"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enokey dokey back to school shopping has already begun summer's almost over here in canada which really sucks but hey if you're a student you're probably looking to get some supplies perhaps reorganizing your desk setup just to prepare for a productive school year and if you're shopping around for a laptop well i can imagine how difficult it could be since there are tons of options out there in the market however i do want to take this time to acknowledge a few things tech is getting really really expensive part of that is due to inflation and the chip shortage that we're unfortunately facing at the moment so finding good laptops that cost less than a thousand dollars is becoming harder and harder they're out there but just like everything else they're getting more and more expensive the other thing i need to mention are a few little pointers for laptop shopping number one is to avoid laptops with eight gigabytes of ram or less well unless it's a mac but more on that later also 256 gigabytes of storage space probably won't be enough especially not with a heavier operating system like windows 11. i would also avoid laptops that ship with windows 11 se because third-party applications just aren't supported and you lose a lot of features compared to windows 11. also make sure to use resources like camel camel camel to find good deals on amazon i've actually done a separate video covering what to look for in a laptop so you can check it out right over here or leave a link down in the description anyways with that out of the way in order to make the cut for this video these devices need to fulfill five criterias availability price portability battery life and performance or bang for buck the remaining are just bonuses or value add-ons that come with each laptop by the way links to all of these laptops will be down in the description and i'm just gonna kick things off with the budget friendly category that's less than eight thousand dollars us our first pick is the acer swift three this is a similar version to the swift x that we checked out not too long ago but with a few exceptions it only comes with integrated graphics and a 14 inch 16 by 9 quad hd ips display in a simple and minimalistic design for a thousand dollars you get a 12 gen core i7 1260p all the late processor with 16 gigs of ram and half per terabyte storage the port setup is also similar to the swift x which also includes thunderbolt 4 so if you're building a desk setup with a docking station a monitor and other accessories this can come in clutch as for portability the zen height is only 0.63 inches or 16 millimeters which is a little bit thinner than the swiftx but that's due to the lack of a discrete gpu battery life should also be similar if not better than the swift x so expect around 11 to 12 hours on a single charge next up we have the lenovo ideapad 5 pro now this one retails for around 850 right now and the specs include a ryzen 5 6600u cpu with 6 cores and 12 threads 16 gigs of ram terabit of storage and a 2.2 k ips touch display i love the clean storm gray finish guys this whole chassis is made out of aluminum so build quality is really good the keyboard and trackpad inherits some of its dna from the thinkpad series you also get a lot of ports including full-size hdmi and a full-size sd card reader and the ryzen by cpu is a good balance of performance and efficiency so expect really good battery life we're talking up to 16 hours which is awesome as for size it's only 0.63 inches thin so it's similar to the swift 3 and it weighs around 3.3 pounds which is slightly heavier than swift but that's due to the sturdier aluminum construction now next up we have something that's strictly geared towards performance for under a thousand dollars this is a great option if you're an engineering student or anyone who just would benefit from a discrete gpu meet the acer nitro 5 specifically the best buy exclusive variant now for 850 you get a core i5 12 500h with 16 threads 16 gigs of ram half terabyte storage and an rtx 3050 ti gpu that's powering a 1080p 144hz ips display i will warn you that build quality is not the greatest since it's an all plastic construction that's also thicker coming in at 1.06 inches or 27 millimeters and it weighs around 5.5 pounds so it's definitely bulkier than the idea pad and the swift three but the real deal for this price is the performance if you're looking to get into gaming and don't want to spend a ton of money this is a great start since the frame rate that it puts out is very respectable on top of that you can take advantage of gpu acceleration for apps that you may use for your courses now i do have some honorable mentions for this category the first one is the hp pavilion aero 13. this in my opinion is still a rare gem for less than a thousand dollars now while it does sport a previous gen ryzen 7 5800u cpu the rest of specs are just amazing and i'm actually pretty impressed in terms of what hp was able to cram inside such a slim form factor which is about 0.62 inches it's also super lightweight it's got a 16 by 10 display that's also bright you can't really go wrong with this machine guys the next laptop on my list is