If you haven't thought about it, look at AMD Ryzen processors as alternatives to Intel Core for Windows laptops or alternatives to Intel Celeron and Pentium for Chromebooks.Įven better, if you're comfortable with it, think about an affordable laptop with a replaceable battery (if you can find one), upgradable memory, graphics card and storage, or all of the above. If you suspect you'll be holding onto your new laptop for a while, see if you can stretch your budget to buy a slightly more expensive laptop to accommodate more than 8GB of RAM or a processor with more cores than you were otherwise considering. Also, if there's something you really want in a laptop, like a touchscreen, a backlit keyboard, DDR4 RAM, an HD webcam, Intel UHD Graphics, AMD Radeon Vega Graphics or an HDMI port, check the manufacturer's specs closely to make sure it has it. If you need something to tide you over for a few months, dig into possible places to buy refurbished machines and explore nonprofit or educational discounts if you're eligible. You can also try to make your current laptop last a little longer.
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Even for a laptop, $500 can be a lot of money, and you'll likely be holding onto it for at least three years, if the statistics Intel and PC manufacturers hurl at us are correct. Buying a need-it-now laptop can be like shopping for food while hungry. Use these picks to sort through the competition and don't make rash decisions when you're shopping, because there are a lot of cheap laptops that are just not worth it.Īs a rule of thumb, resist buying out of desperation - don't spend $500 because you can't find a cheaper laptop deal available, for example. It'll also let you know what to look for if you want to continue your budget laptop hunt on your own. This advice is based on our years of testing and review experience to help you understand just what to expect from a laptop priced under $500. If you're not entirely sure what to look for in a good budget laptop - other than a good budget price - jump to our buying advice, which can be found below our recommendations. Here are all of CNET's top picks for laptops that cost less than $500.
The tricky part is finding the, as a combination of parts-supply shortages and high demand for cheap Windows and Chrome OS laptops (better known as Chromebooks) spurred on by the pandemic.īut I said tricky, not impossible. On the lookout for a good budget laptop this holiday shopping season? Even if you weren't able to snag a good deal on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, there are still a lot of great laptops for less than $500.