How to Get the Best Laptop for the Lowest Price
Gone are the days when a decent
laptop would cost you north of $1,000. In this market, manufacturers are inventing new ways to outsell each other, including aggressive price cutting. It's now possible to pick up a full-size or ultraportable
Windows 10 notebook with a processor powerful enough for use at home, school, or work, for around $500 to $600. It's also easy to find full-featured Chromebooks and hybrid systems that give you both laptop and tablet functionality in one device for as little as $300.
You should be prepared to compromise, however. While it's certainly possible to find a powerful laptop with a 15-inch screen, you might have to make do with a flimsy keyboard and touchpad. Likewise, you could buy an impeccably made ultraportable that uses an underpowered CPU and a tiny hard drive to achieve its low price.
Components and Connectivity: What to Know
The good news is that you'll have to accept fewer compromises with the budget laptops of today than you did in the past. Intel's Atom, Celeron, and Pentium processors (which power most of the under-$400 laptop set) have evolved to the point that they can support most of your web browsing and basic productivity needs without feeling sluggish. The newest integrated GPUs can hold their own in browser-based Flash games and even some online games like World of Warcraft. The higher demands of AAA titles, though, still require a discrete GPU, which you won't find in this price range. (If money is no object, check out our
best recommended laptops for college students and
ultraportables.)
In years past, many of the barest-budget Windows laptops would come with just 2GB of main system memory, but most nowadays come with 4GB. In terms of batteries, an ideal budget laptop has one with six cells or more. The battery life for a cheap laptop should come in at a minimum of five hours, and these days, many will last quite a bit longer. (A lower-resolution screen, which is a feature of some of these machines, can consume less power, all else being equal, and end up being a benefit of sorts.)
When it comes to storage, many inexpensive systems offer up to 500GB of hard drive space. Others, particularly Chromebooks, will have only a small allotment (16GB or 32GB) of local storage, but compensate for it with generous offers of additional free cloud storage. Of course, as with anything cloud-based, you'll need to be online to access it. Also, know that some budget machines, including many Chromebooks, use what is called "eMMC memory" as their main storage. This is not the same as the flash memory used in a true solid-state drive (SSD), and it will feel a tad sluggish if you're used to an SSD.
In terms of features, budget laptops will come with (almost always) at least one USB 3.0 port, and possibly a USB 2.0 port or two. You also may get an SD card slot. A Wi-Fi radio that uses the speedy 802.11ac protocol is also a possibility, although the older 802.11n might still be found in machines in this price range. An HDMI output and a USB-C port are definite pluses, and you can find these on even some of the very cheapest models. You shouldn't always expect a touch-screen display, however. Any 2-in-1 convertible machine, though, will by definition have a touch screen, as having one is necessary for using the machine as a tablet or in other orientations where the keyboard is covered up.
