There are two different tax credits you might qualify for.
For the Lifetime Learning Credit, the only eligible costs are tuition and fees paid directly to the college. For a laptop to count, it must be purchased from the college and be required for your specific course of study.
For the American Opportunity Credit, you can deduct tuition, fees, and other "necessary" expenses, even if items are not purchased directly from the college. Whether a laptop is really necessary, see the comments by the other experts.
Turbotax will ask separately about necessary expenses purchased from the college, and necessary expenses purchased elsewhere, for this reason, and will apply whichever expenses are eligible for which of the credits you are claiming.
