Greatest laptops below $500 in 2023

As a lot as all of us may wish to purchase probably the most highly effective laptop computer round, it’s not all the time possible on a price range. In terms of sub-$500 laptops, it’s particularly vital to be good about your selections. Realistically, you’ll have to make some compromises, however it’s completely attainable to get an important laptop computer with dependable efficiency on a price range.

Why it is best to belief us: Hey, it’s in our title! PCWorld prides itself on laptop computer expertise and experience. We’ve been protecting PCs since 1983, and we now evaluate greater than 70 laptops yearly. The entire picks under have been personally examined and vetted by our specialists, who’ve utilized not solely efficiency benchmarks however rigorous usability requirements. We’re additionally dedicated to reviewing PC laptops at each worth level that can assist you discover a machine that matches your price range.

Greatest laptop computer offers proper now

• Acer Aspire 3, AMD Ryzen 5 7520U CPU/AMD Radeon graphics/8GB RAM/512GB SSD/15.6-inch 1080p show, $399.99 ($200 off at Greatest Purchase)
• Acer Aspire 5, AMD Ryzen 3 3350U CPU/AMD Radeon Vega 6 graphics/4GB RAM/128GB SSD/15.6-inch 1080p show, $339 ($50.99 off at Amazon)
• HP Victus, Intel Core i5-13420H CPU/Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU/8GB RAM/512GB SSD/15.6-inch 1080p show, $549.99 ($350 off at Greatest Purchase)
• Dell XPS 13 Laptop, Intel Core i5-1230U CPU/Intel Iris Xe graphics/8GB RAM/256GB SSD/13.4-inch 1200p show, $599 ($200 off at Dell)

The offers above are all implausible, however we’d like to focus on the HP Victus, as we don’t usually see many sub-$700 gaming laptops on the market. For simply $549.99, you’re getting an Intel Core i5-13420H CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, which is an efficient quantity of energy for the value. It is best to be capable of zip via most video games on the Medium or Excessive graphics preset. For extra intensive video games, we’d suggest dialing again the graphics a bit.

In the event you can handle to stretch your price range a little bit bit additional, try our greatest laptops roundup for much more ideas.

Table of Contents

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Acer Aspire 3 – Greatest sub-$500 laptop computer general

Execs

• Spacious keyboard with quantity pad
• HD webcam
• Strong video playback efficiency
• First rate enterprise app efficiency
• Workday-long battery life

Cons

• Poor gaming graphics efficiency
• Fundamental 1080p show
• Small 128GB storage drive

Worth When Reviewed:

$329.99

With its reasonably priced worth level, sturdy design, and respectable efficiency, the Acer Aspire 3 is a superb sub-$500 choice. The Ryzen 3 7320U processor retains issues comparatively zippy, and efficiency is lots quick sufficient for general-use duties like writing emails and shopping the net.

The 15.8-inch 1080p LCD show is fairly sharp and vibrant, which is ideal for engaged on paperwork or streaming video. The Aspire 3 additionally comes with 8GB of RAM, which is sufficient to run a number of functions with out lag. And the full-size keyboard is a quite good addition, too.

In our evaluate, we have been pleasantly stunned by the general sturdiness of the laptop computer itself—it feels rather more sturdy than different sub-$500 laptops. It additionally comes with stable battery life as properly. In our exams we discovered that the laptops battery lasted on common about eight hours which suggests you shouldn’t have to cost it for a full day of labor.

In the event you’re purchasing round for a stable on a regular basis laptop computer that received’t break the financial institution, the Aspire 3 is unquestionably value a glance.

