Students spend this many hours a week glued to their laptops

By Steve Richmond, 72Point via SWNS

Students spend 40 hours a week on their laptops, using them for Zoom classes, video games and online shopping.

Research into 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 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 went on streaming Netflix shows, using social media and online shopping.

It also emerged 63 percent of students said they couldn’t live without their laptop, with 36 percent considering it to be an essential piece of kit.

But with 65 percent of those who went to college stating their laptop was bought for them by someone else such as parents or a relative, 22 percent said they probably didn’t use it as their donor had envisaged.

It also emerged while most used laptops for general learning, 37 percent did so for graphic design and 36 percent for coding.

Performance-heavy courses such as video and music production were taken on by 56 percent 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 favorite 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 percent were lumbered with a machine that didn’t cater for their needs, according to the OnePoll data.

Unfortunately, 47 percent didn’t do enough research on laptops to make an educated choice, with 35 percent regretting their purchase.

While 63 percent tried to cut corners when buying the gadget in a bid to save some cash and the average spent just £254 ($304) on their model of choice.

Of those who did do their research, 47 percent 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 percent 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 realize a computer doesn’t meet your needs.”