BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Shopping for the new school year is expensive, especially when a new laptop is on the agenda. The good news is you don’t have to break the bank for a great computer. Consumer Reports reveals its laptop recommendations for every budget.
With almost everything more expensive these days, Consumer Reports’ extensive product testing shows that you don’t have to spend a lot to get quality tech for your child. One of the best options on a tight budget – a Chromebook!
They are generally cheaper than Mac and PC laptops. While they are not the fastest computers on the market, they are perfectly adequate for everyday things like browsing the web, editing documents, and school/work.
The Acer Chromebook is a solid budget choice. It costs $300 ($400 in Canada). It’s fast, has long battery life, and more local storage than most other Chromebooks.
If your student needs something that won’t weigh down their backpack on the way to class, CR recommends the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 15
is an excellent choice in terms of portability and its ergonomics are at the highest level. It costs $440.
If your student wants an Apple device, save a little money and still get a very good Mac laptop.
The 13-inch MacBookAir with the M2 processor. It costs $800 ($1,000 in Canada).
The M2 is Apple’s older processor, but experts at CR say the performance difference between the M2 and the newer processor is so small that you might as well save a few bucks by going with the previous model.
If your student also needs a color printer, Epson uses inexpensive bottled ink instead of expensive cartridges. It costs $200 ($250 in Canada). While the overall print performance isn’t strong enough to earn a CR recommendation, the text quality and speed should be sufficient for printing book reports and other teacher assignments!
According to Consumer Reports, August and September are the best times to buy a computer because of the sales. When shopping, remember to look for student discounts from your school, stores or computer manufacturers.
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