With many parents opting to educate their kids independently, homeschooling is becoming increasingly popular. While there are a lot of tools for successful homeschooling, none is as important as a good laptop.
We prepared this guide to help you find the best laptop for homeschooling. So, whether you are a parent or tutor looking for a laptop that is the best fit for learning, our recommendations will help you make the best selection.
Our Top Laptops for Homeschooling
We mostly focused on overall performance and affordability while preparing our recommendations of the best homeschooling laptops. We’ll dive into the importance of these features, along with a few others, towards the end of this guide.
Best Overall Laptop for Homeschooling: HP Spectre x360-13t
If we were to recommend only one laptop for homeschooling, it would be the HP Specter X360-13T. The 13-inch is a competitive performer with a host of features that makes it ideal for home-based learning.
The Specter X360-13T runs on an Intel Core i7 Processor with help from 16GB of RAM. This combination gives it powerful performance speeds for running educational programs, browsing and downloading study materials, doing some creative work and playing games.
This laptop is suitable for more than just homeschooling making it a highly versatile option. Given its robust hardware, you can use it for more intensive tasks like video editing, streaming or running more advanced software.
What We Like
- Weighs only 2.8 pounds which makes it lightweight and easy to carry around the home or when traveling
- Powerful Intel Core i7 processor for running educational programs and streaming video tutorials for your kids
- Staggering 16GB of RAM for even faster performance.
- 512GB SSD storage for securely story study materials and helping the laptop boot faster.
- Stylus input to enable your kid to interact better with the display while learning.
What We Don’t Like
- Too expensive making it unfit for parents on a budget.
- Switching between laptop and tablet mode is a bit clumsy.
- - 13.3" diagona
Best Homeschooling Laptop for the Money: Asus ZenBook 13
The ASUS ZenBook 13 offers the best balance between functionality and affordability. So, if you are looking for a laptop that justifies its price with meaningful features, we recommend this one. Just like the HP Specter X360-13T, it also packs a 13.3 inch Full HD display.
Although the performance is a step back from our top recommendation, it is still competitive enough. Thanks to the Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM. With this laptop, you can comfortably download study materials for your kids, play video tutorials, play light games and run educational software such as Home School Panda or Home School Minder without a glitch
The ZenBook 13 is even lighter than the HP Specter X360-13T since it only weighs 2.5 pounds.
What We Like
- 512GB SSD storage helps to reduce boot time while also providing enough space for study materials.
- A combination of Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB RAM results in sturdy performance for running learning apps, tools, streaming online classes and downloading learning material.
- It is portable making it an ideal option for homeschoolers who move around a lot or frequently change their study location.
- Long battery life makes it ideal for homeschooling your kid without the need to carry a charger wherever you go.
What We Don’t Like
- The display is a bit dull which may force you and your kid to strain your eyes while homeschooling.
- Tends to overheat when used for long or when playing videos and games.
- 13.3” wide-view Full-HD NanoEdge bezel display
- Intel Core i5-8265U Processor (up to 3.9 GHz)
- Fast storage and memory featuring 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD and 8GB LPDDR3 RAM
Best Cheap Laptop for Homeschooling: Samsung Chromebook Pro
If you are looking for the cheapest laptop for homeschooling, we recommend the Samsung Chromebook Pro. This is a flexible and highly portable Chromebook. While it packs less robust specs compared to the first two recommendations, it is still a fairly good option especially for homeschoolers who are on a tight budget.
The Intel Core M3 Processor 6Y30 processor and 4GB of RAM will comfortably take care of your laptop’s performance if you don’t plan on running any heavyweight software, play games or stream videos.
We recommend this laptop for basic home learning while you prepare to upgrade to a better option.
What We Like
- Weighs only 2.4 pounds making it our most portable recommendation.
- It is an ideal option for parents on a budget since it is very affordable.
- It is convertible making it flexible and easy to use for learning its different situations.
- It comes with long battery life, thanks to the slightly comprised performance
What We Don’t Like
- It offers subpar performance which makes it only good for basic homeschooling like reading, typing, watching video tutorials or listening to education podcasts.
- Limited storage space for storing learning materials.
- Display: 12.3" 2400x1600, 3:2,400nit
- Intel Core M3 Processor 6Y30 ; 2.2Ghz Speed
- 4GB LPDDR3 Memory (on BD 4GB); Battery Life: 9 hours
What to Look for in the Top Laptop for Homeschooling
A good laptop for homeschooling doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive or come with robust performance. However, this doesn’t mean that you should settle for a laptop with mediocre specs sheets.