the dell inspiron 16 because it's got a massive 16 inch display but be mindful that it's only a 215 nit panel so not the brightest panels that you can find out there the specs are pretty good for less than a thousand dollars because you get a core x7 cpu with 16 gigs of ram and half a terabyte of storage whoa what a great day designed and miniaturized in sweden you can now nano and mini with the mashify 2 and define 7 series wow everyone's been asking fractal to complete the series for that iconic experience just on the smaller package always capable in the right hands some might say these are cute i say they're very classy see you later all right so our next segment is mid-range so this is a combination of thin and light devices and gaming laptops that are priced at less than 1500 us first up we have the microsoft surface pro 8. if you recall my review of this tablet laptop one of the things that stood out the most was its price it was just way way too expensive but now because of the back to school season microsoft is actually offering bundles with huge discounts and i found this spec with an i5 1135 g7 16 gigs of ram and a 256 gigabyte ssd now yes this is using intel's previous gen tiger lake processor but hear me out for a sec for less than fifty 59 you get the pro 8 the type cover and the slim pen that tucks right underneath the keyboard and if you're a student this combination is a game changer for note-taking and digital artwork i use the surface pro 2 during my university days and i absolutely loved the experience you also get a fantastic 16 by 10 high resolution display that's bright and sporting 120 hertz plus the performance that these chips put out are really impressive due to the power that microsoft has allocated to these chips along with longer battery life now if storage is a concern you can easily upgrade to a one terabyte ssd like this one over here if you want to learn how to check out my full review which i'll leave a link down below in the description oh and did i also mention that it's 0.57 inches thin that my friends is portability at its finest next up we have apple's new m2 macbook air now it starts at 1200 but i would actually avoid the bass spec because of its poor ssd performance and upgrade to the 512 gig model now this would be my ideal spec choice with the 10 core gpu for 1500 which isn't cheap but if you're student apple is offering special 100 discounts on all macs so you can save some money there now this laptop surprised me by a long shot guys the build quality is top notch the display is beautiful and bright you get a fantastic track pad and keyboard along with magsafe and most importantly the performance and battery life this thing offers puts a lot of windows laptops in the market to shame like seriously in fact i did a separate video comparing it to some of its competition so be sure to check that out i should also mention that it is passively cooled meaning there are no fans it's completely fanless on top of that apple has managed to cram all this hardware into a chassis that's just .44 inches thin that's the thinnest laptop that has ever got to the studio so really really impressive now if you still think it's too much to spend on an apple laptop check out their refurbished section because you can actually find some awesome deals on last year's m1 macbook pro which is still an excellent option i found this one for around thirteen hundred dollars now if you're looking for a macbook air equivalent windows laptop the new dell xps 13 is a stunning choice for starters it comes in two unique colors like sky blue and umber red and they look really cool guys even the interior space follows the color theme which is something that you won't find on other windows laptops it's only 0.55 inches thin and it weighs around 2.6 pounds so this won't break your back hopping between classes it's also got a stunning 16x10 1200p display the specs include an i7 1250 u processor with 16 gigs of ram and half retired battery storage and it costs around 1350 us dollars now performance might not be its forte but what you get here is a well built machine with mediocre battery life my only issue with it is the lack of a headphone jack it only comes with two thunderbolt type c ports which is really really limiting especially if you plan to plug a lot of accessories to it so please be aware of that next up we have lenovo's legion five now this is the seventh generation product that's a complete upgrade compared to gen six so the build quality is better the keyboard and trackpad have improved by a slight amount and the performance you get for the price is pretty amazing now keep in mind that lenovo has their laptops on sale pretty much all the time and i found this one for 1250 at the time of making this video and that gets you a ryzen 5 600u cpu 16 gigs of ram half terabyte storage and an rtx 3060 powering a 1080p 165hz ips display now legion is well known for the amount of power that they supply to the cpu and gpu so the 360 inside this laptop is rated for up to 140 watts and that translates to incredible gaming performance the cooling system inside this laptop is also robust to keep things under control it's also fairly portable zed height is only 0.79 inches