Getting school computers that match the needs and pockets of high school students can be challenging. The best laptops for high school students are typically fast, cost-effective, and long-lasting. Portability is another unique feature that characterizes the best computer for high school students.
Finding all the features you want in school computers within your budget is a significant concern for many people. If this is currently a worry for you, this article will help you. We have compiled a list of the best laptops for high school students under $300, plus the best laptops under $1,000, and stores where you can get student discounts on high school laptops.
Do High School Students Need Laptops?
Yes, high school students need laptops. While having a computer isn’t compulsory, it is necessary for high school for many reasons. It is essential for reading, turning in assignments, completing school projects, and a variety of other school-related tasks. Not to mention it affords flexibility for quick research.
Furthermore, it enables students access to programs such as Microsoft Office, Adobe, AutoCAD, and other software that aid classroom work. Laptops also provide long-term benefits for high school students. The perfect laptop can serve as an excellent investment for college and can be essential for learning extra-curricular skills.
What Makes a Good Laptop for High School Students?
- Portability: The portability of a laptop is typically defined by its size and weight. Laptops that weigh between two to three pounds are often slim and easy to handle. Such lightweight designs with mid-sized screens, between 13 and 15.6 inches, are an excellent choice for students to bring their laptop to class.
- Cost: A wide range of affordable laptop deals offer plenty of storage, a great processor, and a lasting battery making them ideal for high school students. With several computers within the $300-$500 price range, you don’t have to break the bank to get a good deal.
- Capabilities: Because of the amount of work an average high schooler does, there are specific capabilities you should look out for when getting a laptop. It should have the right operating system (OS), about eight hours of battery life, and at least 512GB storage capacity. The screen size should be portable (12-14 inches) for optimal online learning.
How to Choose the Right Laptop for High School
Pick a Laptop With Lasting Battery Life
One of the most beneficial features you can get with your new computer or laptop is its long battery life. That keeps you going throughout your classes and homework assignments without needing to be charged every few hours. When making a purchase, you should aim for a 12-hour battery life benchmark. Chromebooks typically offer fantastic battery life at budget prices.
Stay Within Your Budget
You should get a quality high school laptop that is within your budget. It is advisable to buy from a manufacturer directly or from a reliable retailer to get the best prices. It is essential to check for stores or sites with exchange and return policies in the event of a malfunction. Don’t focus on features such as facial recognition or specs for photo editing, as these are not part of a student’s daily tasks.
Research Specifications and Ensure They Meet Your Needs
There are certain must-have specifications to look out for when choosing a quality laptop for students. Computers with backlit keyboards and a high-quality display and sound system are great for keeping learners engaged. It is recommended to get one with an OLED screen because it displays quality visuals with low power. You can also get a detachable laptop so your high schooler can double them as a tablet.
Where to Find Discounts on High School Laptops
Many manufacturers provide massive discounts for high school students. For example, Apple offers education pricing discounts to students who buy new MacBooks from Apple Store. Likewise, Microsoft’s education discounts offer lower prices on select products to college and high school students, parents, and faculty.
Students may also get deals from big retail stores like Amazon and BestBuy. They may also check out non-profit organizations like Notebooks for Students to find the cheapest laptops or expensive laptops at a reasonable price.
Top 10 Laptops for High School Students
| Laptop | Manufacturer | Price | Special Features |
| MacBook Air | Apple | $995 | 12 hours of battery life, lightweight design, 128GB, USB-C port |
| Surface Laptop 4 | Microsoft | $799 | 14 hours of battery life, excellent visual display, 3:2 aspect ratio |
| Surface Pro X tablet | Microsoft | $799 | 10 hours of battery life, 8GB RAM, 2-in-1 keyboard |
| Surface Pro 7 | Microsoft | $599 | Tenth gen intel core i3 processor, 16GB, 1TB SSD, Surface Pen |
| Pavillion Aero 13-z | HP | $549 | 8GB memory, lightweight, 256GB SSD |
| Inspiron 3000 | Dell | $478 | 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, Intel core i3, fingerprint reader |
| Chromebook 317 | Acer | $449 | Chrome OS, Massive display, decent battery life, Gen 1 USB-C, Intel Celeron, Cloud storage |
| Chromebook Flex 5 | Lenovo | $443 | Flexible 2-in1 design, lightweight dsign, 64GB storage, Cloud storage |
| Aspire 5 | Acer | $436 | 7.5 hours of battery life, HD LED screen, 128GB SSD |
| Chromebook Detachable CM3 | ASUS | $325 | 10.5-inch display size, 1920 x1200 resolution, lightweight design, detachable and backlit keyboard, cloud storage |
5 Best Laptops for High School Students Under $1,000
MacBook Air
Price: $995
The MacBook Air offers a sleek design with a 13.3-inch display size, weighing three pounds. It features a 49.9 watt-hour battery which can last up to 15 hours on the wireless web. It sports 8GB RAM and good storage, whic accounts for its high performance and response rate. Its lightness, speed, battery life, and increased processing power make it an excellent student laptop.
Surface Laptop 4
Price: $799
The Surface Laptop 4 offers style, speed, and long battery life with a quality visual and sound system. The 13.5-inch notebook runs on an 11th-generation Intel core i5 processor making it suitable for research and other single-thread tasks. The laptop also comes in variants containing the 11th gen Intel core i7 or AMD Ryzen for those hoping to get better multitasking performance and longer battery life.
