Top 20 Laptops for Back to School Discussion

Getting ready to go back to school can be a stressful time. Rushing around to get clothes and school supplies can be pressing enough without having to hunt down the perfect laptop in a sea of thousands. Luckily we've got you covered. We've compiled a list of some of the best new full-featured laptops so you can study with style and speed.

Read the full content of this Article: Top 20 Laptops for Back to School

 

Very surprised you guys didn't include the newer HP dm1z in your list - it beats the 210HD on performance yet the price is around the same. Also, the 210HD is old. Do you really still want to be using that a year from now?

I get the feeling these recommendations are more like efforts from manufacturers pushing their soon-to-be-replaced models in order to grab that last buck from consumers. Readers need to look around - there's newer stuff out there that's better.

 

No Asus UL/U 30/50/80s?

 

Here at NBR the editorial staff takes great pride in only recommending systems that we've actually reviewed. Every member of our team knows of several laptops that "might" be perfect laptops for students, but the only laptops that show up on our lists are the ones we've actually spent time with in our lab.

If we haven't thoroughly tested a notebook in our lab we won't recommend it. Such is the case with the HP dm1z.

Our editors have has "hands-on" time with pre-production and early production notebooks that have just been released within the last 60 days, but if we haven't been able to seriously test them in the lab we don't feel right about recommending them. That's why there's a mixture of new and slightly older notebooks on the list.

We also don't accept nominations or suggestions from manufacturers when we compile our buying guides. So readers can rest easy knowing manufacturers aren't using our site to "push" products.

On a related note, you do make a valid statement about older products still being sold to consumers. The poor economy has resulted in excess inventory for every manufacturer. Older notebooks are sitting on the shelves longer than usual ... but that also means that consumers can find some great deals out there. When I was checking prices on NewEgg.com and Amazon.com this week I was amazed to see dozens of different laptops with prices as low as what we usually see around Black Friday. Yes, it means you have to buy a laptop that came out 6 months ago rather than 6 weeks ago, but those are still great deals for many students.

 

You've got the X100e, but no X201? That's surprising as one of if not the best ultraportable on the market.

 

X2.

Btw, Toshiba Protege R700 is not too bad for the price/weight/performance despite some weakness in the keyboard area.

Just wanna throw my 2 trillion Weimar Mark here.

 

I really wish HP would update the chassis of the 311/dm1. I love the look of the 210, but I'd prefer something a bit more powerful with a slightly bigger screen. But at the same time I'm hesitant with the 311/dm1 since I'm sure a refresh isn't too far off. I know looks aren't that important, but I want to have something I'm 100% happy with.

 

I know nothing of a 311 refresh, but the DM1 was just refreshed with 45nm AMD processors and 4000 series ATI graphics.

 

hey NBR, i was just wondering why you are not reviewing the Toshiba Portege R705?

 

We review the laptops that companies agree to send us on loan or, if we see enough people asking about a notebook in the discussion forums, we will occasionally purchase notebooks ourselves.

If you don't see a particular notebook reviewed here by the staff it's because of one of the following:

• The laptop is being reviewed (or is in our queue to be reviewed) and has to finish being tested in our lab.
• The manufacturer has not sent us a review unit.
• The manufacturer has not sent us a review unit and our staff members haven't yet received approval to purchase it based on consumer interest.
• The manufacturer has requested that we not review a specific notebook because it has a small production run and will only be available in small numbers for a limited time. This last one rarely happens, but it does happen at least once a year.

 

I don't know if you reviewed it here or not, but this list really deserves to see the Gateway NV5925u and it's Acer counterpart, the Aspire 5740G-6979.

I shopped all over to find a back-to-school PC and this Gateway was the best deal I found. Intel Core i5-430M, Mobility Radeon 5650 (and in mine, it seems to have absolutely no problems surpassing the 5730 in core and memory clocks), 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, Win7... all for $800.

The laptop itself has some problems, but it's pretty sturdy and the keyboard does not flex hardly at all (only a little over the optical drive). The LCD is, predictably, horrible. But otherwise I'm super-pleased with it, especially for the price.

 

Would it be possible to review the Lenovo Ideapad z360? Its specs and price make it seem like a great student notebook, but I haven't found reviews anywhere.

 

There always will be arguments but all and all is a very comprehensive list.

 

If the NBR staff have read the alienware m11x hinge problem thread, they should definitely change their review cuz the there's a design flaw and dell/alienware is investigating it and may or may not come up with a solution
btw, I bought the m11x based on the NBR， then I read about the hinge issue. VERY DISAPPOINTED. don't trust the lab anymore

 

Please review the HP G61 I own one and think it is a truly amazing notebook for 500 dollars and would be interested to see what NBR thinks of it