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Best student laptop deals: Laptops for college from $200

While you can certainly grab yourself some very expensive laptops, there are a lot of great budget laptops that are great for students and still have enough power to do the majority of work that you’ll need to get done. For example, there are a lot of great Chromebook deals you can take advantage of that are a lot cheaper than Windows laptops, although if you do need Windows, then there are a lot of great laptop deals for that, too.

Whatever you’re looking for, we’ve collected some of our favorite student laptop deals from that include HP laptop deals, Dell laptop deals, Acer laptop deals, and Lenovo laptop deals.

IdeaPad Slim 3 — $420 $715 41% off

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i laptop on a desk.
Lenovo

When we look at 15 inch laptops we shouldn’t ignore the IdeaPad Slim 3, which comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U processor and Integrated AMD Radeon Graphics. Behind its 1080p, anti-glare screen is the 8GB of memory and a 512GB SSD storage drive. What makes the IdeaPad Slim 3 special is its tough exterior, made for withstanding harsh drops. This, along with its slim build, make it perfect to throw in the backpack and tug along with you wherever you go. Take even 15 minutes between classes for a charge session and you’ll get two full hours of usage out of your IdeaPad Slim 3, it is a truly versatile machine that is ready to go when you are.

ThinkPad E16 Gen 2 — $799 $1,331 40% off

The ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 turned to its side, open, and with a menu open.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

When we think of the best Lenovo laptops, one line always comes to mind: ThinkPad. They have a reputation for high durability and good keyboards. While we’ve warned in the past that the latest laptop model isn’t always the best, there is something to be said about the ThinkPad E16 Gen 1 being a new arrival to the Lenovo store. It’s got the latest features that you’ll want for the long term, in abundance. For example its got both USB-C ports and WiFi 6, which are becoming increasingly useful. Furthermore, the ThinkPad E16 has a 16-inch 1920 x 1200p screen, 1 TB of storage, and a whopping 24 GB memory.

HP Pavilion x360 Laptop 14t — $430 $700 38% off

The HP Pavilion 15t-eg300 laptop against a white background.
HP

If you’re willing to spend a little bit more, the HP Pavilion Laptop 15t really starts to ramp up the stats. The 8GB of RAM can be especially useful if you need to use advanced creative software, for example, and competes with the very best business laptops. Of course, the Intel Core 3 100U processor won’t hurt either. Store you projects and PowerPoints locally on the 128GB SSD contained within, as you don’t want poor reception in the depths of the philosophy building keeping you from getting your points across. Overall, this is one of the best student laptop deals for those that need a little extra power but aren’t ready to break the bank on luxuries like an ultra-advanced display (the HP Pavilion Laptop 14t is 1080p).

Lenovo 3i Chromebook — $280 $400 30% off

The IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook is a great option if you often work unplugged for long periods of time.
Lenovo

Fitting in as one of the best Chromebooks for students, the Lenovo 3i Chromebook runs on 4GB of memory and an Intel Pentium Silver N6000 CPU. The 14-inch FHD screen has a 100% sRGB color gamut and sides of the keyboard contain speakers, making it a serviceable video lecture companion. The Lenovo 3i’s WiFi 6 allows for quick downloads and a solid internet connection. This, combined with the laptop’s 13-hour battery life, solidify it as the perfect laptop to throw in your bag and take notes with at class. You can still watch (purely educational, of course) YouTube videos, but the machine isn’t designed to be overly distracting.

ASUS Vivobook 14-inch — $331 $430 23% off

The ASUS Vivobook 15.6-inch version with a menu open.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The ASUS Vivobook 14-inch is a great study companion due to quirks that make it perfect for late-night usage. Like other ASUS laptops (just one reason ASUS is featured among the best budget laptops) it sports a quiet keyboard with slender-pressing keys. And, in this case, they’re also backlit, meaning you can find the right keys easily even in the dark of night. Its 180-degree hinge, when fully opened, means the ASUS Vivobook can lie flat, allowing for multiple comfortable positions for in-bed studying. The ASUS Vivobook 16-inch features 8GB of RAM, 126GB of SSD storage, and an Intel Core i3-1215U processor.

HP Laptop 14 — $200 $250 20% off

Front angle of the HP 14-inch Chromebook.
HP

The HP Laptop 14 is a popular choice among students because of its entry level price point. It’s specs aren’t going to blow anyone away, but they’re good value for the price and are plenty to get the job done. This build of the HP Laptop 14 has 4GB of RAM and a quad-core Intel Celeron processor. It does check in with just 128GB of storage space — this may not be enough for some users, but if you aren’t planning on loading your laptop up with media this is one that will accompany you well around campus.

