When looking for laptops for students, we try to factor in more affordable models, but when it comes to coding and programming, anything goes. Every now and then, though, a laptop deal arrives that blurs the lines between the two and offers plenty of value and power in equal measure.
Leave it to Cyber Monday to spring such a surprise on us, and it's Best Buy that has us falling over ourselves to bring you this one. The retailer is offering the HP Envy 2-in-1 for $899.99. That's $300 less than the MSRP, and brings the portable powerhouse into student budget territory.
It's all well and good getting a discount (even with one as steep as this), but it doesn't matter if the laptop itself isn't worth it. Still, with a 4.8-star average rating on Best Buy's own reviews section, it's clear there's something special here.
The combination of a 13th-generation Intel Core i7 and 16GB of RAM is an excellent base to build from, and the 15.6-inch display is big enough for multitasking and juggling multiple windows — although we'd have liked a sharper resolution than the solid, if unspectacular, 1080p.
Still, flip the display over and you've got yourself a capable touch-first tablet setup, running Windows 11 and all the good stuff that brings.
The Intel Iris Xe GPU is integrated, so don't expect to power through video creation or complex image edits, but if you're coding you'll find you can get plenty done here. There are plenty of ports, too, so you can connect USB-A, Thunderbolt 4, and HDMI 2.1 accessories to turn it into more of a desktop setup, too. Better make one of those a webcam, too — the built-in option here is nothing to write home about.
Best Buy will also add Word, Excel, and PowerPoint as part of a discounted Microsoft 365 Personal subscription, too — it's $69.99 at checkout.
