If you’re on the never-ending quest for a brand new laptop, believe me, I’ve been there. Picking up a brand new machine can be an anxiety-inducing task. You have to take a lot of things into careful consideration: hardware, battery life, form factor, performance, etc. Well, luckily for you, PCWorld did the heavy lifting to put together this list of recommendations. Whether you’re looking to score a lightning-fast gaming laptop or a portable everyday laptop with great battery life, we’ve got something for every type of buyer.
Why you should trust us: Hey, it’s in our name! PCWorld prides itself on laptop experience and expertise. We’ve been covering PCs since 1983, and we now review more than 70 laptops every year. All of the picks below have been personally tested and vetted by our experts, who’ve applied not only performance benchmarks but rigorous usability standards. We’re also committed to reviewing PC laptops at every price point to help you find a machine that matches your budget.
With its affordable price point, decent performance, and robust build, the Acer Aspire 3 is a good budget option for most people. It might not be the most aesthetic laptop, but the build is surprisingly rugged. It has a solid, durable feel reminiscent of laptops with much higher price points. The full-size keyboard is nice, too. It has a spacious layout, which is perfect for longer typing sessions. With a budget laptop you will need to accept sacrifices in terms of performance, but the Aspire 3 is plenty fast enough for general use tasks like writing emails and browsing the web. If you’re shopping around for a solid everyday laptop that won’t break the bank, the Aspire 3 offers plenty of bang for relatively few bucks.
