Are you looking for a laptop but you’re on a budget?
This is what I was going through a few years ago, and I had made some pretty bad decisions back then. To save you from the exact trouble, I tested multiple laptops to find just the best ones that don’t burn a hole in your pocket while satisfying your needs.
That said, now that the technology is getting cheaper, there is a sea of options under 500 bucks that might confuse you. So, to help you skip that fuss, I have added just the best ones for this list. Now, without further ado, let’s dive right into them.
Best Laptops Under $500 for Students
I have been a student myself, and I know what students need the most from a laptop. First up is adequate performance, good design, and a fine display.
Now, let’s get down to the machines that I think are the best for students:
Acer Swift 3 14 (2020)
One of the best looking under the price range of 500USD.
As for the specs, it is powered by Intel’s 11th Gen CPUs with integrated graphic support, it has a 14-inch Full HD display, a WiFi 6 network adapter, a fingerprint scanner for unlocking, and up to 16 gigs of RAM and 512gigs of fast SSD storage.
I used this machine for about six months and then I gave it to my little sister. I didn’t run into any troubles with it but she reported that she has been experiencing slower internet speeds. I looked up the forums to find the solution but it was of no use.
Later, I contacted my ISP at Xfinity customer service, and I had a pretty good experience with them. They suggested using an ethernet cable instead of WiFi. Turns out my network drivers were outdated and they were fixed by just the reinstallation of Windows.
All in all, this laptop is great for doing your assignments, doing research, making presentations, and playing media. As a cherry on top, you can find way lower than 500 bucks on eBay or Amazon.
Apple MacBook Pro 2018
Apple MacBook Pro is going to be your default choice if you are already an iPhone user.
It is one of the best laptops that you can find under $500. With its powerful CPUs, thinner bezels with a TrueTone display, plenty of LPDDR3 RAM, and above all a smooth MacOS experience, it’s my favorite of the bunch.
If I had to pick one, I’d have this any day.
The downside to this machine is that it has limited ports. So, if you want to use it with an ethernet cable or attach some more accessories, you have to purchase an external adapter.
Apart from that, the touch bar on this laptop looks nice but it isn’t as useful as you think. Also, sometimes it hits and misses the touch on that bar. I’d rather have physical buttons than that touch bar.
Best Laptops Under $500 for Remote Work
Remote work is a new trend in the industry that has been greatly followed. Two things are surefire to make you succeed in remote work: a good laptop and a dedicated workspace. Let’s leave the workspace for some other day and focus on the laptops for now.
Acer Aspire 3
Acer Aspire 3 is one of the few laptops under the $500 price mark that has a solid build quality to save you from any trouble when your children come running around your workspace.
Not just that, it has more value at this incredible pricing for remote workers.
It is a reliable performer that is powered by AMD Ryzen CPU and has 8 gigs of RAM to support your everyday tasks like Zoom calls, compiling and sending documents, making presentations, and more.
As a cherry on top for remote workers, it has a built-in HD cam for your Zoom meetings.
Apart from its remote work capabilities, Aspire 3 can be a good media consumption screen too. It has a sharp and bright 1080p display that can enhance your binge-watching experience on the weekends.
The bottom line is that Acer Aspire 3 is an all-rounder machine that offers great value for money.
HP Laptop 14
A compact machine that is powerful enough to run multiple tabs side by side and has a sleek design.
HP Laptop 14 is arguably the best-looking device in this price range, especially with that purple color. It’s nice to have a purple color on a laptop because most of the laptops these days are in a boring greyish tone.
Laptop 14 has a 1080p camera that can help you share a crisp and clear video during those important video conferences. It has a 1080p display, which considerably enhances your viewing experience.
And the best thing about Laptop 14? It’s the battery.
It has an incredible battery that can last for hours. I mean it when I say hours. At my workspace, it lasted for about 14 hours on a single charge and with constant use. I had to prepare a pitch and I worked on this machine for 14 straight hours without ever plugging it in.
This is going to be a great choice if you like to move around your home when working from home.
