WITH NEARLY EVERYTHING COSTING MORE THESE DAYS, CONSUMER REPORTS EXTENSIVE PRODUCT TESTING SHOWS YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEND A LOT TO GET QUALITY TECH FOR YOUR STUDENT. ONE OF THE BEST OPTIONS FOR A TIGHT BUDGET A CHROMEBOOK GENERALLY LESS EXPENSIVE THAN MAC AND PC LAPTOPS, THOUGH NOT THE FASTEST COMPUTERS OUT THERE, BUT FOR KIND OF EVERYDAY STUFF, BROWSING THE WEB, EDITING DOCUMENTS, THAT TYPE OF THING. YOU KNOW, SCHOOL WORK TYPE OF STUFF. THEY'RE TOTALLY FINE. THIS ACER CHROMEBOOK IS A SOLID BUDGET CHOICE. IT'S FAST, HAS A LONG BATTERY LIFE, AND MORE LOCAL STORAGE THAN MOST OTHER CHROMEBOOKS. IF YOUR STUDENT NEEDS SOMETHING THAT WON'T WEIGH DOWN THEIR BACKPACK ON, A MAD DASH TO CLASS, CR SAYS THIS LAPTOP FROM LENOVO IS AN EXCELLENT CHOICE FOR PORTABILITY, AND ITS ERGONOMICS ARE NEAR TOP LEVEL. IF YOUR STUDENT WANTS AN APPLE, SAVE A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY AND STILL GET A VERY GOOD MAC LAPTOP WITH THE 13 INCH MACBOOK AIR WITH THE M2 PROCESSOR, THE M2 IS THE APPLE'S OLDER PROCESSOR, BUT CR'S EXPERTS SAY THE PERFORMANCE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE M2 AND THE NEWER PROCESSOR IS SO SMALL THAT YOU MIGHT AS WELL SAVE A FEW BUCKS BY GOING WITH THE PREVIOUS MODEL. IF YOUR STUDENT ALSO NEEDS A COLOR PRINTER, THIS TANK MODEL FROM EPSON USES LOW COST BOTTLED INK INSTEAD OF EXPENSIVE CARTRIDGES. WHILE THE OVERALL PRINTING PERFORMANCE ISN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO EARN A CR RECOMMENDATION, THE TEXT QUALITY AND SPEED SHOULD BE FINE FOR PRINTING BOOK REPORTS AND WHATEVER ELSE THE TEACHER ASSIGNS. CONSUMER REPORTS SAYS AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER ARE THE BEST TIMES TO BUY A COMPUTER, BECAUSE OF SALES. WHEN YOU'RE SHOPPING, REMEMBER