Being a law student in 2021 isn’t easy. There are so many laws, so many rules and so much information that you need to know and collect. At such, a good laptop is kind of an essential to have in this day and age.
We all need computers to go on with our day to day life in the present day. Computers, laptops and smartphones have become a part of us; Elon Musk said we have sort of become cyborgs at this point from this dependence on computers.
For law students, it is more than necessary to have a good laptop to run useful and popular law practice and management applications. A good laptop can make their studying and practicing quite a lot easier and more convenient.
For Law school students, having a laptop is really important. So, if you are a law student or a practicing lawyer who is in need of a high quality laptop, you are without a doubt in the right place!
In order to find the right laptop that is able to meet your demands as a lawyer or law school student, we have compiled a list of the top 5 best laptops for law school. So if you want to get yourself the best laptop for law school, we suggest you read this article till the end.
About Law School
In the past, law students had to memorize entire constitutions filled with innumerable laws, rules and regulations, exceptions, and a gigantic history of different types of cases. And while doing so they also had to put their knowledge into real life and synchronize it all in their head.
While they are still required to do so, technology has made their lives slightly simpler. Now they have applications such as MyCase, Legal Files, PracticePanther, Clio Manage, TimeSolv and a bunch of other ones to help them sort out cases and a variety of other functions.
This is why it is so important to have a good laptop as a law school student. In 2021, you cannot properly study and/or practice law without using a computer. While using any computer should be fine, law students require specific features and do not need certain features in their laptop.
Unlike gamers, designers and 3D developers, law school students do not need a laptop with crazy heavy graphics and high performance. They do need the performance but only to some extent.
A law student’s requirements from a laptop is rather simple. Let’s have a look at some of the features that law school students find in a good laptop. This should give you an idea of what to look for and which laptops too choose from. So without further ado, let’s get right into what features to look out for!
What features should you look out for?
Processor
As we mentioned above, you do not need gaming level performance from a laptop that you will be using for law school. But that does not mean that you do not need a decent amount of performance from your laptop.
If your budget can fit it, we recommend going for laptops with and Intel Core i7 processor. Anything above the 8th Gen versions is fine. If you are going for an AMD processor, the AMD Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 are great!
But if you are on a tight budget, we suggest not going for anything lower than Intel Core i5.
RAM
You are definitely going to need a lot of RAM. As a law student you will be doing lots of reading, writing, and most importantly- working on multiple spreadsheets at once. You need enough RAM to be able to run multiple tasks together without crashing or freezing.
Our recommendation would be going for laptops with 8 GB DDR4 RAM and higher. This amount of RAM will ensure you get a smooth multitasking experience without any hassle. But if you are on a budget, 4 GB RAMs should get the job done as well.
Graphics
As a law school student, you won’t necessarily be needing a heavy graphics card on your laptop. Anything decent should be fine such as the Intel integrated graphics. But if you want to do some mild gaming in your leisure, you can go for NVIDIA options that won’t break the bank.
Storage
This one is kind of obvious, because everyone needs LOTS of storage in their laptops. Regardless of what you will be using your laptop for, having a good amount of storage can go a long way. However, we do have some recommendations for a minimum storage capacity and storage types.
Currently laptops come with two different types of storage devices. You either get an HDD or an SSD. SSDs are more modern and of higher quality. We recommend going for SSDs over HDDs. And as for the capacity, we suggest anything between 512 GBs to 1 TB, as this should be enough space. But if you want you can upgrade your storage later on.
Display and Design
Since you are a law school student, you will be looking your screen pretty much all day (not that you should, because that’s really unhealthy). So you want to get a laptop with a brilliant display that shows fine vibrant colors. The better the display, the less pressure that is put on your eyes.
As for the overall design, you want something portable. Something that you can carry around anywhere and everywhere. So we suggest going for something slim and sleek in terms of design.