and it weighs around 5.3 pounds you also get a lot of ports most of them at the back for easier cable management plus it comes in this clean and stealth design which is my personal favorite and for the price you really can't go wrong with legion 5 guys now i do have some honorable mentions for this category as well i remember the acer swift 3 that i talked about earlier well if you're looking for a little bit more power with a discreet graphics card consider the swift x with an rtx 3050 that goes for 1200 dollars the other bonus is that you also get a 16 by 10 aspect ratio screen and this unique alga green finish the other laptop that i want to bring up is the asus zenbook s13 oled the top spec model goes for less than 1500 but the biggest issue here is finding it in stock i looked everywhere here in north america and i was out of luck but if you do happen to find one pull the trigger right away don't even second guess because it check marks everything that you're looking for as a student i am back to say the nano has this really clever fan shroud to direct the airflow directly into the main chamber while the mini is all about reviving that whole micro tx form factor so join the nano mini club with the mesh phi 2 and define 7 series explore all the case options down below i'm out for real this time all right so now on to the mighty high-end category that's more than 1500 this is probably where you'll need to come up with some good excuse to convince your parents to spend that kind of money first up we have the lenovo slim 7i pro x now this is a very sleek thinner light laptop that packs respectable specs for around sixteen hundred dollars so that includes a 12-gen core i7 12700 cpu which is more powerful than the i7 1260p that were in some of the laptops that i discussed earlier um it's also got 16 gigs of ram half a terabyte of storage and an rtx 3050 graphics card perhaps the best feature about this laptop is its beautiful 3k ips 120 hertz touch display that's bright and color accurate the build quality is also superb since it's in all aluminum construction the keyboard and trackpad are similar to what you get on the thinkpad series which in my opinion is state-of-the-art hardware personally this is something that i'd pick over something like the xps 15 since it's much cheaper offers similar performance and comes with more ports and it's smaller and thinner next up we have the asus zephyrus rog g14 now this one's priced at below 1700 and that gets you a really powerful ryzen 9 cpu with 16 cores 16 gigs of ram a terabyte of storage and a radeon rx 6700 s gpu powering a quad hd 16 by 10 120 hertz display now i was really impressed with the performance that this thing offers in a compact form factor that's only 0.73 inches thin and it only weighs around 3.64 pounds the battery life is also really good the keyboard and trackpad are one of the best combinations that you can find for a windows gaming laptop so if you're looking for an all-white and clean laptop with some jaw-dropping performance the g14 should be on the top of your list the only thing to look out for is that there are some qc issues that people have been reporting plus if you're looking to edit videos on this thing the amd combination just it won't really benefit you you're much better off with something with an nvidia graphics card now if you're looking for a little bit more performance in a sleek package check out legion 5 pro now this is one of my favorite gaming laptops that is priced appropriately for 1800 you get a ryzen 7 cpu 16 gigs of ram terabyte of storage and an rtx 3070 gpu that's rated for 150 watts and let me tell you that makes it wicked fast not to mention it has one of the best gaming displays that you can find uh because it's bright it has 165 refresh rate and it has a 16 by 10 aspect ratio the keyboard is nicely defined and you get all of this in a clean storm gray finish that blends in within any environment it's essentially legion five but on steroids now the only thing to be aware of is its massive power adapter because the battery life is not the greatest considering the amount of power this thing draws okay so last but not least if you think about the best performance in a fairly thin form factor the razer blade 15 is probably something that you'd consider heck i would even too but instead of spending over three thousand dollars on it consider the rog zephyrus m16 now this laptop in my opinion is the best alternative to the blade why well it's over a thousand dollars cheaper while packing the same specs but the best part is that asus feeds more power into the components that matches or in some cases beats the blade on top of that you get a 16 by 10 aspect ratio display that's bright and covers a wider color gamut a better keyboard and massive trackpad and tons of ports including full-size hdmi and ethernet it's slightly thicker than the blade 15 but not by all that much and it weighs about the same so that pretty much concludes this roundup guys i hope this video simplifies your shopping process before classes begin now if i've missed any laptops in this video feel free to chime in the comments down below let's have an open discussion and help each other out and until next time