- Hey, guys, this is Austin!
If you're looking for a laptop for back to school,
I have a few options you might want to consider.
Everything from $200 to over a thousand.
First off, we have this 14-inch HP laptop.
Now, at first glance, it looks just a little bit old school.
However, for a little bit over $200,
there's a lot to like here.
It has a solid selection of ports,
with VGA, Ethernet, HDMI, and three USB ports.
Now, what's a little bit weird with this guy
is that it is actually cooled by fan.
So a lot of the budget Intel laptops are fanless.
However, this AMD option does have a fan,
but thankfully, it's not too loud.
This guy is powered by a quad-core AMD E2 processor
with four gigabytes of RAM
and 32 gigs of eMMC storage.
Now, that processor is not going to be
incredibly powerful.
It's actually very similar to what's inside
the Xbox One and PS4.
Although, obviously, in this case, a little bit slower.
But, the important thing is, it's going to be totally fine
for basic usage, and again, this is $200.
That AMD processor is a little bit unusual
in budget laptops, but it's not that bad.
So when it comes to more heavy usage, such as gaming,
it's not going to be great, but for normal stuff
like watching video, it's not bad.
Hey, guys, this is Austin!
It has been nearly four years since the original
Nintendo 2DS came out.
What's also pretty solid is the display.
So, for $220, we're getting a full 1080p IPS panel.
Now, yes, it is not quite as bright as I would like.
However, for this price, this is about as good as it gets.
It might not be a powerhouse,
but if you're just looking for a budget laptop
to get the job done, this is definitely worth considering.
If you've got a little bit more budget to work with,
you may want to consider picking up the ASUS VivoBook E403.
At just a little bit under $400, while it's not a huge jump
over the HP, there a lot of little things
that definitely add up.
So I actually did a video on this last year,
but it's still pretty much totally up to date.
And what's nice about this guy is that
for only a little bit more than the HP,
you're getting something that feels a lot nicer.
Now, yes, it is still plastic.
But it's thinner, it's lighter,
and it just feels like a more premium laptop.
This guy also has a solid selection of ports
with an HDMI, a USB 3, USB Type-C, which is nice.
And if you flip it over, we're also going to get
an additional USB Type-A as well as an SD card reader.
While this might not be the most powerful laptop
in the world, it can definitely get the job done.
So inside, it's rocking a quad-core Intel Pentium processor,
four gigabytes of memory,
as well as 128 gigabytes of eMMC storage.
You can do a bit of very light gaming on this guy,
but it really is meant for more normal usage.
And for that, it does a good job.
So it also has a solid 1080p panel with good speakers,
solid trackpad, keyboard.
There's really no one part of this laptop that falls apart.
Moving on, we have the Lenovo Z50.
So this is the middle ground between a budget laptop
and something that can handle gaming.
At $370, this guy's all about cramming the maximum amount
of specs into the cheapest possible computer.
Of course, you guys want more information.
I did a full video on this very recently.
In fact, most of these laptops, I've already done
full videos on, but there's a lot of interesting quirks
with this guy.
This is the biggest laptop here with 15.6-inch display,
but that's also probably it's biggest weakness,
as it is only a 1366 by 768 resolution.
On such a big screen, it just doesn't look great.
And on top of that, it's a fairly low-end TN panel,
which means the color, and especially viewing angles
and contrasts, could be a lot better.
The upside is that it has an AMD FX-7500 quad-core APU,
eight gigabytes of RAM, and Radeon R7 integrated graphics.
Now, yes, it's not going to crush Crysis at 4K,
but for $400, you're going to be hard-pressed
to find a more powerful gaming laptop.
With a game like Rocket League, we're able to get
pretty solid performance.
So, playing at 768p, which is the max resolution
of the screen on quality settings,
we're getting right between 40 to 50 frames per second.
I can actually hit the ball.
(laughs)
I totally just missed the ball twice on camera.
That's totally gotta go in.
