Apple, Beats top other brands among college students in laptops, phones, tablets and headphones

A survey of 880 college students conducted last week by Chegg found 51 percent named Apple as their preferred smartphone, tablet and laptop brand while 46 percent named Beats as their top pick for headphones.

The firm reported that 83 percent of college students surveyed named cash or a gift card as their most desired gift, followed by clothing at 73 percent and electronics at 52 percent.

Broken down by gender, 83 percent of females said they preferred cash or gift cards, while only 79 percent of males did. Men listed electronics as their second favorite at 67 percent (versus 61 percent naming clothing), while women overwhelmingly preferred clothing over electronic gear (79 percent to 44 percent).

Among electronics, Apple beat out other smartphones by a huge margin, with Samsung being the only other brand to earn greater than 9 percent share; 44 percent of men and 57 percent of women wanted an Apple-branded phone, while just 30 percent of men and 29 percent of women named Samsung.

Among laptops, Apple was named by 37 percent of men and 43 percent of women, while second place HP only found support from 10 percent of men and 20 percent of women.

In tablets, Apple's iPad similarly beat out Microsoft's Surface and Samsung's Android tabs, with 41 percent of men and 47 percent of women naming Apple, while just 24 percent of men and 22 percent of women named Microsoft, and just 12 percent of men and 22 percent of women naming Samsung.

In headphones, Apple's recently acquired Beats was named by 46 percent of all students as their preferred headphone, with 33 percent of men and 55 percent of women favoring the brand. Bose came in second place with 24 percent of the overall student population.