spend responsibly my friendsokey dokey back to school shopping has already begun summer's almost over here in canada which really sucks but hey if you're a student you're probably looking to get some supplies perhaps reorganizing your desk setup just to prepare for a productive school year and if you're shopping around for a laptop well i can imagine how difficult it could be since there are tons of options out there in the market however i do want to take this time to acknowledge a few things tech is getting really really expensive part of that is due to inflation and the chip shortage that we're unfortunately facing at the moment so finding good laptops that cost less than a thousand dollars is becoming harder and harder they're out there but just like everything else they're getting more and more expensive the other thing i need to mention are a few little pointers for laptop shopping number one is to avoid laptops with eight gigabytes of ram or less well unless it's a mac but more on that later also 256 gigabytes of storage space probably won't be enough especially not with a heavier operating system like windows 11. i would also avoid laptops that ship with windows 11 se because third-party applications just aren't supported and you lose a lot of features compared to windows 11. also make sure to use resources like camel camel camel to find good deals on amazon i've actually done a separate video covering what to look for in a laptop so you can check it out right over here or leave a link down in the description anyways with that out of the way in order to make the cut for this video these devices need to fulfill five criterias availability price portability battery life and performance or bang for buck the remaining are just bonuses or value add-ons that come with each laptop by the way links to all of these laptops will be down in the description and i'm just gonna kick things off with the budget friendly category that's less than eight thousand dollars us our first pick is the acer swift three this is a similar version to the swift x that we checked out not too long ago but with a few exceptions it only comes with integrated graphics and a 14 inch 16 by 9 quad hd ips display in a simple and minimalistic design for a thousand dollars you get a 12 gen core i7 1260p all the late processor with 16 gigs of ram and half per terabyte storage the port setup is also similar to the swift x which also includes thunderbolt 4 so if you're building a desk setup with a docking station a monitor and other accessories this can come in clutch as for portability the zen height is only 0.63 inches or 16 millimeters which is a little bit thinner than the swiftx but that's due to the lack of a discrete gpu battery life should also be similar if not better than the swift x so expect around 11 to 12 hours on a single charge next up we have the lenovo ideapad 5 pro now this one retails for around 850 right now and the specs include a ryzen 5 6600u cpu with 6 cores and 12 threads 16 gigs of ram terabit of storage and a 2.2 k ips touch display i love the clean storm gray finish guys this whole chassis is made out of aluminum so build quality is really good the keyboard and trackpad inherits some of its dna from the thinkpad series you also get a lot of ports including full-size hdmi and a full-size sd card reader and the ryzen by cpu is a good balance of performance and efficiency so expect really good battery life we're talking up to 16 hours which is awesome as for size it's only 0.63 inches thin so it's similar to the swift 3 and it weighs around 3.3 pounds which is slightly heavier than swift but that's due to the sturdier aluminum construction now next up we have something that's strictly geared towards performance for under a thousand dollars this is a great option if you're an engineering student or anyone who just would benefit from a discrete gpu meet the acer nitro 5 specifically the best buy exclusive variant now for 850 you get a core i5 12 500h with 16 threads 16 gigs of ram half terabyte storage and an rtx 3050 ti gpu that's powering a 1080p 144hz ips display i will warn you that build quality is not the greatest since it's an all plastic construction that's also thicker coming in at 1.06 inches or 27 millimeters and it weighs around 5.5 pounds so it's definitely bulkier than the idea pad and the swift three but the real deal for this price is the performance if you're looking to get into gaming and don't want to spend a ton of money this is a great start since the frame rate that it puts out is very respectable on top of that you can take advantage of gpu acceleration for apps that you may use for your courses now i do have some honorable mentions for this category the first one is the hp pavilion aero 13. this in my opinion is still a rare gem for less than a thousand dollars now while it does sport a previous gen ryzen 7 5800u cpu the rest of specs are just amazing and i'm actually pretty impressed in terms of what hp was able to cram inside such a slim form factor which is about 0.62 inches it's also super lightweight it's got a 16 by 10 display that's also bright you can't really go wrong with this machine guys the next laptop on my list is the dell inspiron 16 because