Microsoft Surface Pro X Tablet
Price: $799
The Microsoft Surface Pro X has a sleek design with outstanding audio, display, and keyboard. Thanks to its 8GB RAM and the octa-core Microsoft SQ1 processor, it has impressive processor speed. Also, it has a battery life of up to 10 hours and an upgradable SSD. The two-in-one detachable keyboard allows for portability and flexibility, which is great for high schoolers.
Microsoft Surface Pro 7
Price: $599
The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 offers versatility with its detachable keyboard and 12.3-inch screen, it can also serve as a tablet. It sports 16GB RAM and ample ITB storage space for students. That comes with an impressive processor speed of 1.1 GHz and a 10th gen Intel core processor that brings a balance of performance, and over 10 hours of battery life. Altogether, it is a portable yet powerful device and it’a good buy for college students.
HP Pavilion Aero 13-z
Price: $549
HP Pavilion Aero 13-z weighs less than 2lbs, making it pretty easy to carry. It has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage space with the powerful AMD Ryzen 5 processor that drives its high performance. Uniquely, HP Pavilion Aero 13-z sports a 43Wh battery that can last through a day on regular use.
5 Best Laptops for High School Students Under $500
Dell Inspiron 3000
Price: $476
The Dell Inspiron 3000 has a 15.6-inch display size with LED-Backlit Intel UHD graphics for enhanced display. It has 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core i3 processor, and 256GB of storage which is excellent for high school work. It has a decent design, brilliant battery life, and it is an affordable option. The fingerprint reader is also one of its unique features.
Acer 317 Chromebook
Price: $449
Acer 317 Chromebook runs on Chrome OS and offers 4GB memory plus 2.8 GHz processor speed for high performance. Thanks to its 17.3-inch screen size and comfortable keyboard, students can have an awesome experience writing on the computer. It has a decent battery life that lasts up to 10 hours.
Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5
Price: $443
The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 has a flexible two-in-one design. Its 4GB RAM space, 64GB storage, 1.35, and 13.3-inch display make it portable and a suitable budget laptop for students. It sports AMD Ryzen 4000 Series Mobile Processors which makes it suitable for multitasking.
Acer Aspire 5
Price: $436
The Acer Aspire 5 has a 15.6-inch display size, and its battery life is about 7.5 hours. Its other features include 4GB DDR4 memory, 128GB SSD storage, and an AMD Dual-Core Processor of up to 3.5GHz for enhanced performance and speed. The Aspire 5’s features 65-watt fast-charging technology and a battery life of over six hours.
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ASUS Chromebook Detachable CM3
Price: $325
The ASUS Chromebook Detachable CM3 is a lightweight laptop and is excellent for high school students. It has a touchscreen with a 10.5-inch display size and 1920×1200 resolution. It has a detachable, backlit keyboard and a stand cover, which offers flexibility to the user.
Bonus: 3 Best Laptops for High School Students Under $300
- HP Chromebook X2: The HP Chromebook X2 has a great visual display provided by the Intel HD 615 Integrated graphics card. It has an impressive 2400 x 1600-pixel panel and about nine hours of battery life. The Chromebook comes with HP’s Active Pen. It costs $249 which is a great deal for high schoolers.
- Lenovo Chromebook S340: The Lenovo Chromebook S340 has a touchscreen 14-inch screen size with a 1920 x 1080 screen resolution. It has a Chrome Operating System with 2400 MHz memory speed, 4GB RAM size, and a battery that can last up to 10 hours. The Lenovo Chromebook S340 costs $225.
- HP Stream: The HP Stream is a light laptop weighing about 3.39 lbs. It has a 14-inch display size that is WLED-backlit. Other unique features include its 1.1 GHz base frequency, burst frequency of up to 2.6 GHz, 4GB SDRAM, and 64GB hard drive. The laptop costs about $215 and is excellent for light computing tasks.
School Computers: Should You Buy a Laptop for High School?
Yes, you should buy a laptop for high school, especially as remote learning becomes increasingly popular in schools today. Having a laptop helps to enhance your learning experience and increases your productivity. Moreover, you can develop extra-curricular skills such as coding and graphic design with resources on the Internet or start a remote job for high schoolers.
Ultimately, buying a good laptop in high school can be an excellent investment for college. Hence, it is advisable to go for affordable laptops with faster processors, large storage, HD display, and good battery life. Things like gaming performance or a comfortable keyboard can also be taken into account if your budget is flexible.
Best Laptops for High School Students FAQ
A laptop and a Chromebook are both computers, but they’re designed with very different purposes in mind. Unlike laptops with SSD and hard disk storage, Chromebooks have relatively low built-in storage but use Google Drive for cloud storage. They require a constant connection to the Internet, while laptops can function online and offline. Chrome OS devices are built primarily for activities like browsing the web and running lightweight productivity software.
This depends on what feature you’re seeking in a laptop, as Dell and HP have different specifications. HP has a variety of designs for you to choose from, while Dell has a simple design. Dell laptops have an average battery life of seven to eight hours, while HP laptops can last up to 12 hours. Dell seems to be better than HP in terms of durability as some HP users claim their laptops malfunction after a year or two.
Apple’s MacBook Air is the best laptop you can get. It offers speed, quick refresh rates, reliability, sleek, lightweight aesthetics, long-lasting battery life, a gorgeous display, and excellent performance. Adding to that, the laptop was designed to be energy-efficient and consume relatively low power.
Apple’s MacBook Pro has the longest-lasting battery life. It has a light weight and offers up to 18 hours of improved battery life. It also offers users 256GB storage and 8GB of RAM with a portable 13-inch display. It is a great laptop option and one of the preferred laptops for college students.
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