Much to the chagrin of students everywhere in the United States, back-to-school season is in full swing. Whether you’re shopping for an elementary student or a college freshman, the number-one item on your list is (most likely) a good laptop. HP produces some of the most lightweight and portable laptops around, as well as some powerful gaming machines.
Fortunately, HP is holding its back-to-school sale right now, where you can save up to 67 percent off of specific laptops. There’s no better time than now to dive in and take advantage of those scrumptious deals. We’ve applied all our laptop expertise to hand-pick the very best machines and discounts from HP’s offerings.
Looking for the best of the best? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available today.
Best back-to-school everyday laptop deals
Sometimes all you need is a basic laptop for day-to-day tasks like writing papers and doing research on the web. If your college major doesn’t require a very powerful system (hey, English majors!), then you should pick up one of these everyday HP laptops listed below.
- HP Pavilion Aero Laptop, AMD Ryzen 5 7535U CPU/AMD Radeon graphics/8GB RAM/256GB SSD/13.3-inch 1200p display, $529.99 ($400 off at HP)
- HP Pavilion Laptop 15t-eg300, Intel Core i7-1355U CPU/Intel Iris Xe graphics/16GB RAM/256GB PCIe NVMe SSD/15.6-inch 1080p display, $629.99 ($370 off at HP)
- HP Laptop 17t-cn300, Intel Core i5-1335U CPU/Intel Iris Xe graphics/8GB RAM/256GB PCIe NVMe SSD/17.3-inch 900p display, $449.99 ($350 off at HP)
My top pick: The HP Pavilion Aero Laptop offers good processing performance for the price. You’re getting an AMD Ryzen 5 7535U CPU as well as a lovely 1200p display. For just $529.99, that’s a very good buy.
Best back-to-school gaming laptop deals
Many students often moonlight as serious (sometimes competitive) gamers when they leave the classroom (myself included when I was in school). That’s why it’s always important to take hobbies into account when shopping around for a student, whether they’re in high school or college.
- OMEN Laptop 17t-cm200, Intel Core i9-13900HX CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU/16GB RAM/512GB PCIe NVMe SSD/17.3-inch 1440p display, $2,199.99 ($400 off at HP)
- Omen Transcend Gaming Laptop 16t-u000, Intel Core i7-13700HX CPU/Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU/16GB RAM/512GB PCIe NVMe SSD/16-inch 1200p display, $1,299.99 ($400 off at HP)
My top pick: If you’re on the hunt for the ultimate gaming experience, then the Omen Laptop 17t-cm200 is worth your hard earned cash. It’s rocking an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU and a spacious 17.3-inch 1440p 165Hz display. In other words, you shouldn’t have any problem running most modern games on the High or Ultra graphics preset.
Best back-to-school Chromebook deals
Here at PCWorld, we have some serious Chromebook fans on staff (hi). It’s easy to see why, as Chromebook battery life is crazy long and they’re largely virus-free. Although they’ve been popular in the education market for quite some time, they’ve gotten powerful enough to attract mainstream appeal.
My top pick: If your budget knows no bounds and you’re looking for something rather luxurious, you should consider picking up the HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook. It’s powerful enough for writing papers and surfing the web and the 13.4-inch display has a resolution of 2256×1504 (that’s pretty sharp!) and is touch-enabled.
Best back-to-school 2-in-1 deals
If portability is at the top of your priority list, these machines are for you. Most older students will likely take their laptop to classes with them, so it’s important to travel light, and 2-in-1 laptops are your best bet. Convertibles make such versatile machines because you can swing the screen around 360 degrees.
My top pick: If you’re in the market for a convertible laptop with a really nice display, the HP Spectre x360 is one hot ticket. According to HP, the touch display has a maximum brightness of 400 nits and a resolution of 1920×1280, which is impressive given the price and hardware. It also comes with an HP Rechargeable MPP2.0 Tilt Pen.
Best back-to-school content creation laptop deals
If you’re studying to become a photo editor or graphic designer, you’ll need a powerful laptop with a good screen and plenty of storage. For content creation laptops, we always recommend ones with discrete graphics, which is important for editing (trust me you definitely want more oomph in the graphics department). We found a great deal on a laptop with a beastly RTX 4070 GPU inside.
- OMEN Trasncend Laptop 16-u0097nr, Intel Core i7-13700HX CPU/Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU/16GB RAM/1TB PCIe NVMe SSD/16-inch 1600p display, $1,599.99 ($400 off at HP)
My top pick: Sure, if you want to get technical, the Omen Transcend Laptop is meant to be a gaming rig. However, given the powerful components inside, it’s actually perfect for content creation. The RTX 4070 GPU is more than capable of handling photo or video editing tasks as well as running modern titles on the High or Ultra graphics preset. The display is also quite spacious at 16-inches, which is important for getting those minute details just right.
FAQ
When does the HP back-to-school sale begin?
The HP back-to-school sale has been going since July, but you’ll start seeing quite a few steeper discounts from August onward. In some cases, you can save up to 67 percent on specific devices and products. You can even earn an additional 20 percent off on HyperX and Poly accessories when you buy them with a PC or monitor. Make sure you check out HP’s back-to-school sale landing page, where you can navigate to whichever category you desire.
When does the HP back-to-school sale end?
HP doesn’t specify when the sale will end, but we suspect sometime in September when the school year is in full-swing. That’s why we’d recommend hopping on this bandwagon sooner rather than later, as the end of August will be here before you know it. Whether you’re a teacher or a student, it helps to be as prepared as possible before the school year begins. Trust me, you don’t want to be scrambling to buy a laptop the last-minute.
Window machines vs. Chromebooks
Ah, my favorite debate of all time. When it comes to Windows machines and Chromebooks and which one is better than the other, it really just boils down to personal preference and lifestyle. Some (like me) prefer the Chrome ecosystem, where everything is in one place in the cloud. That said, if you need something more powerful for gaming or content creation, or need the ability to install traditional desktop programs, you should probably spring for a Windows machine.
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