Best Laptop Under $500 for Media Consumption
Well, for this category, I have had these factors in my mind: sound & display quality, and battery endurance. The laptop below is a no-brainer choice for me.
Acer Aspire Go 15
Why did I include Acer Aspire Go 15 as the best laptop for media consumption?
It has a big 15.6-inch Full High Definition display that gets bright enough for viewing indoors even though bright lights are thrown on it. The second factor is the battery life.
This laptop is an easy full-day machine that lasted for about 15 hours on a single full charge when I was testing it. So, that means there is no stopping your binge-watching.
As a cherry on top, you can get this for around $300. Also, you can purchase a nice pair of earphones with the rest of the money if you have a $500 budget.
Although it is a great option for watching content, there are some downsides to this machine: first up is the performance. You shouldn’t expect great even good performance out of this. It will work fine with the lightweight processes but as soon as you throw it into some multitasking, it is going to struggle.
The second con is its design. It is a pretty chunky laptop with an outdated design. You need to lift weights if you want to carry it around (kiddin’). You get what I mean? It’s not that comfortable to carry around.
Apart from that, I think it is a fine machine to keep it at home for media consumption.
Why You Can Trust My Reviews?
I am a geek who loves to test new things and in that process, I have wasted a lot of money. Though, that was a blessing in disguise. If that wasn’t for my wasted money, I wouldn’t have started this blog to save people from breaking their bank for no good.
Anyhow, I always write about the stuff that I have personally used or some of my close people whose opinions I trust. Being a geek, I go into every bit of detail of the product and then I write about the product. None of my content is sponsored and is free from any bias.
That’s why, you can trust my reviews and always rely on the information I give in my content piece.
What You Should Know Before Purchasing a Laptop?
The Type of Laptop
In 2024, we have multiple types of laptops, ranging from traditional clamshells to Chromebooks and more.
Clamshells are made for those who just want to study or run their business from that laptop. Then there are 2-in-1’s that can work as laptops as well as tablets. They have incredible use if you want to spend more time watching content rather than working on it. They can be folded up to 360 degrees and can be used as tablets because they have a touch screen.
And then, we have Chromebooks, which use Google’s ChromeOS. ChromeOS is a web-based OS that is made for machines with limited power. It uses Google services like Docs, Sheets, and more. You just need a Gmail to work on ChromeOS.
RAM
RAM is the volatile memory that helps OS load tasks into the processor. Two types of RAM are currently being used in the laptops: LPDDR4 and LPDDR5. The 5 is the latest generation of the RAM. It has greater read and write speeds but the difference between the two isn’t that huge.
Usually, you can choose between 4, 8, 16, or 32 gigs of RAM. I’d suggest going with 16 gigs or above, especially for Windows laptops. Windows runs a large number of programs in the background that use a ton of resources. So, it’s better to have enough resources in the first place.
CPU
The next thing you should consider is the CPU of your system. The most used chipsets as of now are from Intel and AMD.
Here is a rule of thumb: go with as much higher number as you can when it comes to the processor.
The latest generation from Intel is Core i9 14th Gen but that chipset is super powerful and most people might not even need that much power.
So, I’d suggest you go with i5 or above and with a minimum 12th Gen to avoid any problems in the long run.
Display Size & Resolution
The display and the resolution of your laptop are going to be of great importance. You have to look at the screen all the time when working or even enjoying your favorite Netflix series.
The minimum you should go for a display is a 14-inch IPS LED Panel with a 1080p resolution. This is the lower limit, but you can always top it off with a 1440p screen, which is superior to 1080p.
And for the size, you can choose between 14-inch to full-fledged 16-inch display.
Price
Last but not least, and certainly not the least important – pricing.
This might be the most crucial point when choosing a laptop. Keep in mind that the money you will be spending should give you enough in return to make up for that. In simple terms, it should be the best bang for your buck.
However, the latest piece won’t give you the best bang for your buck. So, you should go for a year or two older machines if you want the best value out of them.