It's definitely not perfect, but if you're just looking
for pure bang for the buck performance,
you should check it out.
Stepping up the budget a little bit,
we have the Lenovo Y700 at $750.
What I like about this is that even though
it's a gaming laptop, it's actually nicely well-rounded.
With a 14-inch display, it's still somewhat portable,
but you have plenty of room for gaming,
and I actually really like the look of it.
A lot of gaming laptops can be a little bit over the top,
but with this, it's actually a fairly subtle design.
Inside, it has fairly powerful specs.
With an Intel Core i7-6700HQ quad-core processor,
16 gigabytes of DDR4 memory,
as well as dedicated Radeon R9 370 M graphics.
Jumping into a game like Overwatch,
this is totally playable.
So on 1080p, on medium settings, we're getting anywhere
between 40 to 60 frames,
depending on how much action's going on.
But regardless, this is very much playable.
This guy also has a 256-gigabyte M2 SSD,
paired with a one-terabyte hard drive.
And when you put it all together,
not only is this a solid laptop for taking with you
every day, but it can definitely handle some gaming.
Moving away from gaming, we have the LG gram 13 at $1,000.
So there's a lot to like with this guy.
It is hands-down my favorite Ultrabook right now.
One of the main reasons for that
is that while it's not only super light,
but it also has very, very small bezels on the display,
making this incredibly portable.
The gram comes in 13, 14, and 15 in screen sizes,
but regardless, you're getting a really nice-looking
1080p IPS panel.
Color, contrast, and especially viewing angles
are going to be on point.
And most of them, this 13-inch included,
also come with a touch screen.
I've said it a lot of times before, but with Windows 10,
a touchscreen laptop just makes sense.
Specs are fairly standard for an Ultrabook.
It has a Core i5-7200U processor,
eight gigabytes of RAM, and a 256-gigabyte SSD.
This, of course, is not a gaming PC,
but it's pretty snappy for normal use.
Now, on top of the screen being nice,
it's also updated with a nice keyboard,
and especially a solid trackpad
with Windows Precision drivers.
And this model also comes with a fingerprint sensor.
The real star of the show here, though, is battery life.
So, LG claims that it can last up to 15 hours on a charge,
and that's not crazy.
With that 60-watt-hour battery, I have never killed it
in a single day.
So, if you're looking for a laptop that not only has
solid battery life, but it's also super portable,
check out the LG gram.
In the same category, we have the brand-new
Microsoft Surface Pro, which ranges anywhere from $800
to a lot, lot more.
So this might seem like a little bit of a weird choice,
but I actually think the Surface would make a lot of sense
for back to school.
So, yes, it is definitely a tablet,
and because of that, it's going to be nice and portable.
But once you put the actual Type Cover on it,
this is not a bad laptop replacement.
You are getting incredibly nice hardware here.
Everything's made out of metal.
Especially once you pull out the Type Cover
and pop the kickstand, what you're seeing here
is that there's a ton of flexibility.
It is really, really well-built.
This guy comes in quite a few different configurations,
but the one I have here is the mid-spec model
with the Core i5, eight gigs of RAM,
and 256 gigs of SSD storage.
Now, what's cool is, the Core i5 here
is actually going to be fanless.
So not only is it going to be nice and quiet,
but on top of that, it has crazy battery life,
13 and a half hours.
It also has the best screen here
with a 12.3-inch PixelSense display,
which, of course, is not only touchscreen,
but it also supports the new Surface pen.
And it also has some cool other features,
like facial log-in with Windows Hello.
And of course, you get the whole thing in a tablet package.
So yes, it can be a little bit pricey,
especially once you add the actual keyboard,
which is basically not even an option,
but the Surface Pro is definitely worth a look
if you're going back to school.
As always, I'll have links to all of these laptops
in the description, and I've also done dedicated videos
on a lot of them.
So feel free to go check those out, and I'm curious.
Which one of these laptops would you pick up?
Let me know in the comments below,
and I will catch you in the next one.