Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • - Hey, guys, this is Austin!

  • If you're looking for a laptop for back to school,

  • I have a few options you might want to consider.

  • Everything from $200 to over a thousand.

  • First off, we have this 14-inch HP laptop.

  • Now, at first glance, it looks just a little bit old school.

  • However, for a little bit over $200,

  • there's a lot to like here.

  • It has a solid selection of ports,

  • with VGA, Ethernet, HDMI, and three USB ports.

  • Now, what's a little bit weird with this guy

  • is that it is actually cooled by fan.

  • So a lot of the budget Intel laptops are fanless.

  • However, this AMD option does have a fan,

  • but thankfully, it's not too loud.

  • This guy is powered by a quad-core AMD E2 processor

  • with four gigabytes of RAM

  • and 32 gigs of eMMC storage.

  • Now, that processor is not going to be

  • incredibly powerful.

  • It's actually very similar to what's inside

  • the Xbox One and PS4.

  • Although, obviously, in this case, a little bit slower.

  • But, the important thing is, it's going to be totally fine

  • for basic usage, and again, this is $200.

  • That AMD processor is a little bit unusual

  • in budget laptops, but it's not that bad.

  • So when it comes to more heavy usage, such as gaming,

  • it's not going to be great, but for normal stuff

  • like watching video, it's not bad.

  • Hey, guys, this is Austin!

  • It has been nearly four years since the original

  • Nintendo 2DS came out.

  • What's also pretty solid is the display.

  • So, for $220, we're getting a full 1080p IPS panel.

  • Now, yes, it is not quite as bright as I would like.

  • However, for this price, this is about as good as it gets.

  • It might not be a powerhouse,

  • but if you're just looking for a budget laptop

  • to get the job done, this is definitely worth considering.

  • If you've got a little bit more budget to work with,

  • you may want to consider picking up the ASUS VivoBook E403.

  • At just a little bit under $400, while it's not a huge jump

  • over the HP, there a lot of little things

  • that definitely add up.

  • So I actually did a video on this last year,

  • but it's still pretty much totally up to date.

  • And what's nice about this guy is that

  • for only a little bit more than the HP,

  • you're getting something that feels a lot nicer.

  • Now, yes, it is still plastic.

  • But it's thinner, it's lighter,

  • and it just feels like a more premium laptop.

  • This guy also has a solid selection of ports

  • with an HDMI, a USB 3, USB Type-C, which is nice.

  • And if you flip it over, we're also going to get

  • an additional USB Type-A as well as an SD card reader.

  • While this might not be the most powerful laptop

  • in the world, it can definitely get the job done.

  • So inside, it's rocking a quad-core Intel Pentium processor,

  • four gigabytes of memory,

  • as well as 128 gigabytes of eMMC storage.

  • You can do a bit of very light gaming on this guy,

  • but it really is meant for more normal usage.

  • And for that, it does a good job.

  • So it also has a solid 1080p panel with good speakers,

  • solid trackpad, keyboard.

  • There's really no one part of this laptop that falls apart.

  • Moving on, we have the Lenovo Z50.

  • So this is the middle ground between a budget laptop

  • and something that can handle gaming.

  • At $370, this guy's all about cramming the maximum amount

  • of specs into the cheapest possible computer.

  • Of course, you guys want more information.

  • I did a full video on this very recently.

  • In fact, most of these laptops, I've already done

  • full videos on, but there's a lot of interesting quirks

  • with this guy.

  • This is the biggest laptop here with 15.6-inch display,

  • but that's also probably it's biggest weakness,

  • as it is only a 1366 by 768 resolution.

  • On such a big screen, it just doesn't look great.

  • And on top of that, it's a fairly low-end TN panel,

  • which means the color, and especially viewing angles

  • and contrasts, could be a lot better.

  • The upside is that it has an AMD FX-7500 quad-core APU,

  • eight gigabytes of RAM, and Radeon R7 integrated graphics.

  • Now, yes, it's not going to crush Crysis at 4K,

  • but for $400, you're going to be hard-pressed

  • to find a more powerful gaming laptop.

  • With a game like Rocket League, we're able to get

  • pretty solid performance.

  • So, playing at 768p, which is the max resolution

  • of the screen on quality settings,

  • we're getting right between 40 to 50 frames per second.

  • I can actually hit the ball.

  • (laughs)

  • I totally just missed the ball twice on camera.

  • That's totally gotta go in.

  • It's definitely not perfect, but if you're just looking

  • for pure bang for the buck performance,

  • you should check it out.

