The Best Notebooks for Teenagers and University Students

The Asus Transformer Book T102HA is a 10-inch convertible equipped with an Intel Atom processor. It features a particularly bright IPS display and decent battery life. Its system performance is adequate for everyday workloads in school and college. Keyboard and touchpad are comparatively small, and the display resolution is just 1280x800. That said it should suffice if constantly watching movies is not on the agenda. Moderate users will find an affordable yet decent companion in the Transformer Book T102HA.

Good keyboard, low weight, and solid build quality are features of the https://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Lenovo-IdeaPad-320s-4415U-HD610-Laptop.249224.0.htmlLenovo IdeaPad 320s, an inexpensive 14-inch model. The 1080p screen is unfortunately a bit dark and the speakers are more of an emergency solution. You cannot maintain the device, either, but the IdeaPad 320s is still a very solid device for everyday tasks at home or in school for less than 500 Euros.

Colorful is the right word for the Lenovo IdeaPad 110s: The manufacturer sells the device in blue, red, silver, or white. It is not the perfect device for long school days due to the high power consumption and the resulting runtimes, but it still manages more than 6 hours in our WLAN scenario. It is also lightweight and you can expand the storage via microSD card. The case could be more stable, the display is matte, but also pretty dark. However, you should not expect too much for less than 300 Euros. You still get a decent device for simple tasks if you can live with the limitations.

Asus’s VivoBook Flip 14 is a particularly slim 14-inch convertible, and it is perfect for schools and colleges thanks to its FHD display and quiet mode of operation. However, battery life is not the best – the convertible lasted for just 6:31 hours in our Wi-Fi test. And while this is average, by and large it could be too short for a long day at school. We liked the keyboard a lot, and can thus highly recommend the VivoBook Flip 14.

One should not expect more than a solid notebook for typing, browsing the web, and watching videos in the notebook category of devices up to 300 Euros. And that is exactly what you get with the 11.6-inch Asus VivoBook E12: a plain and simple notebook without any bells and whistles but a very decent keyboard instead. In addition, it remained very quiet, cool, and is very light to boot. It also comes with Windows 10 by default.

And once again a Lenovo E-series model can be found at the very top of our midrange recommendations. The ThinkPad E480 is Lenovo’s latest member of this entry-level business series and features several enhancements over its predecessor, as well as various ThinkPad benefits. Among others, these include a sturdy case, amazing input devices, and a matte IPS panel. However, we would steer clear of the SKUs equipped with dedicated AMD Radeon GPU as these tend to get incredibly hot under load. The more affordable ThinkPads come with just a few cutbacks – a shorter warranty, a microSD instead of an SD card reader, and a comparatively slow SSD (write performance). If you do not mind this, then the E480 is a brilliant business notebook for a very good price.

The Dell Latitude 5580 is a classical business notebook, which can score points with a decent display, very good input devices, and decent Wi-Fi battery life of above 10 hours. The performance is sufficient for demanding tasks and the temperature remains in the normal range. A matte coating ensures that the display is legible outdoors. Several security features emphasize the business background. Moreover, the device has a good price-performance ratio. Those who are looking for a solid, yet not too expensive companion might find a good choice in the Latitude 5580.

The Fujitsu LifeBook A557 is unspectacular, yet reasonably priced. You have to do without many security features for the cheap price of just above 500 Euros ($595). However, many school children and university students will not need these anyway. It is a more serious problem that the interface layout is not sophisticated: For example, most of the USB ports are on the left side - which is quite inconvenient for right-handers who want to attach a mouse. Another reason not to buy this notebook might be that the keyboard lacks a keyboard light.

But enough of complaints: You will get decent system performance, good input devices and easy maintainability for little money. The LifeBook A557 is a good choice if you do not need a designer piece and are on a tight budget.

If you are looking for a notebook with a dedicated GPU, the 14-inch IdeaPad 320s might be worth a second glance. Granted, the GeForce 920MX is certainly not the fastest GPU available and not really made for ambitious gamers, but it helps with those less demanding simpler games. Its downsides include the fairly dark display and the unlit keyboard. On the plus side several components are user replaceable, and you get 9 hours of battery life, a matte display, and last but not least a very quiet notebook.

First things first: we have had bad luck with our particular TravelMate P2510 review unit. The case was severely twisted and not particularly well-made. We really hope we got a lemon, because apart from the slightly too dark display, the notebook was almost ideal for everyday use in school. It is quiet and cool, offers long battery life and features decent input devices. And at a price of less than $800 our particular configuration was even somewhat affordable. There are even SKUs cheaper than ours.

