Picking a college is hard enough, so you don’t need to spend extra time worrying about which laptop to get you through the next four years. To help you save time (and hopefully money), we searched for the highest-rated laptops under $1,000 that are good for college students.
From Macs to PCs to a bendy tablet/laptop hybrid, we broke it down a number of top-rated picks, giving you a rundown on each as well as a review from a college student or parent of a student. Each model has multiple reviews relating to its use for college, so you can look around to see which is the best for you.
Whether you’re a business student, an art history major or taking a couple courses at a community college, these computers will help you take notes, write essays and watch presentations. They’ll also work for streaming, playing games and scrolling social media — after all your homework is done, of course.
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Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
A new MacBook for under a grand? Yes, please. For a lightweight computer with up to 18 hours of battery life, the MacBook Air is calling. With Apple M3 processing, this laptop is great for working across apps and running mulitple programs at the same time. This model has a fanless design, meaning your machine will stay quiet even when you have a ton of tabs open. It boasts 8G RAM, 256G SSD storage, a backlit keyboard and an HD camera that you can use for FaceTime and Zoom. If you already have an Apple ID, the MacBook will seamlessly sync with your contact and profile, allowing you to stay connected with ease.
Promising review: "Bought this one on a deal and as a present for my son. Looked at several laptop and this one was his choice amongst the other. I know that this would last him through his college days and will serve him well. Quality built is top notch and fast processing power." — Jeremy
Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Consider the MacBook Air with M2 chip on Amazon your new productivity workhorse. Its ultra-thin, lightweight design makes it excellent for travel. The claimed 18 hours of battery life on a single charge means you won’t have to hover near an outlet while browsing the ’net and banging out documents.
Promising review: "This computer is great! I bought it for some heavy duty college work and I have to say I am impressed. The Air is usually meant for low maintenance tasks like watching videos, Facebook, the web and school work but I find myself doing MacBook Pro work on it with no trouble at all. MacBook Air doesn't have fans so I expected it to run slower than my Pro but it runs about the same and crushes any editing tasks that I throw at it. Its a small powerhouse compared to its Pro versions and continues to get the job done." — Angela
Music lovers, photo editors and tired college students who want to ask Alexa for the weather will love this 15.6-inch Acer Aspire laptop with Alexa capabilities. It has a 7.5-hour battery life, high-quality graphics and crisp visuals, deep bass and volume and Acer's blue light shield to help protect your eyes during all-night study sessions. It has ports for HDMI connections as well as USBs 1, 2 and 3. It weighs less than four pounds and is thinner than other models, so it's super easy to carry around campus.
Promising review: "I got this laptop before the second semester of college started and it's been a real charm. All the laptops I had in the past were awful but then I got this one and it works really great! I used to play ROBLOX a lot and my past laptops wouldn't last long with it without it starting to slow down. However, with this laptop I've been able to do my college homework and play ROBLOX with just about no trouble at all! Games I play seems to run smoothly and surfing the web can sometimes be faster than even my phone!" — Ramirez Quijano
Made with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, this 15.6-inch laptop has super crisp visuals with an anti-glare feature to boot. The Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor makes it speedy and quick to connect with different Wi-Fi networks across campus and it can charge from 0 to 50% battery in 45 minutes. It has a dual microphone system with noise reduction software, so it's ideal for video chatting, conference call or online school and the HD camera gives you clear vision, even if you're in a darker room.
Promising review: "Got this for my college Freshman daughter, she absolutely loves it!! So light to carry around campus, fast connections, and the battery lasts all (class) day. Not to mention all the non class things she does( Facebook, reading, streaming, ETC)" — Maria Hodge
Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Clocking in at just 2.44 pounds, this 12.4-inch touch-screen laptop is super easy to carry around. It has a 10th Gen Intel Core processor allowing you to have multiple tabs open and a 720p HD camera to make you look sharp on video calls. Its hard disk is 128G with 3.6 GHz cPU speed and 8G computer memory.
