This budget-friendly Chromebook is a steal for students at just under $150

Students rejoice, this budget-friendly 14-inch HP Chromebook is even cheaper at Best Buy right now, with the retailer lopping a massive 50% off the MSRP.

We all know MacBooks don't come cheap, and the cost of a Windows laptop can escalate all too quickly, so if price is a critical factor for you it may be worth considering a Chromebook. Google's Chrome OS is lightweight operating system, which means it's easy to run on less powerful hardware — great news if you want a good computing experience without paying big dollars for a powerful machine.

When it comes to bang for your bucks, the HP 14 Chromebook is one of the best laptops around and an ideal student laptop, which is made even sweeter now that Best Buy is offering it for just $149 rather than the MSRP of $299. That means you can jump into Chrome OS for a lot less.

HP 14 Chromebook: Was $299, now $149 at Best Buy
Save $150

HP 14 Chromebook: Was $299, now $149 at Best Buy
Save $150
on the HP 14-inch Chromebook, ideal for students using Google services regularly.

Chrome OS is perfect for anyone who works exclusively in Google's suite of apps and services. If you're submitting projects via Gmail, writing in Docs, working with Sheets, or storing all of your important files in Drive, you'll feel right at home.

The Play Store has access to a whole range of apps, but it's worth stressing that your Windows and Mac apps won't run on Chrome OS — so be wary if you use specialized software.

It doesn't come with a lot of storage, only 64GB, but that may go further than you think since much of Google's tools and apps are cloud-based. After all, if you keep everything in Google Drive, you only need to download things as and when you need them.

If you've not made the jump to Chromebooks yet, the average customer rating on Best Buy for this one is a whopping 4.5 stars out of 5, so it would seem many are enjoying the switch — could you be next? At this price it's hard not to to make that leap with this budget-friendly laptop.

Lloyd Coombes

Lloyd Coombes freelance tech and fitness writer for Live Science. He's an expert in all things Apple as well as in computer and gaming tech, with previous works published on TopTenReviews, Space.com, Dexerto and TechRadar. You'll find him regularly testing the latest MacBook or iPhone, but he spends most of his time writing about video games as Editor in Chief at GGRecon.com. He also covers board games and virtual reality, just to round out the nerdy pursuits.