Dell did not really change the design of its slim and successful XPS 15 this year, but the manufacturer improved the internals: Longer battery runtimes, silent operation at light workloads, and the higher performance are just some of the highlights. Dell manages to implement a lot of ports into the chassis, which is slimmer than 2 cm and lighter than 2 kg. You also get a good screen with a matte surface as well as decent speakers. There is not much more you could ask for.

Lenovo has revised the compact ThinkPad X1 Carbon this year. The new case has an even smaller footprint and still houses a 14-inch display. Currently, the decent Full HD display is the only option.

The slim ThinkPad's input devices are excellent, but the thin case also has its disadvantages. First of all, cooling it is difficult. Therefore, the surface temperatures are high under load. In addition, the Core i7 processor cannot permanently keep up its high performance. The fan turns on under short load peaks in real-world scenarios.

Let us take a look at the Latitude's flaws first, because there are quite a few at this point. Like the annoyingly clattering space bar on the keyboard – unacceptable for a notebook that costs more than $1,400. Or the non-user-replaceable battery. Or the pretty poor sound system. Or the lack of Thunderbolt 3. What you do get is a great and very well-made case, 3 years of warranty, a great keyboard, and a great display. In addition, the level of performance achieved by the Latitude 7390 is very high, and the device thus deserves our full endorsement.

Out of the box our particular SKU of Lenovo’s ThinkPad T480 was suffering from odd and unexplainable sudden drops in performance. However, a BIOS update was able to fix those for good. Great input devices and a bright, high-contrast display more than make up for it, and the notebook comes with a plethora of business features. It even has a swappable battery should you run out of power on a particularly long day at school. Courtesy of its low color space coverage, the display is not suited for photo editing purposes. 

Have you already been waiting for a slim, stylish subnotebook for a long time? If so, Asus might have the right offer for you with the ZenBook UX3430UQ: The 14-inch device is an excellent high-end business subnotebook with great input devices, excellent display, low emissions and long battery life of 8:47 hours. Moreover, it features a fingerprint sensor and TPM 2.0. However, the GeForce 940MX is dispensable. The iGPU variant for 1200 Euros (~$1430) might be the better choice for many users. It allows saving money and is certainly sufficient for everyday tasks.

The newest Microsoft Surface Pro variant no longer carries a version number but is referred to by year. A cheap 2017 variant with Core m processor is available for significantly under 1000 Euros (~$1191). It is a great bundle: high-end build quality and a Wi-Fi battery runtime of above 11 hours convey a great deal. Moreover, its very good display and silent operation are big advantages. The system performance is sufficient for everyday tasks. The glossy display and the lack of a USB-C port are slightly disappointing. Nevertheless, the Surface Pro (2017) is a very good convertible which hardly shows serious weaknesses.

Huawei’s notebooks and convertibles are something of a rare specimen in Europe. However, their price-performance-ratio tends to be pretty good quite often. Not so in this particular case, though, but at least the MateBook E's 2-in-1 design is fairly unique. A vintage faux leather cover and a case clad in Gold will certainly find many fans. It was also decently fast and featured a very nice display.

Lenovo’s Yoga 720-12IKB is a convertible with a good display, decent input devices, and stylus support. We liked the design, and the device turned out to be very quiet to boot. The disadvantages include short battery life, which should suffice for a normal school day though, and a slow Wi-Fi modem. Other than that, it has a lot to offer for its price of around $800. You get a very flexible companion if you can live with these minor flaws.

The Acer Switch 5 costs just under 1000 Euros (~$1191). The convertible brings decent performance for its price, but you have to accept less-than-ideal battery life and temperatures. A keyboard dock with light and an input pen are included. Moreover, the input devices are of high quality and the build quality is good. The device cannot fully keep up with the Microsoft Surface Pro, but it is a good alternative for all those looking for high performance for little money.

The Acer Switch 3 is a 12.2-inch convertible with pen input and Full HD display for under 500 Euros (~$595). This is in itself an achievement. In addition, the device is stable and light, features good input devices and it does not run too warm. Certainly, it is hardly apt for demanding tasks, but it is well suitable for everyday office tasks.

Cost cuts become obvious with the display. While it features quite a high resolution, its contrast is quite modest and it reflects heavily. Hence, it is difficult to work with it in bright environments. Furthermore, the storage capacity of only 64 GB is quite low.