Promising review: "Compact. Smooth and slick looking computer. The touch screen worked well and the battery lasted a long time. Very lightweight and easy to use." — Robertson15
If you're looking for the ease and speed of a tablet but the processing abilities of a laptop, you'll love this Lenovo IdeaPad that can fold into "tent mode," allowing you to use the touch screen as a standing tablet. The Chromebook feature enables it to sync with your Google account to let you check your email and other G-suite apps with ease. It comes with two USB-C ports, a USB-A port, a microSD card reader and an AUX jack for headphones or microphones.
Promising review: "I got this for my son who’s starting college. So far he loves it. He didn’t know it was a touch screen so that was a nice surprise for him. It’s perfect for his classes. It folds easily to make it more like a tablet. I did get the Lenovo pencil for it so he can write or draw on it as needed." — sdw81
Still looking? Check our recent roundup of even more laptops under $1,000.
This laptop option has a processor meant to help you work with speed while you answer emails, stream your favorite shows and whatever else you've got on your to-do list. Its battery is designed to keep up with you for 12 hours and even if it dies, you can get it to 50% in just 45 minutes.
When you're occupied and can't use your hands, this compact Chromebook will still move at your voice command thanks to Google Assistant. If you're an Android user, you can transfer stuff from your phone to the computer and vice-versa with the Nearby Share feature.
It also has an HD camera perfect for taking video calls with loved ones or for work — and it's got a visible privacy shutter that'll cover the camera when it's not in use so Big Brother will just have to watch someone else.
You can get the regular HP 14" or the slightly higher-priced touchscreen option.
Promising review: “This is an amazing gift for someone, or just for school. I have bought a total of three and to be honest they are better than my MacBook Pro which limits me on what I can do, unlike the HP. This is a huge must-have The pictures below are from my friend who who is so excited to own one, so I'm going to grab one before they're gone and you should too!!!” — Austin
If you need power, this Lenovo laptop has plenty. It's got 16 GB of RAM for quickly jumping between apps and browsers and 1 TB of internal storage in case you need to save large files, like videos or high-resolution photos. Also, like the name suggests, it's slim for easy carry. Normally over $1,000, Walmart has it on sale at over $100 off.
Promising review: “The screen is beautiful and the keyboard is nice and....... solid. AS is the build in general. I'm extremely happy with this laptop. No camera but I can live with that. The lighting is a little too ....... involved imo, could be SOOO much simpler. Still, a very fine machine and I am definitely happy with it as will you I'm sure.” — Alan Jones
Promising review: “This is a moderately priced gaming laptop with decent specifications for gaming. Personally, I am using it mostly for productivity - but will occasionally want to play a game. Consequently, while I appreciate the Intel Core i5-12450H processor, the 8 GB of RAM, and the 512 GB SSD drive, I recognize that it is likely to be underpowered for many high-end games. The graphics engine, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050 GPU, is a great addition. It may not be the cutting edge of graphics processors, but it is still quite good. However, for my usage - mostly productivity with the occasional game - this is a reasonable configuration. My understanding is the RAM can be expanded up to 16GB and I expect that the SSD can be replaced with a more substantial one if needed.” — A. Grover (This review has been edited for length. Read the full review here.)
Promising review: “I don't do gaming so this computer works great. I can use my Cricut and do my studies all in this with out an issue. It's not going to be the quickest computer, but, for the price I can't complain. It's light weight and easy for travel. It connects to my hot spot/Bluetooth nicely no issues.” — Wcherry
Promising review: “So far this laptop has been great. It turns on quickly. Easy to set up initially and easy to use. My last laptop was pretty old so the new abilities the laptops have now is pretty impressive, they are pretty intuitive/predictive. I charged it once and haven't had to charge it again for several days - so that's been nice - but I also haven't used it much. The keyboard is easy to use and the touchpad is large and easy to use as well. I contacted the seller and they were incredibly fast at responding and addressing my questions. Definitely recommend!” — Megan