Back to school time is upon us and as you would expect there are a lot of laptop deals targeted at students right now.  Companies such as Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba, Lenovo and Apple all have back to school deals in which you can get discounts or extra freebies when purchasing a laptop.

Apple

Apple has a back to school offer in which you can get an iPod Touch free with the purchase of an Apple MacBook.  In order to qualify for the offer you have to purchase a Mac computer and iPod Touch 8GB version at the same time, and then submit a rebate to get the money back on the iPod Touch. The rebate will be in the amount of $229, which is the cost of the iPod Touch 8GB, you can get the more expensive 16GB iPod Touch and simply pay the difference if you like.  To read about this specific offer read our detailed 2009 Apple iPod and MacBook offer article here and read this article about the ongoing Apple student discount you can get any time of year.

My recommendation for a good student laptop from Apple is the Apple MacBook Pro 13.3″.

Dell

Dell has a student discount, also called the Dell EPP program, in which you can get 5 - 10% off the cost of a purchase from Dell.com if you qualify.  Only higher education students qualify for the Dell student discount, not K - 12, you can access the discount by visiting and registering at DellUniversity.com.

My recommendation for good student laptop choices from Dell are the Studio 14z (see my Studio 14z review here), Dell Inspiron 14 or the Dell Studio 15.

Lenovo

Lenovo has a student discount program in which you can get about 5% off the typical price of a ThinkPad laptop.  To access the Lenovo student discount program just go to this link: http://www.lenovo.com/shop/deals/usstudents.  You can also find Lenovo coupons that offer better than a 5% discount, for instance this month (August 2009) if you use code USPBANNERS at checkout you can get up to a 15% discount on your purchase.  Just search on “Lenovo coupons” to find the latest coupon codes Lenovo is offering.

Recommended laptops from Lenovo include the ThinkPad T400 (see our Lenovo ThinkPad T400 Review) and ThinkPad X200.

Toshiba

Toshiba does not have a student discount program, but they are offering some student bundle specials during this time of back to school.  For example, right now at ToshibaDirect.com you can get up to 25% instant off on laptops, 3 Free accessories, Free shipping and Free upgrade to Windows Vista Ultimate.  The 3 Free accessories include a laptop bag (up to $60 value), Norton Internet 2009 security (a $59.99 value) and a 2GB flash drive (a $12.99 value).  Note, these Free accessories require mail-in rebate so you have to purchase them and apply for the money back.

Sony

Sony has a student discount called the Sony Style Campus program.  The Sony Style campus program allows students and teachers to get 10% off the cost of a Sony VAIO laptop.  To get more details on this program read our Sony Student discount post.  Sony also has a back to school offer running right now, one of these offers includes an up to $250 discount when you purchase two accessories and an Extended Service Plan and 100 free Sony music downloads with any Sony VAIO notebook purchase.

Recommended student laptops from Sony include the VAIO SR and the VAIO FW laptops.

HP

HP has a student discount that they call the Academic Purchase Plan (APP). The student discount via HP is around 7% - 10% off of the regular price of products.

To get the HP student discount just click on the following link: HP Student Discount Link (APP site) you will then be asked what your affiliation is to an academic institution and go through a wizard style interface to select the school you are associated with. You can be K - 12 or higher education, and students, staff or administrators are eligible for the academic discount.

HP also offers frequent coupons that can greatly reduce the cost of a laptop, just search on “HP Coupons” to find such offers.

Recommended student laptops from HP include the Pavilion dv4t (see our HP Pavilion dv4t Review), Pavilion dv6t (see our HP Pavilion dv6t Review) and the Pavilion tx2z TouchSmart.