<![CDATA[Rapid developments in information technology have made laptops an essential device for students, especially those in their final year of study. Choosing the right laptop plays an important role in supporting academic productivity, such as writing theses, analyzing data, and developing software. This study aims to classify the preferences of mathematics students at Gorontalo State University in choosing laptops based on usage characteristics and factors that influence purchasing decisions. The method used is Kernel Discriminant Analysis (KDA) with a Gaussian kernel function and an optimal bandwidth of 0.8. The research data involved 268 respondents divided into training and testing data. The analysis results show that the KDA model has an accuracy rate of 60% on the training data and 52% on the testing data, which indicates the model's ability to recognize student preference patterns despite a decrease in accuracy on new data. Based on the kernel density estimation results, Acer is the most widely used laptop brand, while Zyrex and Apple are rarely chosen. The most influential factor in purchasing decisions is processor specifications, with a contribution of 35.739%, followed by brand, warranty, and price. These findings indicate that hardware characteristics are the main consideration in laptop selection, with most students choosing laptops with Intel Core i5 processors, a minimum of 8GB of RAM, and SSD storage. The results of this study can also be used by universities to provide recommendations for selecting laptops that suit students' academic needs. ]]>
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