If you’re headed off to college soon, you’re almost certainly going to need a laptop. Many classes have mandatory online components now. And besides, it’s a lot easier to read typed notes instead of trying to decipher your handwriting — trust me on this. In fact, some colleges even require students to own a laptop these days, so you might as well invest in a good one, right? With that in mind, here’s what you need to consider while shopping for a college laptop:

First off, you need to remember that heavy laptops can be a deal breaker in college. If you plan on walking to and from all of your classes, you don’t want a whopping five-pound notebook swinging from your shoulder. Smaller, lighter models are likely a better fit living on campus. Lighter is usually better, but it’s not always in the cards.

Next, consider battery life. If you’re going to be gone all day long, you don’t want to worry about running out of power half-way through. Being tethered to a wall completely defeats the point of owning a laptop in the first place, right? Before you pull the trigger, make sure your laptop will be able to keep up with your busy schedule.

Lastly, keep in mind how much you’re willing to spend and what your priorities are. If you’re studying video production you need to invest in a powerful machine despite the expense. If you’re an English major, you can likely get away with a much smaller budget. Know what your college career is going to demand ahead of time, and shop accordingly. Now, let’s look at a selection of laptops suited for the college lifestyle.

MacBook Air

For general-purpose tasks like word processing, email, and web browsing, the MacBook Air is the gold standard. Available in both 11-inch and 13-inch models, the Air is a thin and powerful laptop that has drastically influenced the Ultrabook concept that Intel has so successfully marketed.

With flash storage, a dynamically-clocked Intel Core i5/i7 processor, integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000, and all-day battery life in less than a three pound package, it’s easy to see why the MacBook Air is the best-selling Apple laptop. It’s frustrating that we still don’t have a model with a Retina display, but the value proposition here is still much stronger than Apple’s regular MacBook line.

MacBook Pro with Retina Display

The MacBook Pro is a very different machine than its smaller brother. As the “Pro” label implies, this series of laptops is for people in need of substantial horsepower. Made in 13-inch and 15-inch variants, the MacBook Pro is designed from the ground up to empower people working in creative fields. With its excellent high-resolution Retina display, up to 1TB of flash storage, up to a quad-core 2.8GHz Intel Core i7 CPU, and eight-to-ten hours of battery life, this laptop is a perfect fit for anything from video production to programming.

Ranging from 3.48 to 4.46 pounds, this is a bit heftier than the MacBook Air, but that sacrifice is well worth it if your field of study needs that added horsepower. If you’re mostly just writing papers and surfing the web, this probably isn’t the best fit for you.

Dell XPS 12 Ultrabook Touch

Tablets and laptops both have their uses in a college environment, and this slick model from Dell gives you the best of both worlds. This is a 12.5-inch laptop, but it benefits from a novel “flip-hinge” that quickly transforms the device into a touchscreen tablet. With 4GB of RAM, a 128GB solid state drive, a 1080p display, a lightweight body, and over eight hours of battery life, this ultrabook gives college students exactly what they need to get work done while remaining flexible enough to use anywhere.

Lenovo ThinkPad X250

If you’re looking for an affordable and utilitarian laptop, check out this Thinkpad from Lenovo. You can grab yourself a low-spec model with a dual-core Intel Core i3 CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB 7200RPM hard drive, a 12.5-inch display, and a pair of batteries for just over 750 bucks. Even better, the stock model weighs in at just 2.88 pounds!

Of course, you can upgrade to an Intel Core i7 CPU, a 512GB solid state drive, and 1080p display, but those changes dramatically raise the asking price and potentially increase the overall weight. The choice is yours, though, so customize as you see fit.

Note: If you’re worried about the SuperFish vulnerability, you can rest easy. ThinkPads were not impacted by SuperFish at all, so you can purchase this model with confidence.

12-Inch ASUS Chromebook

Of course, not everyone can afford to buy high-end laptops for college. But fear not, you can still get the job done without spending a lot of cash. Take this 12-inch Chromebook from ASUS for example. For just $260, you get an 11.6-inch display, a dual-core 2.16GHz Intel Celeron CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 32GB solid state drive, Bluetooth 4.0, and 802.11b/g/n/ac WiFi support. Better yet, it only weighs 2.5 pounds, and offers up to 11 hours of battery life.

It’s certainly not the most powerful or versatile laptop on this list, but the incredibly low asking price makes up for its shortcomings. If you’re on a very tight budget for college, and you don’t need to run software like AutoCAD or Photoshop, this is absolutely the laptop you should get.

The old college try

Regardless of your budget, there’s something here to fit your needs. I know that money can be really tight when you’re a full-time student, but it’s absolutely worth the investment. Keeping your computer with you in class and at home means all of your notes and assignments are in one place, and that will make a world of difference when finals roll around.

Now read: The top laptops for everyone