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Best student laptop deals: Laptops for college from $200

When a lot of folks think about budget laptops for students, they’re probably thinking of really cheap and low-end laptops, but these days, there are actually quite a few options, especially since some classes need to be able to run some heavy-duty software. Granted, you may not be able to play games, but they should manage all the basic tasks that you might need to get done on the day-to-day. 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.

HP Laptop 14 — $700 $1,000 30% off

Front angle of the HP 14-inch Chromebook.
HP

The HP Laptop 14 is a popular choice among students because of its mid-range price point paired with pretty good specs. While they aren’t going to blow anyone away, they’re good value for the price and are plenty to get the job done. This build of the HP Laptop 14 has 16GB of RAM and an AMD Ryzen 5 7540U processor and integrated AMD Radeon 740M Graphics. It does check in with just 512GB 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.

HP Pavilion x360 Laptop 14t — $650 $900 27% 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 X360 really starts to ramp up the stats. The 16GB 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 7 150U processor won’t hurt either. Store you projects and PowerPoints locally on the 256GB 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).

HP Envy Laptop 17t — $1,000 $1,300 23% 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 7 155H processor, gets 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage.

ASUS Vivobook 16-inch — $450 $550 18% off

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

The ASUS Vivobook 16-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 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and an Intel Core i5-1235U processor.

Dell XPS 14 — $2,100 $2,500 16% 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 an Ultra 7 Processor 155H processor, 32GB of memory, and 1TB of SSD storage, as well as an RTX 4050 GPU for some light gaming. It’s a 14.5-inch 3.2K display, which 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. You can also enjoy streaming your favorite shows in style later in the day, thanks to the great display and bigger internal speakers than previous models.

John Alexander
John Alexander is a former ESL teacher, current writer and internet addict, and lacks the wisdom to know what the future…
The Dell G15 — our “best budget gaming laptop” — is $550 off
Dell G15 (2023) sitting on a coffee table.

Are you looking for gaming laptop deals that will give you the best bang for your buck? You're going to want to set your sights on the Dell G15. This configuration with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card is on sale with a $550 discount from Dell itself, slashing its price from $1,550 to $1,000. That's a relatively affordable price considering the power under this gaming laptop's hood, but you need to act fast if you want to take advantage of this offer as it may expire at any moment.

Why you should buy the Dell G15 gaming laptop

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Need a new gaming laptop? Buy the MSI Crosshair 16 with RTX 4070 while it’s $200 off
The MSI Crosshair 16 gaming laptop on a white background.

For a solid gaming laptop with a relatively affordable price, set your sights on the MSI Crosshair 16, which is on sale from Best Buy for $1,200 for this particular configuration with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. We're not sure how much time is remaining on the $200 discount on the device's original price of $1,400, but if you want to take advantage of it, we highly recommend proceeding with your purchase as soon as possible. The offer may expire as soon as today, so act fast if you don't want to miss out on the savings.

Why you should buy the MSI Crosshair 16 gaming laptop
The MSI Crosshair 16 makes a decent attempt to challenge the performance of the best gaming laptops. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card combines with the 14th-generation Intel Core i7 processor with 16GB of RAM, which our guide on how much RAM do you need says is the best place to start for gaming, for the ability to play the best PC games without any issues. You may not be able to run the more demanding titles at their highest settings, but even the upcoming PC games of the next few years should still work well on the MSI Crosshair 16.

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The Lenovo Legion 5i gaming laptop with RTX 4070, 32GB of RAM is $200 off
The Lenovo Legion 5i gaming laptop with Halo Infinite on the screen.

Amazon's Big Spring Sale 2025 is online, and that means today is a great day for an upgrade through the event's gaming laptop deals. There are lots of offers to choose from, but we recommend going for the Lenovo Legion 5i. This configuration featuring the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card usually sells for $1,600, but you can get it with a 13% discount that lowers its price to $1,400. That's $200 in savings that you can spend on more video games and accessories, but you need to complete your purchase immediately because stocks may run out before the sale ends on March 31.

Why you should buy the Lenovo Legion 5i gaming laptop
Lenovo claimed its spot among the best gaming laptop brands because its devices always punch above their weight class in performance, and that holds true for the Lenovo Legion 5i. Combining the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card with the 14th-generation Intel Core i9 processor and 32GB of RAM gives you power that can match the best gaming laptops, as the device will be able to run the best PC games at their most demanding settings. You'll also be prepared to play the upcoming PC games of at least the next few years, so you won't need to purchase an upgrade any time soon.

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