it's got a massive 16 inch display but be mindful that it's only a 215 nit panel so not the brightest panels that you can find out there the specs are pretty good for less than a thousand dollars because you get a core x7 cpu with 16 gigs of ram and half a terabyte of storage whoa what a great day designed and miniaturized in sweden you can now nano and mini with the mashify 2 and define 7 series wow everyone's been asking fractal to complete the series for that iconic experience just on the smaller package always capable in the right hands some might say these are cute i say they're very classy see you later all right so our next segment is mid-range so this is a combination of thin and light devices and gaming laptops that are priced at less than 1500 us first up we have the microsoft surface pro 8. if you recall my review of this tablet laptop one of the things that stood out the most was its price it was just way way too expensive but now because of the back to school season microsoft is actually offering bundles with huge discounts and i found this spec with an i5 1135 g7 16 gigs of ram and a 256 gigabyte ssd now yes this is using intel's previous gen tiger lake processor but hear me out for a sec for less than fifty 59 you get the pro 8 the type cover and the slim pen that tucks right underneath the keyboard and if you're a student this combination is a game changer for note-taking and digital artwork i use the surface pro 2 during my university days and i absolutely loved the experience you also get a fantastic 16 by 10 high resolution display that's bright and sporting 120 hertz plus the performance that these chips put out are really impressive due to the power that microsoft has allocated to these chips along with longer battery life now if storage is a concern you can easily upgrade to a one terabyte ssd like this one over here if you want to learn how to check out my full review which i'll leave a link down below in the description oh and did i also mention that it's 0.57 inches thin that my friends is portability at its finest next up we have apple's new m2 macbook air now it starts at 1200 but i would actually avoid the bass spec because of its poor ssd performance and upgrade to the 512 gig model now this would be my ideal spec choice with the 10 core gpu for 1500 which isn't cheap but if you're student apple is offering special 100 discounts on all macs so you can save some money there now this laptop surprised me by a long shot guys the build quality is top notch the display is beautiful and bright you get a fantastic track pad and keyboard along with magsafe and most importantly the performance and battery life this thing offers puts a lot of windows laptops in the market to shame like seriously in fact i did a separate video comparing it to some of its competition so be sure to check that out i should also mention that it is passively cooled meaning there are no fans it's completely fanless on top of that apple has managed to cram all this hardware into a chassis that's just .44 inches thin that's the thinnest laptop that has ever got to the studio so really really impressive now if you still think it's too much to spend on an apple laptop check out their refurbished section because you can actually find some awesome deals on last year's m1 macbook pro which is still an excellent option i found this one for around thirteen hundred dollars now if you're looking for a macbook air equivalent windows laptop the new dell xps 13 is a stunning choice for starters it comes in two unique colors like sky blue and umber red and they look really cool guys even the interior space follows the color theme which is something that you won't find on other windows laptops it's only 0.55 inches thin and it weighs around 2.6 pounds so this won't break your back hopping between classes it's also got a stunning 16x10 1200p display the specs include an i7 1250 u processor with 16 gigs of ram and half retired battery storage and it costs around 1350 us dollars now performance might not be its forte but what you get here is a well built machine with mediocre battery life my only issue with it is the lack of a headphone jack it only comes with two thunderbolt type c ports which is really really limiting especially if you plan to plug a lot of accessories to it so please be aware of that next up we have lenovo's legion five now this is the seventh generation product that's a complete upgrade compared to gen six so the build quality is better the keyboard and trackpad have improved by a slight amount and the performance you get for the price is pretty amazing now keep in mind that lenovo has their laptops on sale pretty much all the time and i found this one for 1250 at the time of making this video and that gets you a ryzen 5 600u cpu 16 gigs of ram half terabyte storage and an rtx 3060 powering a 1080p 165hz ips display now legion is well known for the amount of power that they supply to the cpu and gpu so the 360 inside this laptop is rated for up to 140 watts and that translates to incredible gaming performance the cooling system inside this laptop is also robust to keep things under control it's also fairly portable zed height is only 0.79 inches and it weighs around 5.3 