Best Buy Launches Laptop Line for Students

Best Buy narrows down the choice for students down to four laptops.

The back to school 'buying season' is one of the hottest for computer sales – laptops especially – and Best Buy hopes to be one of the premier choices for shoppers.

Best Buy today announced a new line of exclusive, customized laptops manufactured by Toshiba, Dell, HP and Sony that cater specifically to students.

The electronics retailer said that its computing team worked with students to identify most desirable features in a laptop, with these six characteristics emerging as the most important: extended battery life; low weight and portable design for easy transport; personalized design, yet professional; full virus protection; preloaded with necessary software (specifically a full version of Office Home and Student); and an affordable price point.

“Best Buy is in a unique position to listen, learn and apply what we hear from people as they interact with technology,” said Kelley Noreen, senior merchant computing. “With college students, we learned that while they notice a laptop’s appearance first, the design, portability and functionality are just as important. These students definitely taught us a few things and reinforced we are focusing on the things that matter the most to them.”

The four models feature battery life ranging three to six hours, weights no more than six pounds, a 14-15.5” screen size. While the hardware specs are all fairly standard for consumer laptops, the preloaded software is what will be of value to students. Each laptop comes preloaded with a full version of Microsoft Office Home & Student and 12-15 months of anti-virus protection

The laptops are priced from $649.99 to $799.99. Find out more on Best Buy's comparison page.