These laptops are very cheap, but still quite capable for basic tasks.
As much as we all might want to buy the most powerful laptop around, it’s not always feasible on a budget. When it comes to sub-$500 laptops, it’s especially important to be smart about your choices. Realistically, you’ll need to make some compromises, but it’s entirely possible to get a great laptop with reliable performance on a budget.
Acer Aspire 3
Pros
- Spacious keyboard with number pad
- HD webcam
- Solid video playback performance
- Decent business app performance
- Workday-long battery life
Cons
- Poor gaming graphics performance
- Basic 1080p display
- Small 128GB storage drive
With its affordable price point, robust design, and decent performance, the Acer Aspire 3 is an excellent sub-$500 option. The Ryzen 3 7320U processor keeps things relatively zippy, and performance is plenty fast enough for general-use tasks like writing emails and browsing the web.
The 15.8-inch 1080p LCD display is reasonably sharp and vibrant, which is perfect for working on documents or streaming video. The Aspire 3 also comes with 8GB of RAM, which is enough to run multiple applications without lag. And the full-size keyboard is a rather nice addition, too.
If you’re shopping around for a solid everyday laptop that won’t break the bank, the Aspire 3 is definitely worth a look.
Asus Chromebook CM34 Flip
Pros
- Spectacular battery life
- Spacious touchpad
- 1080p webcam
- Lovely display
Cons
- Heavier than expected
- Display is too reflective in outside environments
- Middling performance
The Asus Chromebook CM34 Flip has a fantastic battery that just doesn’t seem stop. That’s ridiculous considering if a laptop battery can eek out 10 hours on a single charge it’s considered long-lasting—the CM34 Flip almost doubles that number.
This 2-in-1 Chromebook is no slouch when it comes to performance either, featuring an AMD Ryzen 3 7320C CPU and 16GB of RAM. It also comes with a colorful touchscreen display, comfortable touchpad, and high-quality 1080p webcam. It’s biggest downside is that it’s not the most portable though, weighing in at just over 4 pounds. But if you’re on the hunt for a long-lasting everyday machine that won’t break the bank, you can’t get much better than the CM34 Flip.
Asus Chromebook Plus CX34
Pros
- Beautiful design and color scheme
- Reliable performance
- 1080p webcam
Cons
- Weak audio
- Average battery life for a Chromebook
The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is a good option for most people, as it ticks off a lot of boxes. The machine offers modest performance, a stunning color scheme, and a phenomenal typing experience. As for the performance, it’s definitely snappy during day-to-day use. The Chromebook booted up within seconds and there was no noticeable lag when jumping 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 display has a resolution of 1920×1080 and a brightness of 250 nits.
Acer Chromebook Plus 515
Pros
- Good audio quality
- Zippy performance
- 1080p webcam
- Nice typing experience
Cons
- Average battery life for a Chromebook
- Blah design
- Bezels are thicker than I like
The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 has surprisingly good audio for a laptop. The upward-facing speakers flank the keyboard, so the sound is coming at you. This is really nice because I’ve worked with laptops where the speakers are located on the bottom. This placement just ends up muffling the sound, which is beyond aggravating. My only knock against the Plus 515 is that you won’t hear much bass, which is pretty typical for laptop speakers. That said, highs and lows sound fairly crisp.
The Plus 515 features zippy performance and a nice typing experience, too. Under the hood, you’ll find an Intel Core i3-1215U CPU, Intel UHD graphics, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. That’s more than enough power for day-to-day productivity. The 15.6-inch keyboard is good as well with a 1080p resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio. As for the keyboard, it’s spacious and the keys feel springy underneath your fingertips. The individual keys are wide too, which is ideal for those with larger hands.