Dell XPS 14 — $1,200 $1,500 20% off

Dell XPS 14 laptop - 2024 for Dell's Summer Specials
Dell

Consistently one of the best laptops around, the Dell XPS 14 is a dream in almost every way. The thinnest and lightest 14-inch XPS laptop yet, it’s powerful too. It has a Ultra 7 Processor 155H processor, 16GB of memory, and 512GB of SSD storage. Its 14.5-inch full HD+ display with a 1920 x 1200 resolution is a delight to look at with 500 nits of brightness ensuring it can handle all lighting situations too. An impressive battery life of up to 12 hours means it’ll handle the busiest days of classes while you can enjoy streaming your favorite shows in style later in the day thanks to the great display and bigger internal speakers than previous models.

HP Envy Laptop 17t — $1,200 $1,500 20% off

A side profile of the HP Envy 17-inch laptop against a white background.
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Featured among our best HP laptop deals as well, the HP ENVY Laptop 17t is praised for its photo connectivity features. By using HP Palette, you can search through the images of your college memories with photo recognition software. (Yes, the guy you went to chemistry with was also the awful karaoke singer last night.) The HP ENVY Laptop 17t also has quick file sharing between connected devices. Another thing to note about this laptop is how bit it is. It has a 17.3-inch, 1080p screen, so be sure to check out our favorite 17-inch laptop bags if you pick up this offering, as your current one might not be able to handle it. And that big size won’t go to waste at all, as it will not only help you see your pictures better, but also see yourself better from its 5MP built-in webcam. The HP ENVY Laptop 17t uses an Intel Core i7 processor, gets 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage.

John Alexander
John Alexander is a former ESL teacher, current writer and internet addict, and lacks the wisdom to know what the future…
Get a MacBook Air M2 for a massive $500 off at Best Buy
A woman working on a 2023 MacBook Air with M2 chip.

For great laptop deals, Best Buy is always a good place to look. Right now, it has one of the best MacBook deals with a chunky $500 off the Apple MacBook Air M2 with 15-inch screen. The laptop normally costs $1,899, but right now you can buy it for $1,399, saving a huge $500. The laptop might not have the latest processor, but it’s still highly competent for many, many purposes. It’ll make a great gift for a loved one, but also a useful productivity tool for you too. Here’s all you need to know.

Why you should buy the Apple MacBook Air M2 15-inch
Still featuring in our look at the best MacBooks, the Apple MacBook Air M2 is a great laptop for experienced macOS users or anyone new to the ecosystem. This particular model has the M2 chip with an 8-core CPU and up to 10-core GPU. It also has a 16-core Neural Engine for advanced machine learning tasks. Besides the CPU, the Apple MacBook Air M2 15-inch also has 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, so it’s all set for providing everything you need.

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This 17-inch HP Laptop is $280 off at Best Buy — just a few hours left
The HP 17.3-inch Laptop with Microsoft Excel on the screen.

If you're looking for laptop deals, Best Buy is an excellent source of huge discounts. Check out this offer for the HP 17.3-inch Laptop: a incredibly low price of $350, for savings of $280 on its original price of $630. That's a steal any way you look at it, but you're going to have to hurry if you want to take advantage of this bargain because it's only available today. There are just a few hours remaining before the laptop's price returns to normal, so if you don't want to miss out, you're going to have to make your purchase right now.

Why you should buy the HP 17.3-inch Laptop
The HP 17.3-inch Laptop is a fantastic device for working professionals and students alike, as it provides reliable performance with the AMD Ryzen 5 7430U processor and AMD Radeon graphics, alongside 8GB of RAM. With these specifications, it's not going to challenge the best laptops, but it will be more than enough for daily tasks like online research and report writing, as well as recreational activities such as catching up on social media. The HP 17.3-inch Laptop also comes with Windows 11 Home in S Mode pre-installed in its 512GB SSD, which will give you enough space for all of your important files.

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Get Copilot+ features for less with this Asus laptop deal
An Asus ProArt P16 laptop on a white background.

One of the best laptop deals right now is perfect for anyone who is seeking a Copilot PC. If you’re looking to enjoy AI features, check out the Asus ProArt P16 laptop which is $200 off at Best Buy. The laptop normally costs $1,900 but right now, you can buy it for $1,700. A high-end productivity-focused laptop which also packs a punch for some gaming too, this is an ideal workhorse of a PC. Here’s all you need to know about it alongside some insight into the wonders of Copilot.

Why you should buy the Asus ProArt P16 laptop
Asus features in our look at the best laptop brands thanks to the company being great at developing all-rounder laptops. The Asus ProArt P16 laptop is one such highlight. It has an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU, 32GB of memory, 1TB of SSD storage, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU.

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