Below are some of the features you should look out for when buying a laptop to homeschool your kids.
Storage Capacity
If you are going to use a laptop to tutor your kids, you are probably going to store a lot of files. These include study materials, homework, video tutorials, educational games, apps, and relevant software. For this reason, you will need a laptop with sufficient storage.
You probably have your preference when it comes to storage. This depends on the size of the files you plan to store and whether you will be using the laptop for any other purposes. We recommend you don’t go below 12GB.
For parents on a budget, 32GB should be enough for starters. Of course, you can have as much storage as you depending on your budget. However, if you will only be using the laptop for homeschooling, you shouldn’t blow your budget on gigantic storage.
Performance
Although we don’t recommend getting staggering performance for homeschooling laptops, it is good that the laptop can perform basic relevant tasks fluidly. These include browsing and downloading study materials, running educational software and apps, playing video tutorials and having a shorter boot time.
When looking at performance, we usually consider the CPU and RAM. The processor (CPU) is the heart and brain of the laptop. This means that it is responsible for every function the laptop does such as typing, browsing or playing games. Consider laptops with the latest processors with no slower than 1.3 GHz clock speed.
If you will be running many programs concurrently, look out for processors that are labeled dual-core or quad-core.
This means that they can perform many different functions at the same time without reducing performance speed.
The Random Access Memory works closely with the processor to boost the laptop’s performance.
It temporarily stores information on programs that are currently in use so that the processor can access them faster.
For a homeschooling laptop, 4GB RAM or more will be good enough.
Battery Life
A laptop with short battery life is always a bother, whether you are close to the power source or not. You don’t want a laptop that drains power in the middle of a lesson or while you are downloading important study materials.
Look for a laptop that has at least 6 hours of battery life. This should enable you or your kid’s tutor to conduct the lessons without any interruptions.
However, if you have a good budget or intend to use the laptop for more than just homeschooling, we recommend you go for a more than 10-hour battery life.
Operating System
Since you will be using the laptop with your kids, the OS must be easy to use and compatible with most educational features. Usually, this comes down to Windows and macOS since other options like Linux are more suitable for professional use. If you are buying a Chromebook you will most likely be using the Chrome OS.
The OS you choose depends on the type of laptop you have and the homeschooling tools you need to install. For example, if you are buying a MacBook, you will use the macOS. Most people prefer Windows since it is popular, easy to use and compatible with many programs.
Durability
It is important that the homeschooling laptop you buy be kid-proof and resistant to drops or knocks. Any gadget around children is always vulnerable to danger. Consider the build quality, material, and warranty.
Metal and aluminum laptops tend to withstand damage more than plastic ones. The laptop should have at least a one year warranty.
Portability
Homeschooling doesn’t necessarily take place at home. Sometimes you need to travel or study with your kid in a different location. If you move around a lot or like to change study locations, you will want a portable laptop.
This is a laptop that is lightweight and small enough to easily stow in a backpack or laptop bag. Portability also comes in handy when your kid needs to take the laptop to school when the time is right.
Display
A good display for a homeschooling laptop is a must. Remember that you and your kid will be looking at that screen for a long time every day. That is why you want to make sure that it is of good quality and convenient size.
Choosing a display always comes down to size, resolution, and graphics. The graphics come in handy when playing some games or doing creative exercises to boost your kids’ brainpower.
The high resolution ensures the screen displays its content vividly without you having to strain your eyes. In this case, HD displays will be good enough. Also, consider those that have an anti-glare feature to protect your eyes from too much brightness.
The size you want depends on your preferences and the kind of tasks you will be doing. While we always recommend bigger screens, you mustn’t severely sacrifice portability for a bigger display. For homeschooling laptops, we recommend 15-inches and smaller ones.
Touchscreens are also recommended for homeschooling laptops since they make it easy for the kid to interact with the laptop.
Keyboard and Touchpad
You will probably be typing or teaching your kid how to type on the laptop. In this case, you need a comfortable and responsive keyboard and touchpad. Since kids don’t use as much force as adults when typing, we recommend well-spaced and responsive keys.
The touchpad should be equipped to ignore accidental touches while typing since this is very common with kids.
Conclusion
If you are going to invest in a laptop for homeschooling, it better be the absolute best. We hope that this guide will help you buy a laptop that is the best fit for your kids’ study.
