We have returned for more of our back to school picks.  You can keep up with all of them here.  For the parents looking to provide their kids w/ better tools for learning, we’re here to help.   We have compiled a product guide to make your choice for mobile computing a lot easier with great specs and pricing to fit your needs.

2013 Back To School Guide: Laptops

This time around, we are moving from the super-portable to the ultra-portables with laptops.
Samsung Chromebook Series 3
A hit for Google’s Chromebooks, the Samsung Series 3 is a lightweight champ.  On paper it may seem ill-equipped w/ its 2GB of RAM, 16GB SSD but it makes up for it elsewhere.  Like having a 11.6inch display, dual-core Exynos processor, & 100GB of Google Drive cloud storage. Running the Chrome OS, it boots up in under 20 seconds and works like the browser.  Ideal for pretty much everything except creating/editing audio + video.   Other than that, you can lose.

Attractively priced at $249, neither will you/your parents pockets.  Sold at Amazon, Best Buy, Google, & more.  

Lenovo Yoga 11S
Living up to its name, the Lenovo Yoga is quite the flexible piece of machinery – literally.  Thanks to Lenovo’s 360-degree flip-and-fold design, gives the laptop the facade of being more than one device.  The Yoga can bend into four different ways + modes (Laptop, Stand, Tent, & Tablet).  Offering an 11.6inch IPS display w/ 10-point multitouch support, 1.4GHz Intel Core i3 to a 1.5GHz Core i7 processor, 4GB or 8GB of RAM, 128GB – 512GB SSD, suggested 6 hours battery life, under one inch thick & weighs just over 3lbs.

Pricing starts at $749 as you can order one from Amazon or Lenovo directly.

MacBook Air
The ultimate all-around laptop crafted by the good folks at Apple.  Sporting a lightweight, slim body and an all-day (9-12 hours) battery life thanks to the new Haswell Intel processors.  Coming in two display sizes: 11.6inch or 13.3inch, powered by a 1.3GHz or 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 4GB or 8GB of RAM, and 128GB-512GB SSD.  Ideal to handle a multitude of tasks of faster performance and a farther Wi-Fi range than previous models.

Pricing starts at $999 for the 11.6inch base model and can be picked up here.

Sony VAIO Pro 11
Sony’s latest in mobile computing offers power in a lightweight from factor.  The VAIO Pro series is set to be the Windows competition for the MacBook Air, in regard to performance, thinness, & weight.  Weighing at just under 2lbs, this may just be the lightest laptop on the market. Armed w/ the latest Haswell Intel processors: 1.6GHz Core i5 or 1.8GHz Core i7 dual-core CPUs, 4GB or 8GB of RAM, choice of 128GB or 256GB SSD, and suggested 7-hour battery life on an 11.6inch LED full HD display.

Pricing starts at $1,149.99 and can be purchased at Amazon or the Sony Store.  

MacBook Pro Retina
This is THE top-of-the-line portable MacBook out on the market right now that is powerful too.  Able to handle plenty of high-end tasks like audio & video creation/editing.  Thanks to the powerful CPU: 2.5GHz dual-core-2.7GHz quad-core, coming in 13.3inch or 15.4inch Retina display (resolution is double that of your 1080p HDTV), 8GB – 16GB of RAM, and 128GB – 768GB of SSD.

Pricing starts at $1,499 for the 13.3inch and goes up towards the $3,000 range.  They can be picked here and where ever Macs are sold. 

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