Best Laptop for Design Students in 2021

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Hi I am Rajeev! I have been teaching Design Softwares since 2010 in Prestigious institutions like NIFT Mumbai, Pearl Academy and UID. With my experience in the domain I would like to help you in choosing the best laptop to start your academic endeavor in design. Best of Luck!

If you wish to learn some techy stuff and make an informed decision then read and then go to recommendation or click below to go directly there

To keep it short and useful, I am shying away from getting into too much of details. While buying a new laptop you shall always priorities these four components :

Processor : Intel and AMD both are at par when it comes to creating best in class Microprocessors. Intel being the oldest in the industry has earned its reputation over the years for bringing ground breaking technologies but AMD has been at its best recently and challenged intel’s monopoly in the market.

Ryzen 4600 and later processors has not only proven its cost vs value proposition but also gave Intel 10th gen processors serious competition by defeating them in many benchmarks. However both the Brands are fine as long as it fits your budget.

Graphic Card : The most important component in a Design PC / Laptop is GPU. Since almost every design discipline needs heavy graphic processing because of their usage of various 2D & 3D software, its important to have a dedicated graphic card. N-Vedia is the class leading manufacturer of GPU’s and comes with best in class software support as well. while Intel and AMD is trying to catch up in this domain by their IrisXE (Intel) and Radeon (AMD) series but they are not yet up to the mark.

A design laptop should feature GTX 1650 ti or above series GPU for smooth performance. Depending on the utility RTX series can also be considered. Please avoid non TI cards if possible.

RAM : The manufacturer doesn’t matter here as its not revealed in specifications usually. Anyway this component is manufactured by only a handful of companies and all of them are at par in terms of quality.

RAM is important for loading up system files and ensuring the running programs are getting its resources faster. 8 GB is the minimum but try going for 16 GB capacity. but people of budget can consider upgrading the RAM later on as most of the laptop supports up to 32 GB RAM in two slots.

HDD : Earlier it was mostly about capacity of data (HDD) that it could store but now with SSD its a game changer. SSD’s actively contribute in boosting the system performance, saving battery life and keeping the system less noisy and cool.

You must go for only SSD laptop as much as possible. The combo of HDD + SSD works but still won’t give you all the benefits of just SSD. If more data storage is you concern then you can extend it by using cloud storage or external SSD.

*Those who want to Game frequently and stream shall go for minimum 1TB SSD.

Below I will be listing out a few of the best deals available for laptops. The recommendations are for design students who are going to use moderate to high-end software. The laptops are suitable for all type of practising designers or students who will be running photoshop, illustrator, InDesign, premier pro, after effects, dimensions, Corel draw, 3ds max, Maya, blender, Autodesk cad, etc. The performance of the laptop would depend on the scope of various projects but for students, it would suffice and allow them to sail through their academic journey. It would be a smart decision not to over-invest in a laptop while one is in college because after graduating you will have to get a new laptop anyway.

I have experience of over a decade in design education and my subjects are mostly focused to design software education. On a daily basis, I use the programs mentioned above. Based on the same I would suggest going for a price bracket of 70k to 80k for first category of students and 90k to 115K for Second category students based on the specializations they are perusing.

For Fashion Design | Textile Design | Lifestyle Accessories Design | 70k to 80k

*The list is not on any priority basis. You can go for any model listed below. The main criterion is the hardware components they pack.

For Product Design | Visual Communication | Animation & Motion Graphics | Automobile Design Students | 90k to 125K

*The list is not on any priority basis. You can go for any model listed below. The main criterion is the hardware components they pack.

*For Alienware lovers… please don’t fall for it now as they haven’t upgraded the product line and existing products in the market is heavily overpriced and have outdated hardware.

Below I am answering very frequently asked question. Go through them in case you have similar concerns.

Which brand is best?

Every Brand selling laptops usually have same components. When it comes to decide the brand people usually have their own choice. There are brands who advertise and lot and have greater visibility and there are those who put the extra marketing budget in keeping the cost low to consumer. So its mostly not a choice of build quality and which one will offer best services but about you budget. while HP & Dell has greater market visibility and a larger exclusive outlets and service center network, Asus, Lenovo, Acer & MSI has better Build and cost vs Value offerings.

what screen size is best?

For design purpose he bigger the better. The refresh rate is also a factor now a days since 144Hz screens are available at competitive cost. Laptop comes in multiple screen sizes, the biggest is 17.3 inch and least is 13.3 inch.

You shall go for 17.3 inches as design software usually have very complex interfaces. However 15.6 inches is also not a deal breaker under a tight budget but anything lower than that is a big NO.

Should I go for two in one laptops?

Two in ones seem a viable option but honestly expecting a two in one ( touchscreen laptop ) to match the precision and make of a separate pressure tablet is not going to work. Two in one’s build quality is often questionable and if you break the screen then cost of replacement is extremely high. So instead of going of two in one buy a Separate pressure tablet.

*if you have any other question put that in the comment section below.