Students spend 40 hours a week on their laptops, using them for Zoom classes, video games and online shopping.
Research of 600 adults who have been a student in the past five years revealed seven hours of laptop time was used for getting on with coursework, and another six hours were taken up with Zoom classes or lectures.
Video games were the most popular extra-curricular activity, with seven hours a week spent playing on laptops, while nearly 20 hours were spent streaming Netflix shows, using social media and online shopping.
It also emerged 63 per cent of students said they couldn’t live without their laptop, with 36 per cent considering it to be an essential piece of kit.
But with 65 per cent of those who went to college or university stating their laptop was bought for them by someone else such as parents or a relative, 22 per cent said they probably didn’t use it as their donor had envisaged.
Making informed choices
It also emerged while most used laptops for general learning, 37 per cent did so for graphic design and 36 per cent for coding.
Performance-heavy courses such as video and music production were taken on by 56 per cent on their machines.
A spokesperson from technology company NVIDIA, which commissioned the research, said: “There is clearly a huge requirement when it comes to student laptops, and not just for learning.
“Laptops are used as part of daily life from gaming to watching their favourite shows, as well as many needing certain specs that can deliver on more tech-demanding courses.
“However, sometimes it can be difficult to make an informed choice on what will work best for you and your budget.”
When buying a laptop, people would look out for a good spec, performance, and price.
Great battery life and loads of storage were also viewed as critical for their tech to include.
However, 48 per cent were lumbered with a machine that didn’t cater for their needs according to the OnePoll data.
Do your research
Unfortunately, 47 per cent didn’t do enough research on laptops to make an educated choice, with 35 per cent regretting their purchase.
While 63 per cent tried to cut corners when buying the gadget in a bid to save some cash and the average spent just £254 on their model of choice.
Of those who did do their research, 47 per cent looked to Google reviews, friends and family recommendations and online buyer guides.
Heading to the high street was the most popular way to buy, followed by purchasing straight from the manufacturer.
While only 35 per cent bought online from marketplaces such as Amazon.
A spokesperson from NVIDIA, added: “Sometimes you simply cannot cut corners when it comes to performance and quality.
“It’s critical to buy correctly the first time, rather than to buy twice during the length of a course once you realise a computer doesn’t meet your needs.”
