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Ramapo College Student Laptop Recommendations

Ramapo

Below is some information to assist with your computer purchase decision. The following points should be noted:

  • Students who are taking business courses (including both degree and certificate programs) should invest in a Windows computer as many applications are only available for Windows.
  • Students who are enrolled in the School of Contemporary Arts may want to consider an Apple computer such as a MacBook, as many of the applications for this program are Mac-based.
  • For all other students aside from those mentioned above, either a Windows or Mac laptop would be sufficient.
  • Certain majors such as the sciences, math, computer science, animation, video editing, and other computer-intensive fields should consider a computer that meets or exceeds the recommended “High-end” column below.
  • Many laptop manufacturers offer educational discounts for students. See Suggested Laptop Vendors section below for links directly to the vendor discount pages.

Note: In many cases, Chromebooks do not support the same applications as Windows and Mac laptops. As a result, we do not recommend the purchase of a Chromebook for students currently.

If you have any additional questions regarding a laptop purchase, please contact the Ramapo IT helpdesk at helpdesk@ramapo.edu.

Windows Laptop Requirements

Updated July 11, 2022

Minimum Recommended High-end
Operating System Windows 10 Windows 10 Windows 10
CPU Intel i3 Intel i5 or

AMD Ryzen 5 Pro

Intel i7 or

AMD Ryzen 7 Pro

Memory/RAM 8 GB 8GB or more 16 GB or more
Storage 500 GB Hard Drive or

256 GB SSD

256 GB SSD or higher 512 GB SSD or higher
Video Card Integrated Video Integrated Video or better For Video/Animation students, Discrete Graphics:

2GB GPU min,

4GB GPU recommended

Screen Resolution 1366 x 768 or better 1920 x 1080 or better 1920 x 1080 or better

MacBook Laptop Requirements

Updated July 11, 2022

Minimum Recommended High-end
Model 13” MacBook Air 13” MacBook Air or MacBook Pro 13” MacBook Pro
Operating System macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later macOS 10.16 (Big Sur) macOS 10.16 (Big Sur)
CPU Intel or M1 M2 (MacBook Air),

M1 Pro or greater (MacBook Pro)

M1 Pro or greater
Memory/RAM 8 GB 8GB or more 16 GB or more
Storage 256 GB SSD 256 GB SSD or higher 512 GB SSD or higher

Suggested Laptop Manufacturers

Please note that various education and consumer discounts may change. Vendor education pricing is not always the lowest price, so we recommend you research your options before purchasing.