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It’s back-to-school season, which makes now a great time to invest in a new laptop, and that doesn’t just include those heading to campus. Many retailers are offering steep savings on the products students need to make their school year more successful, including deals on noise-cancelling headphones, smart notebooks, and dorm room essentials. The best thing about these next-level savings is that you don’t need to be a student to take advantage of them.

If your computer lags more than it loads, or gets so hot it burns your legs even when the fans are running at full speed, it might be time for a new laptop. There’s a nearly endless supply of laptops on the market, which is overwhelming for most shoppers. Even worse, many of these laptops look identical to one another, only differentiated by their inner workings and storage space. To narrow down your search for a new laptop, we suggest a touchscreen display. This feature doesn’t come standard in every laptop, but it can be incredibly helpful. 

The benefits of a touchscreen laptop

Touchscreen laptops work just like a smartphone, allowing you to select objects on the screen with the touch of your finger. You may be thinking, why would I need a touchscreen on my computer if I already have a mouse? Zooming in on pages, scrolling quickly through websites, or clicking a single box on an entry form can often be done faster than with the mouse. If you’re stuck on a cramped bus or plane, the touchscreen display also requires less elbow room to navigate.

You can find outstanding deals on touchscreen laptops, so getting this upgrade isn’t necessarily more expensive. For example,  the HP 17.3-Inch Anti-Glare Touchscreen Laptop is on clearance at Walmart and has a massive markdown of 65% off. That brings the original $1,800 price tag down to just $632 for a computer with 8 gigabytes (GB) of RAM and a 258 GB solid-state drive. 

HP 17.3-Inch Anti-Glare Touchscreen Laptop

Courtesy of Walmart

The benefit of a touchscreen laptop increases tenfold when it comes with tablet mode and a 360-degree hinge design. Tablet mode transforms your laptop into a tablet with larger icons and a full-size keyboard displayed on the screen, so you can use it just like a standard tablet. To understand how helpful the 360-degree design is, picture a standard laptop when it’s closed: the keyboard and screen rest against each other unseen. With a 360-degree hinge, you can do the inverse, completely opening the laptop until the screen is at the front, and the keyboard is tucked away along the back. 

In these cases, you have a two-in-one laptop and tablet. When you need to type up a report, you can use the laptop like any regular computer. When you want to handwrite notes in class or a meeting, you can switch to tablet mode and scribble down everything with a stylus pen. Tablet mode is also great for downtime if you like playing matching games or streaming shows on Netflix.

The HP Chromebook x360 2-in-1 Laptop is one of the most affordable laptops with a tablet mode at Walmart. The bestseller retails for just $286. If you were to buy a laptop and tablet separately, it would be nearly impossible to find options with similar specifications for under $300.

HP Chromebook x360 2-in-1 Laptop

Courtesy of Walmart

More touchscreen laptop deals

Walmart has several great deals on touchscreen laptops and two-in-one laptops with tablet mode worth checking out. If you don’t mind a lesser-known brand, the best deal we’ve seen is on the Jumper 15.6-Inch 2-in-1 Touchscreen Laptop, with 67% off its original $1,200 price tag. The Dell Inspiron 15 3535 Touchscreen Laptop Computer is on clearance for 60% off and also offers impressive savings. Find these deals and more hand-picked discounts on touchscreen laptops below.

Jumper 15.6-Inch 2-in-1 Touchscreen Laptop

Courtesy of Walmart

Dell Inspiron 15 3535 Touchscreen Laptop Computer

Courtesy of Walmart

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 15-Inch Touchscreen Laptop

Courtesy of Walmart

HP 14-Inch Touch Laptop

Courtesy of Walmart

Asus CM30 2-in-1 Chromebook Laptop and Tablet

Courtesy of Walmart

HP 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop

Courtesy of Walmart

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