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Acer Aspire 3 evaluate

Asus Chromebook CM34 Flip – Greatest battery life

Execs

• Spectacular battery life
• Spacious touchpad
• 1080p webcam
• Beautiful show

Cons

• Heavier than anticipated
• Show is simply too reflective in exterior environments
• Middling efficiency

Worth When Reviewed:

$499

The Asus Chromebook CM34 Flip has a implausible battery that simply doesn’t appear cease. In reality, in our testing it lasted an unbelievable 19 hours on a single cost—we even needed to run the benchmark twice simply to verify. That’s ridiculous contemplating if a laptop computer battery can eek out 10 hours on a single cost it’s thought-about long-lasting—the CM34 Flip nearly doubles that quantity.

This 2-in-1 Chromebook is not any slouch with regards to efficiency both, that includes an AMD Ryzen 3 7320C CPU and 16GB of RAM. It additionally comes with a colourful touchscreen show, snug touchpad, and high-quality 1080p webcam. It’s largest draw back is that it’s not probably the most moveable although, weighing in at simply over 4 kilos. However for those who’re on the hunt for a long-lasting on a regular basis machine that received’t break the financial institution, you may’t get a lot better than the CM34 Flip.

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Asus Chromebook CM34 Flip evaluate

Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 – Greatest sub-$500 Chromebook

Execs

• Stunning design and shade scheme
• Dependable efficiency
• 1080p webcam

Cons

• Weak audio
• Common battery life for a Chromebook

Worth When Reviewed:

$399.99

The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is an efficient choice for most individuals, because it ticks off a number of bins. The machine affords modest efficiency, a shocking shade scheme, and an exceptional typing expertise. In accordance with our reviewer, the keys felt “good and springy” below her fingertips. As for the efficiency, it’s undoubtedly snappy throughout day-to-day use. The Chromebook booted up inside seconds and there was no noticeable lag when leaping from tab to tab. The Plus CX34 comes outfitted with an Intel Core i3-1215U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. The 14-inch non-touch show has a decision of 1920×1080 and a brightness of 250 nits. That’s not a really vivid display, however the reviewer claims it seems brighter than it truly is, particularly in indoor environments.

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Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 evaluate

How we examined

The PCWorld staff places each Home windows laptop computer via a collection of benchmarks that take a look at GPU and CPU efficiency, battery life, and so forth. The thought is to push the laptop computer to its limits after which examine it in opposition to others we’ve examined.

Chromebooks, then again, undergo a collection of web-based exams. It wouldn’t be truthful or attainable to run the identical sorts of exams on a Chromebook, as they’re Chrome OS-based machines. Beneath, you’ll discover a breakdown of every take a look at and the the reason why we run them.

Home windows laptops

• PCMark 10: PCMark 10 is how we decide how properly the laptop computer handles lighter duties like internet shopping, phrase processing, spreadsheets, and so forth.
• HandBrake: HandBrake is extra intensive than PCMark 10. It principally measures how lengthy a laptop computer’s CPU takes to encode a beefy 30GB file.
• Cinebench: Cinebench is a short stress take a look at of the CPU cores. It does this by rendering a 2D scene over a brief time frame.
• 3DMark: 3DMark checks if 3D efficiency stays constant over time by operating graphic-intensive clips.
• Video rundown take a look at: To gauge battery life, we loop a 4K video utilizing Home windows 10’s Films & TV app till the laptop computer dies.

Chromebooks

• CrXPRT 2: The CrXPRT 2 benchmark exams a Chromebook’s battery life.
• Speedometer 2.0: This take a look at determines a Chromebook’s internet browser efficiency. It simulates this by including, finishing, and eradicating a to-do checklist.
• Basemark Net 3.0: This benchmark gauges how properly a Chromebook can deal with web-based functions.
• Kraken 1.1: Kraken 1.1 is a JavaScript efficiency benchmark.
• Jetstream 2: Jetstream 2 is a mixture of WebAssembly and JavaScript benchmarks. This can be a technique to gauge how properly a Chromebook runs superior workloads.

What sort of laptop computer must you get?

