The best student laptop deals: get the right back to school laptop for you

Finding the best student laptop deals can be difficult at the best of times, let alone during the back to school period. But the process can be made more straightforward. For a start, it’s a good idea to understand early on what kind of money you have to spend on your new laptop for what you want it to do. 

For most school and college students, a simple back to school laptop in a small form-factor with access to basic word processing and productivity programs (such as Microsoft Office or G Suite) so that you can take notes in class and study after hours will do nicely. A Chromebook running Chrome OS fits that mould, and it can often be found in a roundup of the best student laptop deals.

Meanwhile, students working in creative subjects such as art and design will need a back to school laptop with a bright and vivid screen as well as a dedicated graphics card. A powerful processor is important when it comes to the best student laptop deals too, especially if 3D modelling and video rendering are on the table.

 A good bet would be something you would find powering the best gaming laptops. If you would like more options on the best prices for gaming-focused machines, then our cheap gaming laptop deals roundup features a whole host of options available for well under $1,000 / £1,000. There are some excellent student laptop deals in there.

No matter what, you’ll have to act fast if you find a deal that you like. With the summer rapidly coming to an end, stellar student laptop deals like these are flying off the virtual shelves. Don’t delay! 

The best student laptop deals on right now

Not everyone has the kind of cash to splash on $1,000+ on student laptops, and that’s just not going to be feasible for everyone at the tail end of the summer. Because of this, we’ve made categories per price and performance to help you find the perfect back to school laptop for your usage, so you can be sure that you’re getting the best deal possible. 

Laptops under $300 – USA

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Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 4 | $250 $212 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
Save $50. Anyone familiar with the smartphone line by the company will know that the build quality and feature set of this Galaxy Chromebook is generally of a high standard. Featuring USB-C connectivity, this laptop has a 12-hour battery life. Not bad for such a small machine. Features: Intel Celeron N4000, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC SSD, 11.6-inch 720p HD screen. 

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HP Chromebook 14 | $270 $221.26 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
Save $60. The best features of this particular Chromebook are its extensive 13-hour battery life, fast charging technology (able to reach 50% in just 45 minutes) and USB-C connectivity. Features: Intel Pentium Silver N5000, 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC SSD, 14-inch 720p HD screen. 

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HP Chromebook 14 (Touchscreen) | $299 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
Take everything that makes the HP Chromebook 14 a worthwhile purchase, feature some integrated graphics, and add touchscreen functionality – that’s what makes this particular laptop stand out. It’s ideal if you want to experience Google Play Store games on the device, or gesture navigation. Feature: Intel Celeron N3350, Intel HD Graphics 500, 4GB RAM, 32GB SSD, 14-inch 720p HD screen.

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Laptops under $500 – USA

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Dell Inspiron 15 3000 | $518 $379.99 at Dell (opens in new tab)
Save $139. Just because you’re buying on a budget doesn’t mean you can’t get a capable machine. The newest Inspiron 15 has enough grunt to power through all manner of tasks that you may encounter in your work day; just be mindful of the fairly low RAM, as this isn’t the laptop to handle multi-monitor setups. Features: Intel Core i3-1115G4, Intel UHD Graphics, 4GB RAM, 128GB M.2 SSD, 15.6-inch Full HD screen. 

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HP Pavilion 14 | $399.99 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
Switching gears over from Intel to AMD, this work laptop is built for speed above all else and has enough grunt for your day-to-day. One interesting addition is the full-size HDMI port, for plugging your laptop into an external monitor/multi-monitor setup. Features: AMD Athlon Silver 3050U, AMD Radeon Graphics, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 720p HD screen. 

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Asus VivoBook 15 | $420 $399.99 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
If you feel more comfortable on Windows architecture, this laptop has everything you could need to work and study effectively, complete with some fairly respectable specs, a fingerprint scanner, and a Full HD display. Features: Intel i3-1005G1, Intel UHD Graphics, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 15.6-inch Full HD screen. 

