and Tablet at one price? Then Lenovo Flex 5 makes this possible. It comes along with powerful properties like 4th gen 5 AMD Ryzen mobile processer plus 16GB RAM and 256GB hard drives. If we look at its design, style, and shape, it looks like a tablet device.

It is so lightweight you can easily carry it with you all day in school. 14-inch brighter and fully responsive FHD display makes it easy to use touch screen; more importantly, touch is so soft like you’re using a smartphone plus it also includes a Digital pen that makes typing more productive.

Furthermore, the 360⁰ axis gives you complete control to set it in different modes like a Laptop, Tablet, Tent, and stand mode. If you want to share assignment documents with your teacher, you can set it as Tend mode while stand mode gives a more pleasant experience to watch something from a more comfortable angle. 16GB RAM with a combination of AMD 5 plus 2.4GHrs processor speed is more than enough to run multiple applications simultaneously.

In other words, it will be capable of running Skype, MS office, browser software, zoom app, videos player, and other applications that are necessary for a nursing student. And 256GB SSD storage space will be enough to keep all of your school’s files. Like Lenovo IdeaPad 3, it also includes a physical shutter to preserve your privacy more securely. Average battery timing and some wi-fi connectivity issues are two opposing points of Lenovo Flex 5.

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5 ASUS VivoBook 15

Pros
  • Beautiful design.
  • Lightweight
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Powerful data connectivity port
Cons
  • Low storage.
  • No network port

VivoBook 15 is impressed with different powerful specifications that deserve a spot in the collection of Best laptops for college students. Its thin shape, design, weight (3.5 pounds), and dimensions make it a more Portable device that is easy to carry for a student when going to school. 4th gen Core I3 CPUs along 3.9 GHz speed are capable of handling everything you want to run. 15.6-inch large display screen with a four-sided aspect ratio provides an ease to work on documents.

It supports typing at 180° position on the keyboard in a completely comfortable environment. Furthermore, it has backlit keywords that are perfect to work in dim light. It comes with all necessary USB ports like USB 3.0 and 2.0, type C, and micro card reader. It means it will transfer data at high speed. However, VivoBook 15 only includes 4GB RAM, but there is another free slot; you can easily upgrade RAM (Maximum 12GB).

Additionally, fingerprint sensor technology helps unlock a device fast without typing a password manually like you’re opening a smartphone. However, Storage and RAM that it has may not be enough for your needs.

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6 HP Pavilion

Pros
  • Best combinations of features
  • Affordable
  • High-performance graphics card
  • Good processor
Cons
  • Little heavy

HP Pavilion includes several professional features that make it the best and affordable Laptop for nursing students. Products comes with four different pairs of combinations like 4GB & 500GB HDD, 8GB & 128GB SSD , 8GB & 256GB SSD and 16GB & 256GB SSD. And for your nursing school 3rd, one is more suitable to meet all study’s needs.

However, you might think why not the 1st one; although it gives more storage space than all three, it includes an HDD drive. So, to get maximum performance, an SSD drive is superior and more reliable than HDD.

Furthermore, Pavilion comes in 15.6 inches with a 366 x 768 micro-edge WLED display perfect for making study assignments, watching lectures, and attending online classes. Intel-based UHD Graphics cards ensure to display of pictures and videos more colourfully and transparently. Moreover, you can enjoy playing games in your free time in high resolution because it comes with native gaming support.

Well, a Dual-core Pentium processor will not compromise on performance in multitasking. In other words, it is more capable of handling multiple applications simultaneously like MS office, videos player, internet browser, zoom app.

Its 10hours long battery timing keeps you connect all day in school without plugging charge. Also, Pavilion comes with preinstalled windows 10. However, product weight is almost 4pounds, making it difficult for a female nurse to carry it out all day. Not to mention, the product also includes a 32GB USB device that you can use to keep separate files on an external drive.

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7 Acer Aspire 5

Pros
  • Powerful processor
  • Alexa feature
  • Fingerprint security
  • Education accessories
  • Affordable
Cons
  • Low storage capacity.

Although it does not have adequate storage, other specifications and features make Acer Aspire 5 the best affordable laptop machine for nursing students. Unlike HP devices, it has a Quad-Core AMD Ryzen processor. But you are not bound with just one architecture; it offers varieties of powerful CPUs, including Ryzen 3 with 3rd & 5th gen, AMD 7 in series of 3rd and 5th gen, and Ryzen 5 with GTX 1650 that delivers desktop performance and experience in a laptop device.

