We hope our explainer and product picks here have simplified things. For more of our favorite laptops (that is, including ones outside the Lenovo-sphere), check out our roundup of the best laptops overall, as well as our guides to the best cheap laptops and business laptops. But for our current, ever-evolving list of Lenovo favorites, check out our detailed spec breakout, and don't forget to check back as we test and add new models.

Because Lenovo makes every one of its laptops with a specific set of customers in mind, we can't point you to one line of Lenovo laptops as the absolute "best" for every situation. With that in mind, we've listed and covered each of Lenovo's laptop series below to help you decide which type of Lenovo laptop is best for you.

Lenovo's conventional laptops include ThinkPads (business laptops), ThinkBooks (small-business work machines), and IdeaPads (general-use laptops). Gaming machines fall under Lenovo's Legion (higher-end) and LOQ (budget) lines, while 2-in-1 hybrids come in Yoga (premium) and Flex (budget) varieties. First, let’s look at the laptops that started it all: the ThinkPads.

While we often recommend students consider a MacBook Air for school, or a Dell Premium laptop if they're set on Windows, Lenovo has comparable Yoga and Slim models that would serve much of the same function. Likewise, the new ThinkPad X9 series seems like a shoo-in for college campuses, being directly aimed at Apple's thin-and-light titans.

If you're on a tighter budget or your coursework doesn't require such a well-equipped machine, Lenovo's IdeaPad line would serve you better. This series provides budget-to-midrange systems for basic workloads and entertainment needs.

Finally, Lenovo's ThinkPad and ThinkBook lines feature laptops with top-end processing hardware and even professional-grade parts for academic workloads in computer science, software engineering, and media editing, to name a few. (High-end engineering work is best reserved for workstation models in the ThinkPad P line.)