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Acer Aspire 5 Slim | $489.99 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
If you’ve been searching for a thin, light, and powerful work laptop, you could do far worse than the Aspire 5 Slim with its long battery life and the fact it’s packed with ports for productivity. The IPS panel is sure to be the standout as well over traditional TNs found on some others. Features: AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, Vega 3 Graphics, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15.6-inch Full HD IPS screen. 

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Laptops under $800 – USA

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Dell Inspiron 14 | $819 $549.99 at Dell (opens in new tab)
Save $269. If you’ve been looking for something in the mid-range category that doesn’t skimp on the build quality, this small form factor laptop has a whole host of ports, a stellar screen and a long battery life to excel in everyday use. Features: Intel Core i5-11300H, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 8GB RAM, 512GB M.2 SSD, 14-inch Full HD screen. 

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Dell XPS 13 | $950 $799.99 at Dell (opens in new tab)
Save $150. Coming in at just under $800, this super powerful and very attractive Dell laptop is built with viewing angles in mind. With a bright 400nits display, it’s bound to look impressive whatever you do on it. The 9-hour battery life is not too bad, either. Features: Intel Core i5-1135G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 8GB RAM, 256 M.2 SSD, 13.3-inch Full HD screen.

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Dell Inspiron 16 Plus | $1,020 $799.99 at Dell (opens in new tab)
Save $220. With all this talk of small laptops, let’s take a moment of appreciation for the bigger displays for those that need all the space they can get for video/photo editing. That’s where the ‘3K’ resolution comes in handy (not quite 4K, but better than Quad HD). It’s sure to look great. Features: Intel Core i5-11400H, Intel® UHD Graphics, 8GB RAM, 256GB M.2 SSD, 16-inch 3K screen. 

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Laptops over $1,000 – USA

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Samsung Galaxy Book Pro | $1,200 $1,049.99 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
If you’re a Samsung smartphone user, you’re likely to get a lot out of this laptop. For everyone else, the 13.3-inch AMOLED screen, 20-hour battery life, and seriously-fast i7-EVO processor are sure to be enticing enough additions on their own. This computer’s built with speed and picture quality in mind; perfect for those who do a lot of design work at a rapid pace. Features: Intel Core i7-1165G7, Intel Xe Graphics, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 13-inch AMOLED Full HD screen. 

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Apple MacBook Air M1 (2020) | $1,250 $1,099 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
Save $149.
The newest version of the Apple MacBook Air is built from the ground-up to run on the new M1 chip, featuring optimization to run like a mix of the best of iOS and traditional MacOS functionality in a gorgeous form factor. It’s nice and light, too, with a powerful 18-hour battery life to match. Features: Apple M1 Chip, 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 13-inch Retina Display (2560 x 1600) screen. 

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Apple MacBook Pro M1 (2020) | $1,500 $1,299.99 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
Save $199. Boasting slightly improved specs over the Air, most notably a bumped-up 8-core CPU/GPU combo, this model features the Touch Bar for use in programs such as Photoshop and FL Studio to give you more control over the creative process. It also has a 20-hour battery life, so you can charge it between school/college days without worry. Features: Apple M1 Chip, 8-core GPU, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 13-inch Retina Display (2560 x 1600) screen.

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Dell XPS 13 | $1,570 $1,379.99 at Dell (opens in new tab)
Save $190. At the premium end of XPS 13 configurations is this model rocking a seriously capable chipset and a sterling screen to boot; if you’ve been in the market for something in the upper echelon – that’s not made by Apple – this could be it; especially as far as RAM is concerned! Features: Intel Core i7-1185G7, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 16GB RAM (4267Mhz), 512GB M.2 SSD, 13.4-inch Full HD+ screen. 


Having a laptop to carry around with you is all well and good, but taking things onto the big screen at home is just as important for productivity. You would be hard-pressed to find better than the best gaming monitors. It’s also worth look at the best gaming mouse if you don’t like relying on the trackpad to navigate. 

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