Battery
Lawyers and law school students know how big of a nightmare it is to have your laptop shut down in the middle of an exam or a meeting. So you want your laptop to have a good battery life. We suggest anything between 10 hours to 17 hours of backup should be good.
5 Best Laptops for Law School
Now that we have established what you should look for in a good laptop as a law school student, let’s take a look at the top 5 best laptops for law school now!
Acer Swift 3 – BEST BUDGET LAPTOP
Key Specifications
- AMD Ryzen 5 4500U Hexa-Core Mobile Processor
- 8 GB DDR4 RAM
- 256 GB SSD storage
- 14 inch Full HD IPS LED backlit display
- 11.5 hours of battery life
- USB Type C charging
- 0.63 inch body
- Weighs 2.65 lbs
Why is this laptop good for law school?
For the very first laptop on our list of best laptops for law school we have the Acer Swift 3. This is one of the best laptops for those of you who are on a tight budget. Acer offers a high quality laptop that won’t break the bank.
On top of its affordable price, the Acer Swift 3 provides the kind of performance needed by a law school student. You get an AMD Ryzen 5 processor and an 8 GB RAM that ensures that your laptop can handle your multitasking. It disappoints a little in terms of storage capacity but compensates for it with everything else.
The 14 inch Full HD display makes it a nice viewing experience for those long work or study hours. The laptop offers a battery life of 11.5 hours, which in our opinion is pretty good!
It has a pretty slim body and weighs only 2.65 lbs. This is why this laptop feels so sleek and modern. So if you are on a budget and want a good quality laptop for law school, the Acer Swift 3 is the way to go!
Pros
- Good performance
- Sleek design
- Lightweight
- Affordable
Cons
- Less storage capacity
HP 15 – BUDGET FRIENDLY LAPTOP
Key Specifications
- AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor
- 8 GB DDR4 SDRAM
- 256 GB SSD storage
- AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics card
- 15.6 inch HD micro-edge BrightView display
- 5 hours of battery life
Why is this laptop good for law school?
For our next best laptop for law school we have got the HP 15.6 laptop. HP is a laptop brand that never fails to impress us in terms of performance, quality and design.
The performance factor on this laptop is pretty impressive as it comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 processor and an 8 GB RAM. What does this mean for you as a law student? No freezing and lagging during online classes, preparing assignments, solving critical cases and a bunch of other stuff.
This laptop can run your law practicing applications with ease and provide you a smooth experience.
The HP 15.6 laptop comes with a 15.6 inch HD micro-edge display that is sure to appeal to your eyes. And on top of that, you get an AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics card. Not that you will need it though. However, having a decent graphics card can be a blessing in case you feel like playing some light games during your leisure times.
The laptop does disappoint a little in terms of storage and battery life. The storage doesn’t seem enough and the battery life is also pretty low. But it is still pretty good for the price that you are getting it. So go check it out now!
Pros
- Good in terms of performance
- Decent display
- Lightweight design
- Affordable
Cons
- Low storage capacity
- Low battery life
LG GRAM – Good performance
Key Specifications
- 10th Gen Intel Core i5 Processor
- 8 GB DDR4 2666 MHz RAM
- 512 GB SSD
- 15.6 inch Full HD IPS LCD display
- Intel UHD graphics
- 21 hours of battery life
Why is this laptop good for law school?
Now we are getting into the big leagues of laptops for law school. What makes the LG Gram a good option for law students? Well, without a doubt the battery life of this amazing laptop!
The LG Gram offers many amazing features, among which, the battery life stands out the most. This laptop offers 21 hours of battery life, which is more than any laptop on this list.
Besides good battery, it also ensures great performance, speed and smoothness while working. It comes with an Intel Core i5 processor and an 8 GB DDR4 RAM for the best performance in a mid-range price.
For the storage you get a 512 GB SSD which should be enough storage for a good laptop. But if the storage feels like it is not enough, you can always upgrade it!
