Oday’s advanced studies make the laptop necessary for school and college/university-going students; therefore, completing a degree without owning a laptop seems impossible. However, having a laptop does not mean it is an expensive one.
Students usually would not require a laptop having all advanced professional specifications like Asus Rog Strix G17, which is specialized for gaming. It is one of the most powerful laptops with high processing speed, having 17.3 inches display screen and 16GB RAM. It is one of the G-Series gaming.
Therefore, choosing a student’s laptop should be a wise decision and would have value for money. If you need to buy affordable laptops for students. Whether the purchase is made by the student’s parents or the student has to buy it independently, the budget usually remains tighter. Education is expensive; paying the dues and compensating other requirements makes it difficult to manage for many students, so an expensive laptop that is of no use should never be an option.
However, that does not mean that you should go for the cheapest version or that it does not meet the requirements. Having such a laptop damages the student as it consumes much time and agitates, even resulting in not submitting the projects on time. For your ease, we suggest some versions that would best suit the students at school, college and university levels as per the degree’s needs, requirements and students’ budget.
For example, if you are a literature or social sciences student, you would need a moderate laptop that can process light software. But, if you have computer studies, visual arts, filmmaking or animations, architecture. They require strong, advanced software that a simple, low-quality laptop would not support. Therefore, you need to understand what specifications a student requires.
1. Acer Chromebook Spin 311
It is one of the affordable laptops for students. It has Intel Celeron N4000 – Intel Celeron N4020 CPU having a storage range between 32GB-64GB flash memory and RAM of 4GB-8GB. The display screen is 11.6 inches giving you HD quality 1366 x 768 IPS. It also has good screen touch and flip mechanism.
It is an all-rounder versatile laptop that is of student’s great use. It has solid usability and good battery life. It offers you 2 in 1 design, which means you don’t need to spend money to buy a laptop and a tablet for your basic use, but if you buy this one, it will be enough. You can use it as a laptop but, whenever possible, switch to tablet mode.
It has more than one port; however, it has a dim screen means you would face hurdles while using it outside under the sun. Further, it would stutter while running some intensive tasks. For student use, it would be an ideal choice.
2. MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Unlike Acer Chromebook, MacBook Air is a powerful laptop that is optimal for students of filmmaking, visual arts or photography; these studies require high processing and heavy software. Not having a high-processing laptop for completing the projects and assignments for these degrees would make the student suffer.
It has 13.3 inches 2560 x 1600 Liquid Retina Display screen and has storage of up to 2TB. RAM is up to 16 GB of unified memory and integrated 7-core GPU. The CPU is an Apple M1 chip with an 8-core CPU. The M2 chip is the most impressive component in this system, apart from being lighter and thinner.
It gives you a brighter screen means using it outside in the daylight would not be a major issue for the student. It is handy and can easily be carried anywhere, but you must be careful if you carry a MacBook. Things that raise concern are that it has a divisive notch and its price.
It is more expensive than the M1 model, so students might think of it before buying. However, I suggest that you plan it and then save it. You will have a better laptop for the long term. MacBook Air offers you a wide range of colours making it more desirable.
3. Honor Magic book 14
It comes with a stylish design and powerful components. It has loudspeakers and a nice keyboard that would not annoy you while typing. However, the limitations I see here are the number of ports this system has. Extra ports would be of great help.
Another point to be noted here is the battery life of the system. It drains more quickly than the other systems, so you must carry the charger while going somewhere with your laptop. This average display system is one of the most affordable laptops for students. It is a Core i5 with storage of 512 GB SSD that comes at a great and reasonable price.
4. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5.
Another on the list of most affordable laptops for students fascinates its users for its versatile design. The other useful features that attract the students are having multiple ports and 2-in-1 usage. It means you could use it both as a laptop and a tablet.
It has good build quality and 360-degree hinges. This laptop is neither a burden on the pocket nor on electricity bills. It has solid battery life with Core i3 that is best suitable for carrying out students’ day-to-day tasks. It is an affordable laptop for students that is ideal to buy.
Conclusion
Looking for budgeted laptops does not mean compromising the components. A long list of budget laptops would offer you RAM of up to 4GB with a hard drive of 500GB or 1TB. However, to speed things up, you can add SSD to help you manage the deficiency if you think your laptop has one.
The year 2021 and 2022 has launched the best and most affordable laptops for students. Making a choice must be confusing and challenging, but you will surely not regret it. Under the budget of $500, you will find good laptops certainly.