  • Stepping up the budget a little bit,

  • we have the Lenovo Y700 at $750.

  • What I like about this is that even though

  • it's a gaming laptop, it's actually nicely well-rounded.

  • With a 14-inch display, it's still somewhat portable,

  • but you have plenty of room for gaming,

  • and I actually really like the look of it.

  • A lot of gaming laptops can be a little bit over the top,

  • but with this, it's actually a fairly subtle design.

  • Inside, it has fairly powerful specs.

  • With an Intel Core i7-6700HQ quad-core processor,

  • 16 gigabytes of DDR4 memory,

  • as well as dedicated Radeon R9 370 M graphics.

  • Jumping into a game like Overwatch,

  • this is totally playable.

  • So on 1080p, on medium settings, we're getting anywhere

  • between 40 to 60 frames,

  • depending on how much action's going on.

  • But regardless, this is very much playable.

  • This guy also has a 256-gigabyte M2 SSD,

  • paired with a one-terabyte hard drive.

  • And when you put it all together,

  • not only is this a solid laptop for taking with you

  • every day, but it can definitely handle some gaming.

  • Moving away from gaming, we have the LG gram 13 at $1,000.

  • So there's a lot to like with this guy.

  • It is hands-down my favorite Ultrabook right now.

  • One of the main reasons for that

  • is that while it's not only super light,

  • but it also has very, very small bezels on the display,

  • making this incredibly portable.

  • The gram comes in 13, 14, and 15 in screen sizes,

  • but regardless, you're getting a really nice-looking

  • 1080p IPS panel.

  • Color, contrast, and especially viewing angles

  • are going to be on point.

  • And most of them, this 13-inch included,

  • also come with a touch screen.

  • I've said it a lot of times before, but with Windows 10,

  • a touchscreen laptop just makes sense.

  • Specs are fairly standard for an Ultrabook.

  • It has a Core i5-7200U processor,

  • eight gigabytes of RAM, and a 256-gigabyte SSD.

  • This, of course, is not a gaming PC,

  • but it's pretty snappy for normal use.

  • Now, on top of the screen being nice,

  • it's also updated with a nice keyboard,

  • and especially a solid trackpad

  • with Windows Precision drivers.

  • And this model also comes with a fingerprint sensor.

  • The real star of the show here, though, is battery life.

  • So, LG claims that it can last up to 15 hours on a charge,

  • and that's not crazy.

  • With that 60-watt-hour battery, I have never killed it

  • in a single day.

  • So, if you're looking for a laptop that not only has

  • solid battery life, but it's also super portable,

  • check out the LG gram.

  • In the same category, we have the brand-new

  • Microsoft Surface Pro, which ranges anywhere from $800

  • to a lot, lot more.

  • So this might seem like a little bit of a weird choice,

  • but I actually think the Surface would make a lot of sense

  • for back to school.

  • So, yes, it is definitely a tablet,

  • and because of that, it's going to be nice and portable.

  • But once you put the actual Type Cover on it,

  • this is not a bad laptop replacement.

  • You are getting incredibly nice hardware here.

  • Everything's made out of metal.

  • Especially once you pull out the Type Cover

  • and pop the kickstand, what you're seeing here

  • is that there's a ton of flexibility.

  • It is really, really well-built.

  • This guy comes in quite a few different configurations,

  • but the one I have here is the mid-spec model

  • with the Core i5, eight gigs of RAM,

  • and 256 gigs of SSD storage.

  • Now, what's cool is, the Core i5 here

  • is actually going to be fanless.

  • So not only is it going to be nice and quiet,

  • but on top of that, it has crazy battery life,

  • 13 and a half hours.

  • It also has the best screen here

  • with a 12.3-inch PixelSense display,

  • which, of course, is not only touchscreen,

  • but it also supports the new Surface pen.

  • And it also has some cool other features,

  • like facial log-in with Windows Hello.

  • And of course, you get the whole thing in a tablet package.

  • So yes, it can be a little bit pricey,

  • especially once you add the actual keyboard,

  • which is basically not even an option,

  • but the Surface Pro is definitely worth a look

  • if you're going back to school.

  • As always, I'll have links to all of these laptops

  • in the description, and I've also done dedicated videos

  • on a lot of them.

  • So feel free to go check those out, and I'm curious.

  • Which one of these laptops would you pick up?

  • Let me know in the comments below,

  • and I will catch you in the next one.

- Hey, guys, this is Austin!

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it