What Laptop is Best for Law School?

Having a laptop for law school is a necessity these days, while books are of course important for the study of law your most important tool will be a laptop.  Many of the documents and cases you need to research will be found via online information, classes may be conducted online and critical law document services such as Lexis Nexis are accessed via the web.  You don’t just need any old laptop for law school, there are specific considerations a law student should make when buying a laptop.  Here are a few of the items that are important and specific to law school needs:

• Durability – Your laptop will be your workhorse, it will go with you everywhere and you will use it during class, after class, daytime and nighttime, on a table in a bed.  You get the point, you’ll be using it a lot and carrying it around a lot.  Because of this make sure to buy something that is durable and not just the cheapest plastic bodied special you can find at Best Buy.  Business grade laptops are often built with more durability in mind so business category laptops are a good place to look.
• Readable Screen – As a law student  you’ll have a lot of reading to do, if you’re going to be reading material on a computer screen it’s important that the screen is comfortable to view for long hours.  Special attention should be paid to finding a screen resolution that is efficient and comfortable for your eyes (more on this later) and also finding a screen that is anti-glare (also called matte) that reduces the amount of reflection on the screen and thereby reduces eye strain.
• Matte Screen Finish – Currently many consumer laptops have what is called a glossy screen finish, the benefit of a glossy screen layer is that it makes colors more rich and vibrant.  This is great for movie watching or image viewing. However, a glossy screen is also very reflective in a room that has strong backlighting, such as the fluorescent lights commonly found in offices. The reflection off a glossy screen can cause eye strain, and if you’re staring at a screen for hours on end that can be both annoying and painful. I highly recommend selecting a laptop with a matte screen finish, this means that colors will not be as vibrant but you also don’t get any screen reflection. Most business laptops have a matte screen so looking for a laptop classed in the business category is a good place to start.
• Screen Resolution – Most laptops on the market today have a 1366 x 768 widescreen resolution.  On a 12” sized screen laptop and above this makes for fairly large and readable text.  If your eyes are good and you don’t mind small text, I recommend finding a higher resolution screen such as 1600 x 900 so you can fit more text on the screen and prevent lots of screen scrolling.  The other benefit of a higher screen resolution is that you can put two windows side-by-side which is useful for comparing documents and multi-tasking. 
• Portability – Since you’ll need to use your laptop in the classroom, at home and various locations in between you should choose a laptop that is light enough to carry comfortably for long distances and that can easily slip into a backpack.  The optimal size laptop for law school in my opinion is between 12 – 14 inches screen size and up to a max of 5lbs in weight.  A thin and light 15” laptop might be ok, but it takes up considerably more desk space and might be too big for some classroom desks.
• Battery Life – There’s a good chance you’ll have some lectures that last for 3+ hours or have the need for a laptop to last you through back to back classes without the ability to plug in your laptop. If your laptop only has a couple of hours of battery life then you’ll be out of luck for taking notes or referencing material on your laptop when the battery conks out. It’s prudent to get a laptop with at least 4 hours of battery life.  Many large screen high performance laptops with beefy graphics cards will suck down the battery in only an hour or two, definitely avoid those.
• Strong warranty and support – People often ask whether it is worth getting an extended or enhanced warranty on a laptop.  I actually believe it is worth it to invest in up to a 3-year warranty and accidental damage protection warranty for law students, that way you will be covered throughout your studies. This can be pricey, but the peace of mind of knowing your laptop will be repaired quickly and without cost by the manufacturer can be worth it.  The AppleCare protection plan is one example of an extended warranty. The AppleCare plan costs $349 for a 13” MacBook Pro laptop, the coverage lasts for 3-years and during that time if your laptop breaks or stops working you can either mail it in for free with a pre-labeled box from Apple or take it into an Apple retail store for repair. Some companies even offer next day or same day on site repair, for instance Dell offers such a warranty called Dell ProSupport, this way you stay at home and a tech shows up and does the work right there. As an example of pricing, 3-year ProSupport warranty is $109 on a Dell Latitude E6420 business laptop. And don’t forget to use a credit card such as American Express that offers a free 1-year warranty extension to whatever manufacturer warranty you purchase.
• Cool running – The number one cause of laptop failure over time is heat buildup that leads to parts getting stressed and eventually breaking.  Furthermore, more heat means the fans have to constantly run which can get annoying in an otherwise quiet lecture hall.  Do your research and make sure to get a laptop that uses superior cooling techniques and components that use less power as that translates to less heat. A mid-range dual core mobile processor and integrated or switchable graphics are often good choices.

Mac or PC for Law School?

The first thing you should do is check that your law school doesn’t require a specific OS or laptop brand when entering.  Assuming the school let’s you choose any laptop, the first decision may be deciding between Mac and Windows as the OS you want.  For the purpose of law school I recommend just going with the OS you’re most familiar with and prefer, you won’t face any software programs that are Mac or PC only when in law school.   If you do go with a Mac and find a need for Windows you can use the built-in Mac OS X Bootcamp or software such as Parallels or VMWare Fusion to run Windows on a Mac, you will need a purchased and valid copy of Windows to do that.

