Best Cheap Laptops Rated As The Best-Sellers On Amazon
When you’re looking for a good, cheap laptop, knowledge is power. Every budget machine (which we’re defining as laptops costing $500 or less) is the product of compromise — corners carefully cut here and there to hit a price point.
Lenovo IdeaPad 320–15ABR
The Lenovo IdeaPad could be a good starter PC for a student or a basic home-office PC
While it’s a laptop and portable by definition, its weight and bulk will likely deter you from taking it far beyond your home or dorm room.
•15.6" HD display with 1366 x 768 resolution; Integrated AMD Radeon graphics
•Powered by a 2.70GHz AMD A12–9720P Quad-core processor
•8GB DDR4 memory; 1TB 5,400rpm HDD hard drive provides plenty of storage; DVD recordable optical drive
•802.11 ac Wi-Fi technology provides Internet speeds up to 3x faster than other laptops; Bluetooth 4.1; 10/100/100M Gigabit Ethernet; 1 USB Type-C port and 2 USB 3.0 ports; 4-in-1 memory card reader; 2-cell lithium ion battery
•Windows 10 brings back the Start Menu from Windows 7 and introduces new features, like the Edge Web browser that lets you markup Web pages on your screen.
Acer Aspire E 15
It’s clear why this one’s been on top for a long time — you get a fair amount for the money. (See our review of last year’s model.) What’s nicest is the large, high-resolution display, a rarity in this price range, even if the brightness is mediocre. It’s also nice to see an 8th-generation CPU in this bargain box, rather than a leftover from a prior era. Add to that the large hard drive and the 10-key keypad, and there’s a lot to like.
It is very heavy, though.
•8th Generation Intel Core i3–8130U Processor (Up to 3.4GHz)
•15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED-lit Display
•6GB Dual Channel Memory, 1TB HDD & 8X DVD
•Up to 13.5-hours of battery life
•Windows 10 Home
Asus VivoBook F510UA
The Asus VivoBook F510UA caught our eye because you don’t normally see a laptop with specs this nice in the budget price range. (The official price is much higher.) The 1080p touchscreen is likely the lower-end of two options Asus offers (the other has a wide 178-degree viewing angle), but the resolution and touch capability are still good perks. The full 8GB of RAM is notable given that many budget laptops have just 4GB or 6GB.
•Powerful 8th Generation Intel Core i5–8250U 1.6GHz (Turbo up to 3.4GHz) processor
•14.2" wide, 0.8" thin and portable footprint with 0.3" NanoEdge bezel for a stunning 80% screen-to-body ratio
•15.6" anti-glare Full HD display with ASUS Splendid software enhancement
•8GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB HDD; Ergonomic chiclet keyboard with fingerprint sensor.Operating System:Windows 10 Pro,Windows 10 Home
•Comprehensive connections including USB 3.1 Type-C (Gen1), USB 3.0, USB 2.0, and HDMI; Lightning-fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi keeps you connected through any congestion or interference
Dell Inspiron 3000 15.6 A6
We understand some budgets are very, very tight, especially if you’re a student. If you can spare only $267 or so for a laptop (and your needs are basic), this particular model looks like a better deal than some others in this price range among Amazon’s bestsellers.
The best spec is the display, a generous 15.6 inches diagonal, whereas other super-cheap laptops we’ve seen have smaller 11-inch or 14-inch screens. Here’s the price compromise: The display resolution is a minimal 1366x768 — a better resolution for the screen size would be 1920x1080.
•Powered by 7th Gen AMD Dual-Core A6–9220 2.50GHz Processor (Boost up to 2.90 GHz, 1MB Cache)
•15.6" diagonal HD (1366x768) WLED-backlit display, AMD Radeon R4 Integrated Graphics
•4GB DDR3 SDRAM, 500GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive, Drive DVD writer
•802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, 1 x HDMI, 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 Headphone/microphone combo jack, 1 RJ-45, multi-format SD media card reader
•Windows 10 64-Bit Home, 4 cell 40 WHr Battery, Color: Black
Apple MacBook Air MJVM2LL (Certified Refurbished)
Apple may have officially killed the 11-inch MacBook Air in 2016, but it lives on in refurbished form, including this offering that hovers around $500 (we saw $499 during our research, but the price has bobbed up a bit since then).
•This Certified Refurbished product is tested and certified to look and work like new. The refurbishing process includes functionality testing, basic cleaning, inspection, and repackaging. The product ships with all relevant accessories, a minimum 90-day warranty, and may arrive in a generic box. Only select sellers who maintain a high-performance bar may offer Certified Refurbished products on Amazon.com
•1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 processor for optimal performance
•11.6-Inch Widescreen display with 1366 x 768 native resolution
•4GB LPDDR3
•128GB SSD; Intel HD Graphics 6000 graphics processor; Two 3.0 USB ports; Standard 802.11a/b/g/n airport and Bluetooth 4.0 keep you connected; SDXC card slot; 38 W h Li-Poly Battery with 10 hours of battery life; Thunderbolt port