pounds you also get a lot of ports most of them at the back for easier cable management plus it comes in this clean and stealth design which is my personal favorite and for the price you really can't go wrong with legion 5 guys now i do have some honorable mentions for this category as well i remember the acer swift 3 that i talked about earlier well if you're looking for a little bit more power with a discreet graphics card consider the swift x with an rtx 3050 that goes for 1200 dollars the other bonus is that you also get a 16 by 10 aspect ratio screen and this unique alga green finish the other laptop that i want to bring up is the asus zenbook s13 oled the top spec model goes for less than 1500 but the biggest issue here is finding it in stock i looked everywhere here in north america and i was out of luck but if you do happen to find one pull the trigger right away don't even second guess because it check marks everything that you're looking for as a student i am back to say the nano has this really clever fan shroud to direct the airflow directly into the main chamber while the mini is all about reviving that whole micro tx form factor so join the nano mini club with the mesh phi 2 and define 7 series explore all the case options down below i'm out for real this time all right so now on to the mighty high-end category that's more than 1500 this is probably where you'll need to come up with some good excuse to convince your parents to spend that kind of money first up we have the lenovo slim 7i pro x now this is a very sleek thinner light laptop that packs respectable specs for around sixteen hundred dollars so that includes a 12-gen core i7 12700 cpu which is more powerful than the i7 1260p that were in some of the laptops that i discussed earlier um it's also got 16 gigs of ram half a terabyte of storage and an rtx 3050 graphics card perhaps the best feature about this laptop is its beautiful 3k ips 120 hertz touch display that's bright and color accurate the build quality is also superb since it's in all aluminum construction the keyboard and trackpad are similar to what you get on the thinkpad series which in my opinion is state-of-the-art hardware personally this is something that i'd pick over something like the xps 15 since it's much cheaper offers similar performance and comes with more ports and it's smaller and thinner next up we have the asus zephyrus rog g14 now this one's priced at below 1700 and that gets you a really powerful ryzen 9 cpu with 16 cores 16 gigs of ram a terabyte of storage and a radeon rx 6700 s gpu powering a quad hd 16 by 10 120 hertz display now i was really impressed with the performance that this thing offers in a compact form factor that's only 0.73 inches thin and it only weighs around 3.64 pounds the battery life is also really good the keyboard and trackpad are one of the best combinations that you can find for a windows gaming laptop so if you're looking for an all-white and clean laptop with some jaw-dropping performance the g14 should be on the top of your list the only thing to look out for is that there are some qc issues that people have been reporting plus if you're looking to edit videos on this thing the amd combination just it won't really benefit you you're much better off with something with an nvidia graphics card now if you're looking for a little bit more performance in a sleek package check out legion 5 pro now this is one of my favorite gaming laptops that is priced appropriately for 1800 you get a ryzen 7 cpu 16 gigs of ram terabyte of storage and an rtx 3070 gpu that's rated for 150 watts and let me tell you that makes it wicked fast not to mention it has one of the best gaming displays that you can find uh because it's bright it has 165 refresh rate and it has a 16 by 10 aspect ratio the keyboard is nicely defined and you get all of this in a clean storm gray finish that blends in within any environment it's essentially legion five but on steroids now the only thing to be aware of is its massive power adapter because the battery life is not the greatest considering the amount of power this thing draws okay so last but not least if you think about the best performance in a fairly thin form factor the razer blade 15 is probably something that you'd consider heck i would even too but instead of spending over three thousand dollars on it consider the rog zephyrus m16 now this laptop in my opinion is the best alternative to the blade why well it's over a thousand dollars cheaper while packing the same specs but the best part is that asus feeds more power into the components that matches or in some cases beats the blade on top of that you get a 16 by 10 aspect ratio display that's bright and covers a wider color gamut a better keyboard and massive trackpad and tons of ports including full-size hdmi and ethernet it's slightly thicker than the blade 15 but not by all that much and it weighs about the same so that pretty much concludes this roundup guys i hope this video simplifies your shopping process before classes begin now if i've missed any laptops in this video feel free to chime in the comments down below let's have an open discussion and help each other out and until next time spend responsibly my friends\n"