Corrine Stokoe2020 will forever be remembered as the year that most parents earned a new job title: TEACHER. Whether you're reluctant, enthused, or somewhere in between, homeschooling or some kind of online distance learning is the new normal for most of us this back-to-school season. Our two big girls are both in school this year, Lyla is starting kindergarten and Ani is a second grader, and both are doing online school until schools open back up in California. That means we, like many of you, we're in need of another laptop.
Since this podcast episode went live and states and districts starting unveiling their back to school plans, I have received many, many DMs from parents requesting help. What is the best affordable laptop? Where can I get a good deal on a laptop for my kids? I was thrilled when eBay reached out and wanted to tackle this challenge with us. Our team did ALL the research and now we're sharing our #1 affordable laptop pick that's here to save the day for back-to-school!
The furniture philosophy
The way I feel about electronics is the way I feel about furniture. Like everyone, I want to get a good deal, but I also only want to buy something once! I never want to sacrifice quality to save a buck and buy something so cheap that I end up spending 5x more replacing it over and over and over.
That, my friends, is the beauty of eBay and buying certified refurbished! eBay has an insane selection of high quality, certified refurbished laptops that are tested, verified and come directly from the manufacturers. Like new, but way better on your bottom line!
Do your homework
Do your homework! Or tell your teacher the dog ate it, because we did ALL the research for you! Our team did a ton of research, with spreadsheets and side by side comparisons-the whole works! We looked at hundreds and hundreds of refurbished laptops on eBay to find you a very good deal on a very good laptop.
After all of our research, we narrowed it down to one computer that we thought was a good deal, had great ratings, and appeared to be the best pick. However, then our teammate Jebie totally swooped in and schooled us on an even BETTER option based on her experiences with lots and lots and LOTS of different computers.
The BEST affordable laptop
Out of all the certified refurbished laptops on eBay, the Lenovo IdeaPad comes out on top. This laptop is second only to Apple in terms of speed. On average, this laptop boots up and works about 10 seconds faster than any other laptop and it STAYS fast. Jebie has been using hers for SEVEN years. If that's not quality, I don't know what is!
This laptop is lightweight, the size of a notebook, Bluetooth enabled, and features a built-in webcam and microphone; making it perfect for the Zoom classroom. It's not a fancy laptop. It doesn't have any bells and whistles. We didn't need any of that for the kids. We needed a laptop that would work well to stream their online lessons and do their online school work and the IdeaPad totally delivers. I'm so sad this exact laptop is sold out at the moment, but you can find so many other great options HERE for up to 50% off!
Both girls have taken the new laptop for a test-drive while we wait for school to start and it's been a great pick so far. Ani has been using it to learn coding and Lyla has been using it for pre-k and kindergarten learning programs and it's awesome!
Overall, this laptop has excellent specs for the money you're spending and performs really, really well!
eBay benefits
eBay has it all! If there is something that you're looking for, eBay probably has it, has an amazing deal on it, AND offers free shipping. Yes, FREE SHIPPING. Win-win-win. Every certified refurbished laptop eBay sells comes with a 90-day warranty and a hassle-free money-back guarantee. You can breathe easy knowing your laptop will work and last like new. But if it's not what you expected, you can totally return it. Best back to school news in like EVER.
Lyla's Dress
Even MORE Options
Just in case the IdeaBook isn't the very best option for you, we're sharing even more of our TOP picks based on the hours of research we did. We rounded up all the very BEST certified refurbished laptops on eBay to take all of the guesswork out of the process for YOU.