However, the display is a bit disappointing, as it is an LCD display as opposed to LED ones. But other than that, everything else is amazing about this laptop. So we definitely recommend it to you!
Pros
- Great performance
- Amazing battery life
- Decent amount of storage
- Reasonable price
- Sleek design
Cons
- The display is a bit disappointing
DELL XPS 13 7390 – Best performance
Key Specifications
- 10th Gen Intel Core i7 Processor
- 32 GB LPDDR4x RAM
- 4 x 512 GB PCle SSD (2 TB SSD storage)
- 13.4 inch Full HD Infinity Edge Anti-reflective 500 Nit display
- Intel Iris Plus Graphics
- 20 hours of battery life.
Why is this laptop good for law school?
The Dell XPS 13 7390 is an incredible laptop and is definitely an amazing option for law school students. Why so, you may ask? Well, because this laptop provides the kind of multitasking experience that no other laptop on this list can.
The performance that this high quality laptop offers is mind-blowing. You get a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor along with an RAM of a whopping 32 GBs. Talk about speed!
This laptop was built for people who want to multitask all day without having their laptops unable to handle all that multitasking. So if you are a law student or lawyer who wants to use law practicing software and needs several spreadsheets open all day, this laptop will NOT disappoint you.
Other than performance, this laptop has so much more to offer to the user! You get a pretty impressive display on this laptop along with a very sleek design. The laptop is lightweight and looks very professional.
It is not only high performing and professional looking, but also very supportive to its user. The Dell XPS 13 offers 20 hours of battery life which is pretty impressive. So we suggest you check out this laptop now!
Pros
- Very high performing
- Impressive display
- Impressive battery life
- Professional looking
Cons
- Pretty expensive
Top pick- Apple MacBook Pro
Key Specifications
- Apple M1 Processor
- 8 GB RAM
- 512 GB SSD
- 8-core GPU
- 13 inch LED UHD display
- Weighs 3 lbs
- 20 hours of battery life.
Why is this laptop good for law school?
For our top pick for laptops for law school, we just had to choose the MacBook Pro. And how could we not? This laptop is absolutely everything a lawyer or law student desires in a good laptop!
The Apple MacBook Pro offers performance that is top class. The laptop uses an Apple M1 processor that is said to be as powerful (allegedly even more powerful) than the Intel Core i7 processors. It comes with an 8 GB RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage. So you get performance AND enough storage space.
The main reason the MacBook Pro is the best laptop for law school is because nothing speaks more professional than Apple laptops and smartphones. These are the symbols of professionalism and high standard in the tech community.
The laptop will not only elevate your status but also let you carry it around everywhere pretty easily as the MacBook Pro is one of the most lightweight laptops in the world.
Besides all of this, the apple ecosystem makes multitasking exponentially easier. So if you own a MacBook and an iPhone, you can access your data from both pretty easily. So if you want the best laptop for law school, our recommendation would be the MacBook Pro, any day!
Pros
- Great performance
- Amazing display
- Lightweight and very sleek design
- Apple ecosystem
- Impressive battery life
Cons
- Pretty expensive
Testing Criteria
In order to test whether the laptop you choose is the right one for you, you can check a few things. We have already mentioned the things you should look for in a laptop for law school, so while picking your laptop, see if it fits those criteria.
The laptops that we have mentioned above do fit said criteria and are tested to be perfect for law students and lawyers. But still to help you out, here are some factors you want to check off your check list:
- Lightweight body
- Portability
- Good processor (minimum Intel Core i5)
- Good RAM (minimum 4-6 GBs)
- HD display
- Battery life of above 10 hours
- Price.
We have made sure all the laptops we reviewed fit these criteria so you can just go ahead and check out the ones listed above.
Conclusion
Finding the best laptop for law school is surely not rocket science, but you still need to check you are getting the right one for you. Before making your purchase, you can come back to this article to see what you should look for in a laptop for law school.
We hope our list of the best laptops for law school was helpful to you in finding your desired one. Have a nice day!