Best student laptop deals and sales July 2024: up to 40% off Apple, Microsoft, Dell and more

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Under AU$1,000
Under AU$1,500
Under AU$2,000

Jumping back into study can be very expensive – especially if you want to be equipped with one of the best laptops for students. Thankfully, a lot of retailers offer back to school sales running at the start of the year to help reduce that cost, so you can find a suitable device at a reasonable price.

It's also tax season, so check our EOFY laptops deals page or just browse the highlights with our best laptops deals to see options we might not have highlighted here.

When shopping for a student laptop, you’ll need to consider what you plan to use the laptop for so you don’t overspend on features and performance you don’t need (laptops can get very expensive!), and for students it probably needs to be light enough to carry around all day.

If you’re taking notes, writing reports and using it for research, you can save a lot by opting for a machine with lower or older specs without compromising your work. But if you need it for video editing or graphic design, you might need to pay a little more for a more powerful device that can handle any software or tasks you throw at it.

There’s plenty of good laptop brands out there, including Apple, Microsoft, Lenovo, HP and Dell, so the TechRadar team has scoured the web to round up the 10 best student laptop deals to help you ace the upcoming school year.

Best student laptop deals

Under AU$1,000

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3i Chromebook | Intel N100 / 4GB / 128GB eMMC SSD| AU$629 AU$379 at The Good Guys (save AU$250)

A solid 39% discount means this Chromebook makes for a very affordable little laptop. Keep in mind that this is a very basic machine, but the N100 CPU and 4GB RAM is perfectly suited to basic web browsing and email. The Flex 3i has a 12.2-inch form factor, with a 1920 x 1200 touchscreen that folds back for tablet style use. The laptop weighs in at just 1.25kg, and has up to 12 hours of battery life.

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook | Snapdragon 7c / 4GB RAM / 128GB eMMC | AU$869 AU$599 on Amazon (save AU$270)

The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook comes loaded with ChromeOS and is packing the Snapdragon 7c Gen processor under the hood. At just under AU$600, this device is one of the more affordable student laptop options, plus it’s versatile too – you can detach the keyboard and use the 13.3-inch FHD touchscreen as a tablet, making it fantastic for typing up notes as well as holding in your hand when presenting to the class. Just be aware that Chromebooks won’t be able to run common Windows apps.

• You could save even more with these Amazon promo codes

Acer Swift Go 14 OLED| Ultra 5 / 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD | AU$1,299 AU$944.10 from eBay (save AU$354.9)

To get the price here you need to use code FYEAR10 at checkout. The deal is via the Bing Lee eBay store (At the bricks and mortar Bing Lee store the Swift Go 14 is AU$1,299 down to AU$1,049), which means you can choose pick it up in store or have it posted for AU$10.

The same Acer Swift Go 14 is AU$1,699 direct from Acer, so AU$944.10 is a bargain for a 2880 x 1800 OLED equipped laptop that weighs 1.3kg and has over 11 hours of battery life. Or grab the more powerful Ultra 7 variant of the Swift Go 14 for AU$1123.20 using the same eBay code.

You can also grab the larger Acer Swift Go 16 OLED (i5/16GB/512GB) for AU$1,188 direct from Acer.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 (14-inch) | i5 / 8GB RAM / 512GB SSD | AU$1,299 AU$959 on Amazon (save AU$340)

With only 8GB of RAM, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 makes a small compromise on specs to land at this price, but it still has plenty of storage and a 12th-gen Intel Core i5 chip, which makes it a suitable device for day-to-day note-taking, report writing and research. You’ll need to be quick to snap up this deal though – at the time of writing, Amazon only has four units left in stock at this sub-AU$1,000 price.

• Here’s some Lenovo coupon codes if you prefer to buy direct from the source

Asus VivoBook 15.6-inch | i5 / 16GB RAM / 1TB SSD | AU$1,199 AU$847 on JB Hi-Fi (save AU$352)

The latest discount at JB Hi-Fi is AU$52 off the sale price of AU$899, which itself is on sale from the original RRP. Rocking 16GB of RAM, a 1TB HDD and an Intel i5 1235U processor, you’ll have plenty of room for any documents, photos and software you need to make it through the school year. As a 15.6-inch laptop, it’s a little bit on the heavier side, weighing 1.72kg with this configuration, but you do get a 1920p x 1080p Full HD display, so you won’t miss a beat while you’re working away on assessments or projects.

Under AU$1,500

HP Pavilion Aero 13 (13-be2122AU) | Ryzen 7 / 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD | AU$1,999 AU$1,199 on HP (save AU$800)

HP has knocked a huge AU$800 off this Pavilion Aero laptop. It weighs under 1kg so it’s super-light and portable, making it an ideal choice if you’ve got to carry your laptop around campus. The 13.3-inch screen comes with 400 nit brightness, which should make it easier to use in bright sunlight. As for specs, you’re getting a Ryzen 7 7735U processor, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, all for AU$1,199.

• Check our HP coupon codes page to see if you can get a further discount

HP Envy x360 2-in-1 (15-fe0047TU) | i7 / 16GB RAM / 1TB SSD | AU$2,699 AU$1,592 at HP (save AU$1,107)

Score a great 41% off this versatile 2-in-1 HP Envy x360 device from HP. It features a 13th-gen Intel Core i7-1355U CPU along with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, plus of course a 1080p 15.6-inch touch screen that conveniently folds through 360 degrees. It's a great option if you need a versatile laptop for work or study, but if you're looking for something to use to pursue creative means, check out the slightly lower spec i5 variant (15-fe0022TU), that has a 400 nit, 100% sRGB display and is AU$1,297 (save AU$902).

Under AU$2,000

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Petra has had a long-time love of tech, gaming and entertainment, especially if she can find it at a discount. With a background in archaeology, she’ll dig deep to find the best deals and thanks to her long history in retail, knows what makes a good bargain. She also is a bit of a keyboard hobbyist, having found enjoyment with mechanical keyboards during 2020’s lockdown, and enjoys trying out new peripherals whenever she gets the chance.

With contributions from