Ah, right here we’re on the billion greenback query. Do you spring for a fundamental Chromebook or go for a Home windows laptop computer with extra options? Nicely, it actually relies on your way of life and your expectations of a sub-$500 machine. At this worth level, you’re not going to discover a highly effective workhorse. Nevertheless, there are many reasonably priced laptops on the market for many who want the fundamentals.

Chromebooks, for instance, are an important low-cost choice and supply phenomenal battery life. I take advantage of a Chromebook as my main work laptop computer, because it has all the things I would like for each modifying and writing. In the event you journey for work, it’s in all probability a good suggestion to spend money on a laptop computer that weighs lower than three kilos. In the event you’re nonetheless not sure, don’t sweat it. I’ve put collectively a listing of fast shopping for suggestions under.

• Laptop computer kind: There are lots of completely different laptop computer sorts that fall within the sub-$500 class: clamshells, 2-in-1’s, Chromebooks, and rather more. The shows on convertible laptops (aka 2-in-1’s), for instance, can swing round 360 levels. This lets you use the laptop computer like a pill. They can be propped up like a tent for viewing films or taking part in video calls. Chromebooks are available in numerous styles and sizes, and solely run Google’s web-focused Chrome OS. With a Chromebook, all you want is a Gmail account and, increase, you’re in.
• CPU: In terms of the sub-$500 Home windows laptops, you may anticipate finding Intel Core i3 or i5 processors. An i5 processor clearly gives a little bit extra oomph. That mentioned, fundamental workplace and internet work does simply high quality on a Core i3. As for AMD choices, the Ryzen 3 is sweet for fundamental productiveness and internet shopping, whereas Ryzen 5 chips rival Intel’s Core i5 as stable all-arounders. For Chromebooks, Snapdragon and Pentium processors are extra highly effective than MediaTek chips.
• Graphics: At this worth vary, you in all probability received’t discover a laptop computer with a strong discrete graphics card. As a substitute, you’ll encounter laptops with built-in graphics, that are built-in with the CPU and use much less energy because of this. That is completely high quality for on a regular basis duties, particularly for those who’re not doing something that’s graphics-intensive—like 3D gaming.
• RAM: All the time go for 8GB of RAM. That’s lots sufficient for firing up functions and loading internet pages. Most Chromebooks are geared up with 4GB of RAM, which is the naked minimal. You want an honest quantity of reminiscence on these machines, as they’re primarily web-based. If there’s an 8GB RAM choice, I’d suggest springing for that.
• Show dimension: In the event you’re a video editor or somebody who does a number of multimedia work, you’ll desire a show that’s wherever from 15- to 17-inches (however these machines often value excess of $500). The candy spot for price range laptops is basically wherever from 13- to 14-inches. The larger the show, the heavier your laptop computer goes to be. A 13- or 14-inch show is the perfect when it comes to portability and worth.
• Decision: I wouldn’t go for something lower than 1080p, as there’s nothing extra annoying than a barely fuzzy picture. 1080p produces an image that’s sharp sufficient for watching Netflix or working in Excel. At this worth vary, you received’t actually discover many (if any) laptops with 1440p decision or greater.
• Battery life: In the event you plan on taking your laptop computer wherever with you, goal for one thing that may final 10 to 12 hours on a single cost. That’s greater than a full work day, so it ought to theoretically get you thru lengthy flights or a day of courses. Clearly, extra is all the time higher. Simply know that the larger the battery, the heavier the laptop computer.
• Worth: The value actually relies on your price range. In the event you’re strapped for money (been there, belief me), go for a Chromebook or an entry-level enterprise laptop computer. These laptops are a good selection for college kids or younger professionals. In the event you store good, you may even discover 2-in-1’s within the $500 vary.
• Ports: A wide selection of ports is all the time a plus, because it eliminates the necessity for an adapter. I’d suggest a laptop computer that has each USB-C and USB-A. An HDMI port is sweet, too. That is particularly helpful for hooking as much as an exterior monitor.