Best Laptops for Law School Students 2012

Now for some specific recommendations for laptops that can make good options for law school students (in no particular order):

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 – I reviewed the 14” screen ThinkPad T420 from Lenovo earlier this year and found it easy to recommend due to it’s high quality build and flexible configuration.  For law school you’ll just need a configuration with an Intel Core i3 or i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and whatever storage capacity hard drive that you want. You can get a T420 with such a configuration for around $800.   There is an option to get a 1600 x 900 high resolution screen for only a $50 upgrade, I’d recommend that unless your eyes are bad. Battery life is around 5 hours with the standard 6-cell and you can upgrade to a larger 9-cell if you need more than that. The T420 is a business laptop and as such has a matte screen and offers a docking solution. Lenovo offers extended warranties and next business day on site repair coverage.

Apple MacBook Pro 13.3”  – If you’ve been on campus at a college recently then you know how popular Apple is amongst the student crowd. If you’re one of those people that has been using a Mac for a number of years I recommend going with what you know and continuing to use a Mac, the hardware is reliable, attractive and has most of the key features I’d recommend in a laptop for law school.  The MBP Pro 13-inch laptop is well suited for students that need a lot of portability. The latest MacBook Pro has the new Sandy Bridge family Intel Core i5 processors and a Thunderbolt port for fast data transfer with peripherals. The built-in camera is HD quality for amazing video chat capabilities. The base level 13.3” MacBook Pro starts at $1,199 but if you go through the Apple Education store, open to any higher level learning student, you can get 10% off the pricing.  The two key features it doesn’t have are a matte screen and integrated docking solution.

Dell Latitude E6420 – The Dell Latitude E6420 is a 14” screen business laptop that can be configured in numerous ways and has a very rugged design with what Dell dubs a “Tri-Metal” design to protect the internal components. The Latitude E6420 also sports the latest USB 3.0 port for faster data transfer. The Latitude E6420 can be configured with up to an Intel Quad Core processor, though I wouldn’t recommend such an expensive and unnecessary choice, a dual core Intel Core i5 is plenty enough. The E6420 offers up to a 1600 x 900 resolution matte screen. The Latitude E6420 has a backlit keyboard, which is useful for darkened classroom situations. The E6420 has numerous battery options and you can get over 6 hours with the largest 9-cell battery. Dell offers a 3-year next business day service repair as the standard on any Dell Latitude that is sold, so you don’t even need to upgrade the warranty to get an amazing service agreement. I have used Dell business laptops in the past and had very good experience with getting quick service when necessary. Pricing on the Latitude E6420 starts at around $1,200.

HP EliteBook 8460p – The 14” screen HP EliteBook 8460p is another 14” business laptop. It has a very rugged design so can take the bumps and bruises that come with being carried around campus in a backpack. The EliteBook 8460p design is somewhat like a MacBook Pro, very clean and professional looking. You can configure up to an Intel Core i7 processor and there is an option for a high resolution 1600 x 900 screen. A docking solution comes in the form of the HP 120W Advanced Docking station. While you may have heard recently that HP is “reconsidering” its PC business, don’t be alarmed as the company wouldn’t stop honoring warranties or simply exit the business, the most likely scenario is spinning of the PC division to a separate company that would continue to operate for years to come. You can read more on my take about the HP situation and whether it’s wise to buy an HP PC still here.

Samsung Series 9 13.3” – The 13.3” Samsung Series 9 is a premium laptop that features a stunningly light weight of 2.34lbs, thin design of 0.62” and yet still has room to cram in an Intel Core i3 1.3GHz processor, 128GB SSD drive, 4GB of RAM, 1.3MP web camera and perform like a champ.  The screen is also a highlight of this laptop, it has 400-nits of brightness which makes it viewable outdoors except in direct sunlight.  The screen is matte which will help to avoid eye strain when you stare at the screen for long hours (something law students end up having to do).  The pricing on the Samsung Series 9 13.3” model is not cheap.  It starts at $1,249 for the NP900X1B model at places such as Amazon.com.

Conclusion

There are certainly more options than just those covered here that will make good options as a laptop for law school. Just be sure that any laptop you get has most of the key features mentioned. Law school is training for entry into a professional career and as such it’s a good idea to get a laptop that looks the part, a glitzy laptop with lots of lights and a glossy shiny finish would look out of place in a law practice.  Most importantly remember to take time in researching a laptop purchase.  A laptop will be your most important work and study tool as a law student so don’t go cheap as you get what you pay for.  Something reliable, durable and that will last you throughout your studies and beyond are the most important factors to consider.  Good luck with your law studies and laptop decision!