Best back to school deals 2023: Laptops, Chromebooks, monitors, and more

The best back-to-school savings on tech gear doesn’t wait for official back-to-school sales. If you pay attention, you can grab great deals on laptops, Chomebooks, MacBooks, monitors, and more even before retailers run their ads. We’re already looking hard at back-to-school bargains, and curating the best deals we can find.

We’ve carefully examined the best back-to-school deals on tech gear from online retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and more, with an eye for what devices students will want to take with them to college, high school, and more. We’ve taken what we’ve learned from our extensive laptop reviews, dissected the ongoing back-to-school sales, and will tell you what we recommend, and why.

Best back-to-school laptop deals

Our back-to-school laptop deals focus mainly on productivity, tending towards 1080p or 1200p displays and long battery life for all-day studying. Consult our list of the best laptops and best laptops for college students for more ideas.

• Acer Swift X, Ryzen 5 5600U / RTX 3050, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14-inch 1080p, $579.99 (38% off at Newegg)
• Microsoft Surface Pro 8, Core i5-1135G7, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 13-inch 2880×1920 display, $799.99 (43% off at Microsoft.com)
• Lenovo Yoga 7i, Core i7-1355U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 16-inch 1920×1200 display, $749.99 (25% off at Best Buy)
• Surface Laptop 4, Core i5-1135G7, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 13-inch 2256×1504 display, $800.99 (38% off at Microsoft.com)
• HP Envy 2-in-1, Ryzen 5 7530U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p display, $499.99 (38% off at Best Buy)
• Dell Inspiron 2-in-1, 16-inch Core i7-1260P, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 16-inch 1920×1200 display, $899.99 (28% off at Best Buy)
• Acer Swift X, Ryzen 7 5800U / RTX 3050Ti, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14-inch 1080p, $893.48 (17% off at Amazon)
• HP 15, Core i5-1135G7, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p, $464.00 (26% off at Amazon)
• Dell G16 Gaming Laptop, Core i7-12700H/ RTZ 3050 Ti, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 16-inch 2560×1600 165Hz display, $1,299.99 (31% off at Dell)

The Swift X discount isn’t profound, but the laptop won an Editor’s Choice award. Note that we’ve included two different versions; the more expensive model includes a faster processor and GPU, but comes with a substantial price premium. A student should be able to make do with the cheaper model.

Remember that the Surface Pro 8 (review) is last year’s model, as is the Surface Laptop 4. While that doesn’t matter that much, remember that the Surface Pro 8 is a tablet (and includes Thunderbolt) while the Surface Laptop 4 is Microsoft’s traditional laptop, and lacks Thunderbolt.

The Lenovo Yoga 7i is just a solid laptop at a solid value, and the little brother of the Yoga 9i.

Both of the HP deals are slightly iffy. HP’s Envy 2-in-1 has a cutting-edge processor, but the memory and storage are skimpy. That’s perfectly fine for a writing degree, but not for the hard sciences. (You can add storage with an external SSD.) The HP 15, oddly enough, was on sale last year for back-to-school, and it’s a perfectly fine (but 2-year-old) laptop. Oh, and we’ve included a gaming laptop (don’t tell Dad!) just for fun.

Not sure whether to buy a laptop or a Chromebook? We can help.

Best back-to-school Chromebook deals

We’ve picked the best back-to-school Chromebook deals for you. Don’t be afraid of buying an older Chromebook, but we’ve considered the trade-off between price and performance in our back-to-school recommendations. Want more ideas? Start with PCWorld’s list of the best Chromebooks.

• Acer Chromebook 315, Celeron N4020, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p, $208.20 (65% off at Amazon)
• Acer Chromebook 315, Celeron N5100, 8GB RAM, 64GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p, $279.99 (26% off at Amazon)
• Asus Chromebook Flip C433, Core m3-8100Y, 8GB RAM, 14-inch 1080p, $304.99 (24% off at Amazon)
• HP 14-inch Chromebook, Celeron N4120, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD, 14-inch 768p display, $149.99 (50% off at Best Buy)
• Asus CX1500 Chromebook, Celeron N3350, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD, 15.6-inch 1080p, $169.00 (22% off at Walmart)
• Lenovo Chromebook Duet, Qualcomm Snapdragon SC170, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 13.3-inch 1080p OLED, $369.00 (24% off at Best Buy)
• Asus 16-inch Chromebook, Core i3-1215U, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 16-inch 1920×1200 (1200p), $449.00 (31% off at Best Buy)

College life generally runs on laptops and not Chromebooks. Chromebooks are still useful for elementary and even middle-school students, though, especially as secondary machines. If you can, prioritize a 1080p screen, 8GB of RAM, and (if possible) a 1080p display when you buy a Chromebook. The Acer Chromebook 315 for $208 is a fantastic bargain, but we’d recommend that you buy either the second Acer Chromebook 315 for $279.99 or the Asus Flip C433, as they meet our spec requirements.

Right now, we’re seeing sharp cuts on a bargain-basement HP Chromebook at the top of our list, though the Acer 315 should provide good performance at an aggressive price. We’re not a huge fan of the Asus CX1500 deal, but the price is solid and the display is large and easy on the eyes. The N3350 is a 5-year-old processor and was discontinued last year, probably incenting the discount.

The Asus 16-inch Chromebook pushes into laptop-quality components at a price that enters cheap-laptop territory, too. You won’t have to worry about performance with this model, though.

Best back-to-school MacBook deals

• 2020 MacBook Air M1 13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, $749 (25% off at Amazon)
• 2021 MacBook Pro with M1 Max, 64GB RAM, 4TB SSD, $2,999.99 (39% off at B&H)
• 2021 MacBook Pro 14-inch, M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, $2,100 (16% off at Amazon)

MacBook back-to-school sales just aren’t as pronounced as in Windows laptops, though Apple’s stock of older M1 hardware means you can buy an older MacBook at a surprisingly good price — for Apple, that is. That B&H deal, for example, is insane but won’t last long.

MacBooks rarely carry heavy discounts, unfortunately.

Best back-to-school iPad and tablet deals

• Apple iPad (9th Gen), 10.2-inch (2021) 256GB, Wi-Fi, $399 (17% off at Amazon)
• Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 (2020), 64GB, $249 (29% off at Amazon)

If students need a tablet for when they go back to school, we think that these suggestions offer the best deals for now. We may see better deals as the season goes on.

Amazon has some small discounts available for back-to-school tablets. We’ve shied away from Amazon’s own Fire tablets only because students will need flexibility to add apps that they may use in school.

Best back-to-school monitor deals

College dorm rooms and lecture halls don’t offer an enormous amount of space for additional monitors, so there aren’t as many back-to-school monitor deals as you otherwise might expect. Samsung, though, appears to be having a sale.

• HP V223ve, 1080p 75Hz, $109.95, (24% off at Amazon)
• Samsung 27-inch LC27F396FHNXZA (curved), 1080p 60Hz, $129.00 (16% off at Walmart)
• Acer Nitro XZ270 27-inch Gaming Monitor, 1080p 240Hz, $240.95 (27% off at Amazon)
• Samsung LS32A700NWNXZA, 32-inch 2160p display/60Hz refresh rate/16:9 aspect ratio, $299.99 (21% off at Walmart)

We’ve (mostly) emphasized 60Hz displays, with a mix of 1080p and 4K. We’ve included a gaming monitor, though, for those willing to spend a little more. For even more options, check out our daily monitor deals.