Going off to college? Where to get the best laptop deals this week.
For soon-to-be college freshmen, laptops are part of back-to-school shopping, and consumers can find good deals this week. For example, shoppers can save $161 on a touchscreen laptop from Microsoft and get free shipping.
Microsoft Corp.'s logo is seen on an exterior wall of a Microsoft store inside the Prudential Center mall, in Boston. For soon-to-be college freshmen, laptops are part of back-to-school shopping, and shoppers can find some decent deals this week.
Steven Senne/AP/File
This week's best听听feature three notebooks with better-than-average displays. To start, there's the new Acer Aspire S7 complete with its 13" WQHD display for $849. For an even better LCD, we've found a killer deal on the IdeaPad Y50, which packs a 4K display that Laptop Mag highly recommends. Finally, we've got a 15" Dell Inspiron with a 1080p display that's perfect for everyday use.
Store:听Microsoft Store
Price:听$849听with听free shipping
Lowest By:听$161
Is It Worth It?:听"If you want a laptop that packs both beauty and brawn, Acer's new Aspire S7-392-6807 is a strong contender," says听. A refresh of last year's model, the new 2014 S7 packs a 13" WQHD 2560x1440 touchscreen, an Intel Core i5-4200U Haswell 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 8GB RAM, and a 128GB SSD. At 2.9-lbs., it keeps its predecessor's barely-there profile and it's also the cheapest price we could find for this Editors' Choice deal by $161.
Store:听Lenovo
Price:听$1,299.99听with听free shipping
Lowest By:听$200
Is It Worth It?:听4K displays aren't just for the living room anymore. A successor to the popular Y510p, the IdeaPad Y50 packs an eye-opening 3840x2160 LED-backlit 4K UHD LCD. Proving brains and beauty aren't mutually exclusive, the 5.3-lb. machine also features an Intel Core i7-4710HQ 2.5GHz Haswell quad-core processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB hard drive with 8GB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M 2GB graphics, and 802.11ac wireless. Not sure you need the 4K screen?听听reviewed a 1080p version of this machine and recommends opting for the 4K display.
Store:听Microsoft Store
Price:听$249听with听free shipping
Lowest By:听$16
Is It Worth It?:听There's nothing glamorous about the ASUS X551MAV-UB01. This 4.3-lb. laptop is a budget-minded machine, so in place of a fancy display or ultra-fast CPU you get an Intel Celeron N2830 2.16GHz dual-core processor, 15.6" 1366x768 LED-backlit LCD, 4GB RAM, and a 500GB hard drive. It may not outperform the other machines in our roundup, but at $249 this bargain bin laptop easily undercuts all of our systems.
Store:听HP Home & Home Office
Price:听$799.99听via coupon code "HPBTS20" with听free shipping
Lowest By:听$200
Expires:听August 27
Is It Worth It?:听Proving that desktop replacements aren't dead, HP stuffs the ENVY Touchsmart 17t with all the latest tech you could want. The 7-lb. laptop features an Intel Core i7-4710HQ 2.5GHz Haswell quad-core processor, 17.3" 1600x900 touchscreen LCD, a whopping 12GB RAM, and a 1TB hard drive.
Store:听Dell Home
Price:听$779.99听via coupon code "75BM2J$K4T749D" with听free shipping
Lowest By:听$530
Expires:听October 1
Is It Worth It?:听"The Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Series offers impressively long battery life and solid performance in an elegant aluminum chassis," says听. Even better, activate coupon code "75BM2J$K4T749D" to cut $530 off this mainstream machine. The 5.7-lb. notebook features above-average hardware including a Core i7-4510U 2GHz Haswell dual-core processor, 15.6" 1080p LED-backlit touchscreen LCD, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive.
Store:听Lenovo
Price:听$709听with听free shipping
Lowest By:听$290
Is It Worth It?:听Released in May, the Lenovo Z40 is an entertainment-focused laptop complete with dedicated graphics and a screaming CPU. The 14" powerhouse packs a Haswell Core i7-4500U 3GHz dual-core processor, 14" 1366x768 LED-backlit LCD, 8GB RAM, 1TB hard drive with 8GB SSD, and an NVIDIA GeForce GT 820M 2GB graphics card.
Louis Ramirez is a senior features writer for DealNews, where this article first appeared:听