I found the 11 best back to school laptop deals at Best Buy — starting at just $199

This affordable little Chromebook might not offer loads of power, but its basic specs can easily accommodate a student’s schedule. At 3 pounds, it’s a tad bulky (for a 14-inch laptop), but its attractive design and Cosmic Blue colorway make traveling with it a little more fun.

Specs: MediaTek Kompanio 540, 4GB, 64 eMMC storage, 14-inch (1920 x 1200) IPS display

For students who simply need a laptop to connect to the internet to write papers, research topics, and occasionally hop on a video call or film presentations for class, this CX14 Chromebook configuration is a fantastic option, especially when it’s at this sale price of $249.

Specs: Intel Celeron N50, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC storage, 14-inch (1920 x 1080) IPS display

This Chromebook Plus model is well-equipped to tackle typical daily tasks for most students. Its 15.3-inch display puts it in the sweet spot size-wise, right between smaller, more portable 14-inch laptops and bulkier 16-inch or 17-inch laptops with more screen real estate.

Specs: Intel Core N355, 8GB RAM, 128GB UFS storage, 15.3-inch (1920 x 1200) IPS display

If you want the affordability of a Chromebook but the familiarity or more widespread app compatibility of Windows rather than ChromeOS, this basic Dell laptop might be what you’ve been looking for. With its specs, you can easily tackle studying-, writing-, and researching-related tasks, and it’s nearly 50% off right now.

Specs: Intel Core i5 1334U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 15.6-inch (1920 x 1080) IPS display

This AMD-powered gaming laptop would make the perfect dorm companion, offering a welcome reprieve from working hard on class assignments, and right now, it’s slashed by $300. It might not be able to run newer AAA titles well with its last-gen RTX 4050 GPU, but you could play these via cloud gaming services or run most indie games natively.

Specs: AMD Ryzen 5 723HS, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, 16GB, 512GB SSD, 15.6-inch (1920 x 1080) 144Hz IPS display

This is one of the most affordable 16-inch laptops I came across while searching for the best back-to-school laptop deals. And despite its large display, it somehow only weighs 3.6 pounds, making it a great option for commuters.

Specs: Intel Core Ultra 7 255U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 16-inch (1920 x 1200) IPS display

If you’re stuck between wanting a laptop with a large screen and a convertible laptop that’s relatively travel-friendly, HP’s 16-inch OmniBook X Flip might be what you’re looking for. It weighs just 4.1 pounds and is rated to last up to 39 hours on a single charge.

Specs: Intel Core Ultra 7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 16-inch (1920 x 1200) OLED display

This laptop is ideal for commuting students, thanks to its 2.4-pound weight and its Snapdragon X2 Elite processor, which is known for delivering excellent performance and even better battery life. Plus, the chip’s 80 NPU TOPS can help generate ideas, refine papers, and improve studying sessions.

Specs: Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14-inch (1920 x 1200) OLED display

This Surface Laptop configuration is perfect for any student who wants something visually different from the sea of gray and silver laptops on the market right now. It’s a bit pricier, but Best Buy’s $400 discount definitely helps, and the laptop promises great performance, lengthy battery life, and a gorgeous display.

Specs: Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD storage, 13.8-inch (2304 x 1536) PixelSense display

Students need to take breaks between paper-writing sprints and studying sessions, and playing games is an easy hobby to take up. This entry-level gaming laptop has a new 50-series GPU (though it is the least powerful option) so it can smoothly play a solid mix of AAA titles and indie games.

Specs: Intel Core 7 240H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 16-inch (1920 x 1200) 165Hz IPS display

This Lenovo Legion 5 sports an eye-catching 16-inch 2.5K 2560 x 1600 display powered by an AMD Ryzen 9-8945HX CPU, a capable Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 laptop GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD to store your favorite games.

Specs: AMD Ryzen 9-8945HX CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 16-inch (2560 x 1600) 240Hz IPS display