Looking for a cheap student laptop and the best student laptop deals out there? You've come to the right place. We appreciate that as a student, your budget is super tight, and you want to get the best bang for your buck, so we've tracked down the best laptop deals right now. Each of the laptops are perfect for learning at home as well as taking to school with you. We've also made a little room for one of the best MacBook deals, too, if your heart is set on going the Apple route.
Today's Best Student Laptop Deals
For the tightest of budgets, there's the Acer 15.6-inch Chromebook. It has a sizeable screen that's ideal for writing your papers on or even formulating a presentation to give your class. For a cheap student laptop, you can't really go wrong with a budget Chromebook. It's lightweight at only 4.4 pounds and measures a mere 1-inch thick.
It has an Intel Atom x5 processor, which has enough power for if you want to use Google Apps like Google Docs or Google Sheets to get your work done. With built-in cloud support, you can always easily save your documents to your Google Drive account to take wherever you go. It also offers 16GB eMMC flash memory for speedy boot times as well as support for watching high-definition videos on YouTube. There's even a webcam for video conferencing or online chats with friends.
— $280, was $343
Just because you want a cheap student laptop doesn't mean you can't have a touchscreen. This HP Stream 14-inch HD Touchscreen Notebook offers an AMD A4 Dual-Core processor along with AMD Radeon R3 graphics and 4GB RAM, so you're good to go with writing documents or performing basic photo editing.
The touchscreen means you can use Windows 10 as a regular laptop or as a tablet of sorts which is great for manipulating objects on the screen or devising presentations. Its 64GB eMMC storage space is good enough to store some files for those times you're not near Wi-Fi. It's even available in a variety of colors, including white, blue, and pink.
— $300, was $499
Borrowing some inspiration from Apple products, the Asus ImagineBook 14-inch laptop is super stylish and offers all the specs you could want from a cheap student laptop. It has an Intel Core m3 processor with 128GB SSD storage drive so it's suitably speedy when booting up Windows and opening apps. You won't run out of storage space easily here, with plenty of room to store all your music, documents and other necessary files.
The 14-inch display is a full HD screen with an energy-efficient LED backlight, so it looks great when you watch videos or movies on it. Thanks to the smaller screen size, it weighs less than four pounds and is only 0.7-inch thick, so it's ideal for small living spaces and when you're out and about.
— $450, was $600
If you want all the flexibility of a Chromebook but with the power of a more expensive laptop than most Chromebooks, this HP device is for you. It has an Intel Pentium Gold processor, 4GB RAM, and a 64GB eMMC. Notably, it also offers a full HD 15.6-inch screen which is perfect if you want a bigger and clearer experience as you conduct your work or photo editing.
It's also very stylish and has a great backlit keyboard that comes strongly recommended. With extensive battery life, you won't need to recharge it throughout the day. The HP Chromebook 15 is an ideal portable device that looks good on your desk, too.
— $900, was $1,100
If your heart is set on an Apple laptop, then the Apple MacBook Air 13.3-inch is the student laptop for you. It looks gorgeous and has all the conveniences that come with a MacOS based system. With an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and a 128GB SSD drive, it packs a punch where it counts being suitably speedy. It's not aimed at gaming or anything like that, but as a productivity-based device, it's good to go. You won't have any issues loading up files quickly thanks to these specs.
The laptop also has Touch ID support, which is useful as a security measure and for convenience. There's also a 12-hour battery life, so you won't have to worry about recharging it often.
How to choose a student laptopBefore you buy a student laptop, you need to know what you're looking for. Perhaps the most important thing to know is your budget. Ideally, everyone wants the best and the fastest but if your budget is low then it's wise to temper your expectations to avoid disappointment.
Laptops generally don't make good devices for playing games on so a student laptop doesn't bother with a dedicated graphics card. Instead, you want a system that is reasonably speedy with a reliable processor and sufficient storage space for the operating system. A lot of the time, you'll be uploading files to the cloud anyway for your teachers to check so you don't have to worry about a massive hard drive to store everything, although it can be helpful for the added flexibility.
Don't worry so much about the screen size. Less is generally more, saving you money and sometimes providing you with superior screen quality. A 13-inch screen might sound small but you soon get used to it and all laptops tend to have a way of plugging them into a separate screen if you decide you want a monitor further down the line. A smaller screen means less to carry around too when you're back in class and need to transport your laptop around campus.
When picking out a productivity orientated laptop, consider what operating system you want. Nowadays, you have the choice of Windows, MacOS, or ChromeOS. The majority of people are used to Windows but that doesn't mean it's the fastest or the best, but if you're keen to not have to relearn anything, it might still be the most tempting idea.
Alternatively, MacOS is a very efficient operating system because it's designed for the hardware it's tied into. However, Macs cost considerably more than a Windows or ChromeOS-based laptop, although they do tend to last longer. They're great as stylish systems to show off with but few students can easily afford the high asking price. In terms of value for money, they're not great.
For a great student laptop deal, most students will be fine with a Chromebook. A lot of the time, you'll be writing documents in Google Docs and Chromebooks lend themselves perfectly to this method. You won't be able to play games on them but as a solely work device, they're inexpensive and easy to use. Simply log into your Google account and you can easily save files to the cloud. There's the added convenience of not having to worry if you need to switch to a different system either — your files will always be there via your account details. You won't have to scrimp on style either with the devices often looking super stylish and lightweight. Expect better battery life with most Chromebooks than a Windows-based system too.
We strive to help our readers find the best deals on quality products and services, and we choose what we cover carefully and independently. The prices, details, and availability of the products and deals in this post may be subject to change at anytime. Be sure to check that they are still in effect before making a purchase.Digital Trends may earn commission on products purchased through our links, which supports the work we do for our readers.
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