Best “Back to school” laptops: School laptops picks

Nowadays, going off to high school or college without a decent laptop can be very difficult, since most schools and teachers use power points or electronic presentations when teaching, and post them online. Not to mention that some schools require students to purchase a laptop as part of their book fee. And although the school year has already started in many places, it doesn’t mean that “Back to school” offers are over yet. There are still plenty of offers and great discounts on school supplies and electronic equipment, and most of all: laptops.

In this short guide we have compiled a list of some of the best laptops and laptop deals for school you can find as of September 2018. To make this selection, we took into consideration different criteria, including performance, battery life, portability, and of course, the price.

Acer Aspire E 15 E5-576-392H: The perfect budget laptop for school, under 400$

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When looking for decent budget laptop that won’t hurt your pocket, you can always count on Acer. And the new Aspire E 15 E5-576-392H simply offers the best bang for your bucks as of late 2018. It comes with Intel 8^th generation processor, 6GB of RAM, and a standard 1TB hard drive.  The 8th gen 8130U combined to 6 GB memory provides swift performance for most daily tasks such as word processing, web browsing, and watching videos. Some users have reported that the laptop runs slow sometimes, and that is usually due to Windows 10 being installing updates. That may also be because this laptop comes with a standard 5400rpm hard drive, which can make the laptop less responsive. However, the good news is that the Aspire E 15 E5-576-392H has a free M2 slot and you can simply add a faster secondary SSD for more performance (A 128GB M2 SSD costs only 32$!).

As for the design and build quality, it is typical of Acer’s budget laptops. The build quality is very good and the laptop feels very sturdy and durable. There are plenty of ports and also a DVD reader, a rarity these days.

Battery life is also very impressive, you can easily get 10 hours of use from a single charge, something you can only get from a 900$+ ultrabook. The Aspire E 15 is also a best seller on Amazon, and you can check the thousands of happy buyers on their website. So you if you’re looking for a decent laptop under 400$ for school, don’t pass on this one.

Microsoft Surface Go

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The new Microsoft Surface Go is a great fit for those who need a lightweight secondary computer for school. The Surface Go is the lightest surface yet, at just 1.15lbs. The tablet comes with an Intel Pentium Gold, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB Solid state drive. The surface Go is perfect for taking notes, productivity tasks, word processing, and web browsing. Battery life is also very good, and you can expect up to 9 hours of use from a single charge.

The tablet comes with Windows 10 in S mode, which only allows you to install and run applications downloaded from the Windows Store. However, you can easily and freely upgrade to Windows Home from S mode (But you can’t revert back to S mode after that).

Also note that the keyboard and stylus are sold separately.

Acer Aspire 7 A715-72G-71CT :  A laptop for school, work, and casual gaming

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The aspire 7 A715-72G-71CT is a mid range laptop that offers great value for the money. It comes with an 8^th gen Intel i7 8750H processor, 8GB of RAM, a dual 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, and a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti graphics card with 4GB video memory. The Acer aspire 7 can handle all of your daily tasks and even resource intensive ones such as video editing. And thanks to the dedicated graphics, you can also play some of the latest titles on medium settings.

The laptop has a plastic chassis that feature metal elements, but which feels elegant and durable overall.  From the outside, there is nothing that makes you think that the Aspire 7 is a gaming laptop, which is actually an advantage if you bring the laptop to school or work.

The aspire 7 A715-72G-71CT also features a Full HD 15,6 inch IPS display that provides vivid and sharp  images. Battery life is around 7 Hours according to the manufacturer.

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 7370

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The Dell Inspiron 13 7370 is an affordable slim and powerful ultrabook. It comes with an i5-8250U Intel processor, 8GB of RAM, a fast 256GB SSD, all in a 13 inch format metal chassis.  Excluding games, the Inspiron 7370 is capable of handling anything you throw at it: multitasking, word processing…etc.

The Inspiron 7370 also comes with a an IPS Full HD 13,3 inch panel that produces crisp and sharp images, and is also touch enabled. The screen is also bright enough for a use outdoors.

The design is probably one of the biggest selling points of the Inspiron 7370, because unlike most budget laptops, this device comes in a durable premium looking aluminum chassis, which is a rarity these days.

ASUS ZenBook 13 UX330UA-AH55

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The ASUS ZenBook 13 UX330UA-AH55 is another powerful ultraportable with a stunning design. The ZenBook UX330UA-AH55 is a laptop that ticks almost all the boxes: it comes with a new 8th generation intel i5 8250U processor, 8GB of RAM, and a blazing fast 256 SSD.

The design is very sturdy, and the chassis is mainly made of aluminum and plastic. The screen on the ZenBook UX330UA-AH55 has a Full HD resolution, and thanks to the IPS panel, color accuracy and viewing angles are impressive. The screen is not touch enabled.

The ZenBook UX330UA-AH55 is also a champion when it comes to battery life, thanks to the 8th gen processor, and battery optimization programs. You can even get 12 hours of light use with this laptop, and around 9 hours of normal use, which is amazing at this price range.