As the BETT 2021 education conference kicks off (virtually), Microsoft has is announcing five new low-cost Windows laptops with 11.6 inch displays that will be available for education customers with prices starting as low as $185.
All of the new laptops are also available with optional support for 4G LTE connectivity, and with a starting price of $229, one is also the most affordable Windows laptop powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor so far.

Here’s a run-down of the new 4G-ready laptops:
- JP.IK Leap T304: Intel Celeron N4000-powered notebook with 11.6″ TN HD display, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD for $$185 and up
- Acer TravelMate B3: Intel Gemini Lake Refresh, 4GB RAM, up to 128GB of storage for $220 and up
- JP.IK Leap Connect T304: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c-powered model with 4GB RAM, 64GB storage for $229 and up
- Asus ExpertBook BR1100: Intel Jasper Lake, up to 8GB RAM, up to 128GB eMMC, optional touchscreen for $279 and up
- Acer TravelMate Spin B3: Intel Gemini Lake Refresh, 44GB RAM, up to 128GB eMMC storage for $330 and up
I haven’t found an official product page for the JP.IK Leap Connect T304 yet, which is why there’s no link for that model. But it appears to be a clamshell-style notebook with Qualcomm’s low-power ARM-based processor featuring Adreno 618 integrated graphics and a 4G LTE cellular modem.
Last year JP.IK launched the Turn T101 laptop with the same processor, and at the time its $299 price tag made it the most affordable Windows laptop with a Snapdragon processor. Now it looks like educators will have the option of picking one up for an even lower price.
There’s still no word on if or when budget laptops with this new chip will be available for the general public though. Given that Windows PCs with higher-performance Snapdragon chips like the Surface Pro X have received pretty lousy reviews, I can’t imagine that there’s huge demand cheaper devices that will likely offer even less performance. But it’s a lot easier to justify spending $229 on a sluggish PC than $1000.
The specs make me sad, because Win10 will crawl so bad on these, they’ll end up in a landfill about a year later.
The new keyboard strikes again!
“Acer TravelMate Spin B3: Intel Gemini Lake Refresh, 44GB RAM, up to 128GB eMMC storage for $330 and up”
Extra ‘4’ in the RAM field there.
It is interesting to see how the advertising changes for the educational market over time – Never before have cameras and microphones seen such prominence in the spec sheets!