Powerful processor architecture means fast boot up, running multiple applications simultaneously without downgrading performance issues, and faster internet speed. And Acer Aspire 5 makes these promises accurate. Full HD screen with 16:0 aspect ratio delivers high visual graphics effect while browsing YouTube videos or watching Netflix movies. And it allows you to set up snapping windows for multitasking.

Also, it has a biometric fingerprint sensor with Hello sign-in feature to lock and unlock devices more efficiently, enhancing laptop security. So, you can leave it in class when you’re going outside class without worrying about any student who can access your data.

A most unique and essential feature that Acer Aspire 5 brings is Alexa. Alexa virtual assistant will do everything for you like you can ask to do it what is today weather, create a to-do list for school, play music without typing in the keyboard.

It comes with preinstalled Windows 10 home version, including S secure mode. S mode keeps your system protected against malware-infected software and phishing attacks. Therefore, you can install 3rd party apps and browse the internet securely without installing any antivirus. But to enhance more computer security, there is good free antivirus software that provides advanced-level protection.

Unlike HP 15-dy1036nr with a loud fan problem, Aspire 5 introduces a unique feature to control fan speed. If you notice a significant heat-up issue in your device, all you need do is press” Fn+F” at once to control its speed. You can set the fan at any mode like silent, standard, and performance.

The best thing that makes it the perfect choice for nursing students is that it includes all necessary accessories essential for a student, like a travel backpack, headphones, USB docking station, and quality mouse. Are you still thinking about what is a good laptop for nursing, then grab this one.

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8 Dell Latitude E7250

Pros
  • The powerful machine at an affordable price
  • 16GB RAM
  • Valuable deal
Cons
  • Used device

E7250 is from powerful series of Latitude that is built with tremendous and sturdy hardware resources. Dell Latitude E7250 is an excellent choice for that student who needs Laptop for different purposes, for example, to do school work, play games, or needs for graphics designing. Its all-rounder’s specifications like the 5th gen core i7 along with 16GB DDR3 RAM, 256GB of SSD storage and Intel 5500 HD graphics card, can button all types of stuff.

Furthermore, it includes three 3.0 USB ports plus a faster Ethernet Gigabit connection port with up to 1000 Mbps speed. Additionally, the 802.1 wireless version makes connectivity faster and reliable. But it is a used Laptop that is the only downside of Latitude E7250. However, still, at a low price, it has valuable hardware resources.

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9 Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5

Pros
  • Great value
  • Multiple modes for different performance
  • Lightweight
  • HD webcam
Cons
  • Low ROM and RAM

If you’re a lover of Chromebooks, consider Chromebook Flex 5 on the list for nursing school. Alike Flex 5, it is also a 2 in 1 laptop and offers similar functionality and features. Though it has low-slung storage and RAM than other laptops mentioned in the article, it is still a powerful machine that consists of 10th gen Intel core i3 that guarantees high and reliable system performance. More importantly, it allows to set up a system in different performance modes like personalized and responsive.

It comes with preinstalled Chrome OS; you can easily store all your files on Google cloud storage using a Google account. More importantly, you can access all Google products more easily like dock, Gmail, hangout. Integrated HD web cameras offer high-quality videos calls and pictures. The latest generation wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity make wireless connection supper fast. The best part of flex is; it is so lightweight; its weight is only 2.97 pounds that are so easy for a student between home and school.

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10 HP EliteBook 840 G3

Pros
  • A high-performance machine at a cheap price
Cons
  • Only a single USB port

EliteBook 840 G3 are similar to Latitude E7250, like 16GB of RAM and 256GB hard drive. However, it consists Intel core i5 + 6th gen processor that is a downside compared to the E7250 machine. However, 840 G3 is still a powerful machine, and a great combination of hardware attributes to handle multitasking. Some other notable features that it brought are a 14inches display with ‎1366 x 768 resolution, high visual graphics card, HD webcam, latest connectivity wi-fi, average battery timing. However, there is a downside that needs to mention like it only consists of one USB port (2.0).

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Essential Features to Look at in Laptop for Nursing School in Details

To make the selection process more efficient, we have mentioned all factors in detail that you need to look at before buying a laptop for school.

Storage

Good storage space is the most crucial requirement to look at before making a purchasing decision. Of course, you need a good storage memory to store files, documents, videos, lectures, books, notes, and entertainment content. Therefore it is essential to buy a computer with good internal storage memory. Laptops come with different storage capacities like 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. You can decide which one is more suitable to store all your data.

