The best cheap laptop for 2025 – budget computers less than $ 500

There are a lot of models less than $ 1,000 on the market at any specific moment, and a large part of those less than $ 500. As long as you manage your expectations when it comes to options and specifications, you can still get a lot of budget laptop model, including a good battery life and a reasonably lightweight laptop body. (If you are replacing a laptop from the old Windows, you are no longer ready to run Windows anymore, think about Convert it into the Chrome book))

price

If the Intel and PC Ranuvance statistics are right, you will stick to this laptop for at least three years, so don’t skimp if you can extend your budget a little to better specifications.

Better, consider a laptop with a replaceable battery (if you can find one), or an upgrade memory (although memory is usually limited to the motherboard), graphics and storage card, or all of the above . If you do this, wander the user reviews and comments on people’s experiences by upgrading a specific model. Sometimes they require ownership parts or require access to hard -to -reach sites in the system.

to Laptop for cheap gamesYou still have to break the $ 500 roof to support most games. The least expensive laptops with a budget suitable for trying strong games – those that have moderate separate graphics processors – will approach $ 700. Below our recommendations if you are looking for The best game for games is less than $ 1,000. If you want to live on the edge of bleeding, cloudy games such as NVIDIA GeForce Now and Microsoft Xbox Game Game Pass will allow you to play games on laptops with specifications of $ 500.

A bright point is that you do not have to settle a traditional laptop computer with a fixed screen and a keyboard. You can also get a convertible laptop (also known as the two, which is two in one), which contains a screen that is divided to convert the screen into a tablet, to flow for comfortable broadcast or to make a presentation.

You can also try to make the current laptop last longer. If you need something that exceeds you for a few months, search in possible places to buy the tables that have been renewed and explore non -profit or educational discounts if you are eligible.

Windows, Mac or Chromebook

You will not find cheap laptop prices for MacBook or any other Apple laptop. At best, you can get the current MacBook AIR beginner for $ 999. For sale, you may be able to get it for less, but it will never reach the “budget” area. Even the iPad will run more than $ 500 by buying optional keyboard (although it may succeed less if you are looking for sales on the tablet or keyboard), which is higher than our budget here. The primary iPad with Bluetooth keyboard may be inexpensive and a cheap position for the iPad is sufficient.

It is easier to find inexpensive Chromebooks from cheap Windows laptops, making them one of the most popular budget laptops in the market, although we also see a lot of chrome books in a range of $ 500 to $ 1,000 and more laptops Windows in a range of $ 500. These Windows systems are often reshaped that do not restore Chromebook configurations that are not truly connected to Windows operating comfortably.

Google’s chromos are almost not like energy like Windows, so that you can get it through a low processor, storing slower and lower screen resolution or random access memory; Only a few ingredients that make the laptop are expensive. The other side is Chrome and Google applications are more than a memory pig than you expect, and if you are very low with the processor or vision on memory, the system will remain slow.

While Chromebooks can run chromeos and Android applications, some people need full Windows operating system to play more stable applications, such as video editing wings. However, the need for a faster processor comes with more cores, more memory – 8 GB RAM is the minimum, although 16 GB is preferred – and more storage for applications and the operating system itself.

Chromeos is also a very different experience from Windows; Ensure that the applications you need Chrome appAndroid or Linux application before achieving the jump. Since Chromebooks are the first cloud devices, you do not need much built -in storage.

This also means that if you spend most of your time roaming the web, writing, broadcasting video or playing Android games, it is good. If you are hoping to play Android games, make sure you get a chromebook on a touch screen.

measuring

Remember to consider if you have a lighter laptop, thinner, or a touch screen computer with a good battery life, it will be important for you in the future. The volume is mainly determined by the screen, which in turn is the factors in the battery size, laptop thickness and weight.

Communication laptops, generally 13 inches or smaller, rare less than $ 700. It turns out, which makes things smaller not always equal to cheaper. In general, you will find laptops balancing 14 sizes, 15.6 and 17.3 inches. Also, due to low prices, Chromebook books are 11.6 inches attractive. We do not recommend this size to any other young students.

In the budget price range, you should pay attention to screen terminology when it comes to specifications: HD screen may not always be a really high -resolution screen. HD, which is 1920 x 1080 pixels, is called “HD Full HD” so that the marketers can refer to the less accurate offers (1,280 x 720 pixels) as HD. In Chromebooks, HD usually refers to a 1,366 x 768 pixel screen. On the upper side, the mutation in 14 -inch laptops flows to this price range, allowing more FHD options in this size.

The repeated complaint that we see is about the “washed” display with bad viewing corners. Unfortunately, this is one of the bites: a lot of this uses the TN (twisted), which is cheap but Meh. Look for LCD IPS (switch in the plane), which is better for display outside the angle, brightness and color.

Processor, memory and storage

A lot of Windows laptops use this AMD Athlon, Lower End a Series or Intel Cereon and Pentium Processors to reach low prices. We do not recommend going with Athlon instead of Ryzen or Celeron/Pentium instead of the nucleus: Windows very heavy for them, and in conjunction with 4 GB memory, you may find it slow in it. better.

SSDS can make a big difference in how quickly Windows feels compared to the spinning hard disk, although the old hard disks fortunately have become very rare. Not all SSDs is just as much and cheaper than laptops is the cheapest slower engines. If you need to go with a smaller drive – it tends to the maximum at 256 GB in this price range – you can always add an external or two or two (or five) tablets at some point on the road or use the cloud storage to enhance a small internal drive motor .

For memory, we highly recommend 16 GB of RAM (8 GB minimal). RAM is where the operating system stores all data to run applications currently, and can fill quickly (for example, Chrome now runs 7 GB of my memory). After that, the switch between RAM and SSD begins, which is a little slower. Many sub-laptops contain -500 dollars contain 4 GB or 8 GB, which can make slower laptops frustrating. Also, many laptops now have memory welding on the motherboard. Most manufacturers reveal this, but if the RAM type is LPDDR, it is welded and cannot be promoted. Some of the Memory PC makers will also leave an empty inner opening to add a stick of random access memory. You may need to connect to the laptop manufacturer or find the full specifications of the online laptop to confirm.