Best Laptop Under $400 for College

[stevenfd]

Hi I'm about to head off to college and am looking for the best laptop I can get under $400. I already have a nice gaming desktop that I am bringing, so I just want something with portability and what will be best for school.

Thanks

 

[photonboy]

I can look, but my main advice is:

1) 1600x900, or 1920x1080 resolution (1366x768 is a bit too low for text)

2) Intel CPU probably best (though avoid Celeron if possible)

3) Check customer comments to see if any obvious issues

4) investigate Warranty and store return policy

5) W10 recommended

6) 15.6" or less

7) avoid glossy (i.e. get matte finish or whatever the terminology is to avoid light reflection issues)

 

[photonboy]

THIS one is over budget, but it may be worth considering due to the quality and size. (High-res, small screens of reasonable quality don't come much cheaper)

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-yoga-710-11-2-in-1-11-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-pentium-4gb-memory-128gb-solid-state-drive-silver/5206500.p?id=bb5206500&skuId=5206500

It may be "only" 11.6", however that may be ideal for carrying around.

A cheaper one exists:
http/www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-yoga-2-2-in-1-11-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-pentium-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-black/4361901.p?id=1219736625858&skuId=4361901

While Pentium/Celeron CPU's are slower (not sure if it's just the CPU, may be the chipset as well), when paired with an SSD the sluggishness may not be obvious for typical school usage.

Most of my issues with recent Intel lower-end laptops had to do with LOADING such as boot times even though the CPU wasn't maxed out, so I think it's a storage issue.

 

[Chugalug_]

Here are a few good options I found:
https/pcpartpicker.com/product/6gwqqs/lenovo-laptop-20dc003wus
14"
1366x768
i3 4005u

https/pcpartpicker.com/product/WPVBD3/asus-laptop-f554lanh51
15.6"
1366 x 768

I saw a couple of 1600x900 laptops, but they had pentium or celeron processors.
Newegg has quite a few good deals on refurb i5 laptops, let me know if thats something you would be interested in.
Intel Core i5-5200U

 

[Chugalug_]

This is the best deal i've found so far, and likely the best you'll get.
i5 6200u, Intel HD 520 iGPU, 1920x1080, Windows 10, 15.6", 1TB HDD and a DVD Reader.
Refurbished, but sold by Newegg, so should be perfectly fine.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834265299&ignorebbr=1

 

[stevenfd]

This is the best deal i've found so far, and likely the best you'll get.
i5 6200u, Intel HD 520 iGPU, 1920x1080, Windows 10, 15.6", 1TB HDD and a DVD Reader.
Refurbished, but sold by Newegg, so should be perfectly fine.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834265299&ignorebbr=1

Thanks for the help. How useful do you think it would be to have a 2 in 1 laptop with a touch screen,?

 

[Chugalug_]

This is the best deal i've found so far, and likely the best you'll get.
i5 6200u, Intel HD 520 iGPU, 1920x1080, Windows 10, 15.6", 1TB HDD and a DVD Reader.
Refurbished, but sold by Newegg, so should be perfectly fine.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834265299&ignorebbr=1

Thanks for the help. How useful do you think it would be to have a 2 in 1 laptop with a touch screen,?

Having a Dell inspiron myself, I find it somewhat useful for work applications, as you can split tabs on your screen, meaning you can read a text and take notes at the same time, improving productivity.
They cost around $800 for the good ones such as the Dell Inspiron one I mentioned, which is an i5 4200u laptop from memory, and has 8GB of RAM.
I still think that the one I have listed is an amazing purchase, and that you should jump on it right away!
Its nearly impossible to find anything above a pentium or i3 in that price range, so this is an absolute bargain, with the specs being very recent and high performance.

 

[stevenfd]

This is the best deal i've found so far, and likely the best you'll get.
i5 6200u, Intel HD 520 iGPU, 1920x1080, Windows 10, 15.6", 1TB HDD and a DVD Reader.
Refurbished, but sold by Newegg, so should be perfectly fine.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834265299&ignorebbr=1

Thanks for the help. How useful do you think it would be to have a 2 in 1 laptop with a touch screen,?

Having a Dell inspiron myself, I find it somewhat useful for work applications, as you can split tabs on your screen, meaning you can read a text and take notes at the same time, improving productivity.
They cost around $800 for the good ones such as the Dell Inspiron one I mentioned, which is an i5 4200u laptop from memory, and has 8GB of RAM.
I still think that the one I have listed is an amazing purchase, and that you should jump on it right away!
Its nearly impossible to find anything above a pentium or i3 in that price range, so this is an absolute bargain, with the specs being very recent and high performance.

Thanks for all the help. One last question, do you think I will need Microsoft Office?

 

[Chugalug_]

This is the best deal i've found so far, and likely the best you'll get.
i5 6200u, Intel HD 520 iGPU, 1920x1080, Windows 10, 15.6", 1TB HDD and a DVD Reader.
Refurbished, but sold by Newegg, so should be perfectly fine.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834265299&ignorebbr=1

Thanks for the help. How useful do you think it would be to have a 2 in 1 laptop with a touch screen,?

Having a Dell inspiron myself, I find it somewhat useful for work applications, as you can split tabs on your screen, meaning you can read a text and take notes at the same time, improving productivity.
They cost around $800 for the good ones such as the Dell Inspiron one I mentioned, which is an i5 4200u laptop from memory, and has 8GB of RAM.
I still think that the one I have listed is an amazing purchase, and that you should jump on it right away!
Its nearly impossible to find anything above a pentium or i3 in that price range, so this is an absolute bargain, with the specs being very recent and high performance.

Thanks for all the help. One last question, do you think I will need Microsoft Office?

Yeah, you'll probably need to cough up extra for office, although it is most definitely worth it considering i'd value that laptop at around 650-700 normally!