Back-to-School Supplies: Laptops That Make the Grade; From Cost-Friendly, Size, to GBs

With parents and college students looking for the best back-to-school deals, technology is definitely the word to have in mind.

PC World features a unique chart of price and specs comparison for those looking to buy a new laptop. From Acer's Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 with a 14-inch screen and weighing in 4.3 pounds to Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air weighing in 2.96 pounds, the comparison is definitely something to utilize.

Perhaps the affordable to PC World if the HP Envy Sleekbook, with a wide 15.6 screen size, weighing a light 3.7 pounds, ranging between $600-800.

PC Advisor suggests for a backpack-friendly laptop, go with MacBook Air, ranging in both 11-inch and 13.3-inch laptops. The 11-inch model carries up to 128 GB in storage room with along two USB 3.0 ports and an integrated 720p HD webcam. Prices range from $1,000 to $1,200.

"Besides being superthin and superfast, the MacBook Airs are great for students who also crave versatility: Booting both Mac OS X and Windows on these laptops is easy (additional license for Windows required)," said PC World's Melanie Pinola.

NewsFactor reports latest MacBook Air laptops are equipped with the latest OS X Mountain Lion.

News Factor's Marc Saltzman recommends the 15-inch Samsung Series 9, calling it "a top-of-the-line pick."

With eight gigabytes of system memory, the Samsung laptop is light, lasts up to 10 hours without charging, a LED screen with 1600 by 900 resolution, and upgradeable to Windows 8 this October for free.

Living in a dorm this year?

PC Advisor also suggests the Lenovo IdeaPad U310. Costing less than $800, the Ultrabook is available in multiple colors, a third-generation Intel processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 500 GB hard drive.