Buying a new laptop shouldn't be a stressful decision for anyone's wallet. These five laptops offer a great balance between performance and price that can't be beaten. There is even at least one casual gaming laptop on the list for people who want something with a little extra power. A full day of power, powerful processor, and the ability to run multiple programs for a light workload are all musts for general use. A laptop shouldn't be a bank-breaking purchase, so check out these laptops that offer great bang for the buck.
We tried to stick to laptops that cost less than $500 for general use and less than $800 for gaming purposes. Buying a laptop for gaming tends to cost more because the laptop features an additional video card for processing power to play modern games. Laptops with integrated graphics cards (no discrete graphics card) will struggle to play recent titles.
This 14-inch Lenovo laptop features a touch screen and convertibility so it can be used as a laptop or a tablet. The base device features an Intel i3-8145u processor and 4 GB of RAM with 128 GB internal storage. For just a few bucks more this laptop can be upgraded with an Intel Core i5 processor and 8 GB of RAM. The Lenovo Flex 14 is an ideal laptop for anyone who needs all-day battery life and the option to use it as a laptop or a tablet.
For someone who needs a little bit more power, the Dell Inspiron 15.6" offers a great experience. You'll get a laptop powered by an Intel Core i5-7200U processor and 8 GB of RAM. The storage space is double that of the Lenovo laptop, with a 256 GB SSD. The only downside to this laptop is the paltry screen resolution, which is only 1366 x 768. The Dell laptop beats the Lenovo if you need more power and prefer the laptop form factor.
For students who need an all-in-one solution that features Microsoft Office, the Acer Aspire 5 is the best choice. The Aspire 5 features an AMD Ryzen 3-3200U processor, 4 GB of RAM, and a 128 GB SSD. It is the first laptop on the list to feature a full 1080p screen. Bundled with the laptop is the student version of Office, which includes access to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The only downside is the laptop runs Windows 10 S, which is a feature-limited version of Windows 10.
This HP laptop offers tons of storage space with its massive 1 TB hard drive. It also features plenty of ports for connectivity. It is powered by an AMD A6-9225 processor and 8 GB of RAM. It also features a DVD drive, unlike many of the smaller laptops on this list. The only real downside here is that the screen resolution is only 1366 x 768, bringing it in line with the Lenovo and Dell laptops featured above.
It is tough to find a competent gaming laptop for under $500. ASUS comes close with the Vivobook K570ZD, which the company has dubbed a casual gaming laptop. It features an AMD quad-core Ryzen 5-2500U processor with 8 GB of RAM. In addition to the integrated graphics card, it all features an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 2 GB graphics card that will handle most modern games on low settings. ASUS was also more generous with storage space, as the Vivobook features a 256 GB SSD and runs Windows 10 Home.
