College Students Want Better Laptop Audio, Willing to Pay

Results from a survey, conducted by Dolby Laboratories, revealed many shocking statistics on how college students use their PCs. Why should PC manufacturers pay attention? Results showed that many college students would pay, on average, $824 for their next computer, if it came with an “ideal audio set-up”; that compares to the general population who would only pay $719.

Key Statistics from surveyed US college students:

  • 60% use their PCs mostly for entertainment; more so than TVs
  • 77% listen to music on their PCs
  • 70% use their PCs to watch video
  • 64% watch entertainment on their computers with others
  • 94% rated crisp, clear audio as an important feature for an optimal entertainment experience
  • 38% are “very satisfied” with their computer’s audio quality
  • 48% would use their computers more for entertainment if the audio quality was better
  • 36% would show off their PCs to their friends if it had better audio

This is all great news for the surveying company, Dolby Laboratories, which prides itself on high-quality audio and surround sound. Dolby audio is featured in a number of PCs ranging from Acer, HP, Lenovo, Sony, and Toshiba.

One company that particularly stands out when it comes to audio quality is HP. Recently, the company began integrating Beats Audio by Dr. Dre into their HP Envy line. Beats Audio is a combination of software and hardware that results in a cleaner, crisper sound. Beats Audio is available on the HP Envy 14 and the HP Envy 17.

For laptops that aren’t in their high-end Envy notebook family, HP continues to use Dolby audio technology.

Hopefully, as a result of this survey, PC manufacturers will take note of the increasing demand for premium audio and will begin to release PCs with audio more similar to the HP Envy notebooks. Until then, there are external speakers, such as the Bose Companion 5, and premium headphones, such as the Beats by Dr. Dre Studio, that are worth checking out if you need to satisfy your premium audio needs.

For the full press release, click here.

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