Also, there are two types of memory devices SSD and HHD. Both are good in storage, but SSD hard drives are ahead in performance, speed, reliability than HHD; however, it is more costly than a mechanical drive. Also, you can keep separate external hard drives to save private files securely or take backup. Alternately, cloud storage is another good option to save data more securely in a remote server. Some also offer 5GB to 200GB free space like OnDrive, Google Drive, Blomp, Degoo.

Good RAM

RAM that is also called Random access memory plays a vital role in computer performance and speed. Whenever a processor needs data to execute, it first looks in RAM. RAM should be adequate to provide data quickly to the processor. In other words, to run multiple applications simultaneously– machines need more RAM. Therefore Buy a laptop with at least 4GB RAM, but 16GB is recommended to perform your nursing-related tasks efficiently.

Processor Speed

What if Laptop has good storage and RAM, but the processor is out of the box? These computing resources are useless. A processor should be compatible with other system components and run complex and large applications quickly and efficiently. Over overtime, processors are becoming more and more powerful. The Laptop in the Intel Core i3 series is enough to run Microsoft Office, video players, browser software, and similar applications at once. While for high performance, a processor in i5 and i7 is highly recommended.

Display Screen

No doubt, a high display screen is more comfortable to use than a short screen. A laptop with a high screen will give you more room to read a book, makes notes, and watch lectures. PC comes in different sizes, including 13, 14, 15,16, and up to 20 inches. Also, choose a Laptop that supports full HD and allows you to set multitasking screen.

Choose Lightweight

It would be best if you had a low-weight laptop to keep with you easily during nursing school time. A heavy machine not only works slowly but also puts you down when you take it with you. A lightweight is easy to portable and also works faster than a heavy machine. Many laptops come with a faster processor in low weight. And we have listed lightweight laptops.

Battery Timing

One of the critical factors to keep in mind while purchasing Laptops for nursing students is its battery timing. PC should work longer hours without charging to keep you keep connected. You will not like to retain yourself around electric-socket in the classroom or working in nursing laboratories. The ideal machine should have at least 6hours of battery timing. And the good thing is that we only selected laptops that have longer battery life.

Good wi-fi Connectivity

Modern PC includes the latest wi-fi support that provides faster internet downloading and uploading speed. And it is also essential to have suitable wireless connectivity devices when your Laptop is using Public wi-fi and surrounded by many other connections. So it can transfer data more excellent to browse the internet faster.

FAQs on Best Laptops for Nursing Students

What type of Laptop does a nursing student need?

This will be a very personal question to answer because everyone’s needs are different.
Since you are a nursing student, you are already aware of the amount of time to study. From a purely medical standpoint, a student in a nursing program will need a fast laptop with a touch screen and capable of running many programs, including video and imaging software, Plus it should be lightweight with decent battery life. Furthermore, the Laptop must have required hardware specs like at least 128GB or 256GB storage, 8GB RAM, a processor in the i5 series and good inches display screen.

How many GB does a nursing student need?

To run nursing applications plus entertainment software smoothly and dozens of browsers tab simultaneously, 16GB of RAM is recommended. But a Laptop with 4GB or 8GB RAM is also ok.

Is a Chromebook good for nursing school?

Yes, it is suitable for nursing school. And you can look for a Chromebook that has the proper specifications to meet all of your needs. Lenovo-Chromebook-Flex is the best choice with the required configuration at an affordable price.

Is 8GB RAM enough for nursing school?

Yes, even significant to top-class computing performance.

Is the Surface Pro 7 suitable for nursing students?

Surface Pro 7 comes in different combinations for hardware specifications like 10th gen, Intel Core i5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD storage, 12.3 Inches screen and only ‎1.7 pounds weight. Yea, Pro 7 is suitable for nursing students.

Is a laptop necessary for BSC nursing?

The first thing you need to know is that all nursing programs require computers. You need an operating system (Windows or Mac) that you are comfortable with and high-speed internet access. Most nursing programs will have computers available for students to use, but it’s always nice to have your Laptop. What you need to know about selecting a laptop is that it’s not just about getting the most processing speed, RAM, or the flashiest design. Yes, of course, you want your Laptop to be fast. But you also want it to have a long battery life, be lightweight, have good speakers, plenty of storage space and have a large, bright, high-resolution colour screen.

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