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Cheap Laptops, Best Cheap Laptop

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Best Cheap Laptops Good Cheap Laptop Computers Gateway NV7802U starting at $600 Asus K60IJ-RBLX05 starting at $480 Lenovo G530 starting at $500 Toshiba L455-S5975 starting at $379 Don't Bother Cheap Laptops  »

Cheap Laptops Buying Guide

More and more users are abandoning old desktop PCs in favor of slim and light laptop PCs. But most laptops carry a pretty hefty price tag, and it's not unusual to find models that cost well over $1,000, especially when they boast stylish brand names, like Apple and Sony.

Still, there are plenty of good deals to be found in the cheap laptops arena. Manufacturers such as Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, and Gateway balance good performance with reasonable cost. These manufacturers also offer lots of options and configurations for cheap notebooks, so you'll be able to find just the right combination of features without busting your bank account.

You may feel a bit overwhelmed by the many choices available in laptops today, so we'll run down the key components of these systems and show you what to look for when shopping for the cheap laptop computer that's right for you.

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What To Look For: Cheap Laptops Features

Cheap Laptops Operating System.

One of the important decisions you'll make when shopping for a cheap laptop PC is the operating system you'll use. In October, 2009, Microsoft released Windows 7, the successor to Windows Vista. Consumers can purchase one of three versions of the OS: Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, and Windows 7 Ultimate. Most new budget laptops oriented for home users will come with Windows 7 Home Premium, as the other two versions are geared more for businesses and power users.

Windows 7 has proven to be very popular with expert reviewers and users alike. It earned an "Outstanding" rating at Cnet, and the reviewer says the new OS is "stable, smooth, and highly polished". A reviewer at PC World also praises Windows 7, saying it's pleasant to use.

Early users of the Windows 7 OS also generally seem to prefer it to Vista. Users at Newegg.com have a lot of positive things to say about Windows 7, including that it's less annoying than Vista and easy to use. One reviewer states that Microsoft "finally got it right" with Windows 7.

So, Windows 7 seems to be the way to go, and you'll find it preinstalled on many new budget laptops. However, some new laptops still come with Windows Vista already installed, such as this HP G60-440us model (starting at $500) we found at CompUSA.  A handful of new budget laptops may still include Windows Vista Home Basic, such as Dell's Inspiron 15 base models (starting at $379), and the Hewlett Packard G60t (starting at $500). The good news is that some retailers and manufacturers will offer a free upgrade to Windows 7 if you buy a laptop that has Windows Vista already installed – as is the case with the HP G50-440us system. Some manufacturers also offer Windows XP as an alternative, but you'll have to pay a hefty downgrade fee -- not a good deal for an outdated OS.

The Windows 7 era has begun, and early reports from both expert reviews and users show that the new OS from Microsoft is its best in years. We can't think of any reason to stick with Vista or XP.

Cheap Laptops CPU.

Nothing influences your laptop's performance more than its CPU (central processing unit), or processor. Most laptops use an Intel CPU of some kind, although you'll find a few cheap notebooks that use processors from AMD, such as Acer’s AS5534 series of laptop PCs (starting at $478). The more powerful the processor, the faster your laptop will run. And, naturally, the more powerful the CPU, the more it costs. You'll pay $275 more to upgrade HP's G60t from its base Intel Pentium CPU to the best available Intel Core 2 Duo CPU.

Laptop manufacturers outfit their systems with a variety of CPUs. Budget laptops often use Celeron CPUs from Intel, but we also found a few inexpensive laptops that use one of Intel's more powerful Pentium Dual Core CPUs, such as Dell's Inspiron 15 and Asus’ K601J-RBLX05 (starting at $480). Some manufacturers, including Dell and HP, will let you upgrade a bit further, to a Core 2 Duo CPU; if you go this route, expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $250 or more, depending on the exact version of the Core 2 Duo you're upgrading to. The selection of AMD notebook CPUs is more limited, and most new budget systems that include an AMD CPU have an Athlon 64 X2 or Athlon II CPU, such as Acer’s AS5534 series mentioned above and the Gateway NV5332u (starting at $450); the option of upgrading an AMD-based laptop is rare.

If you want to pinch more pennies when shopping for a budget laptop, you can go with a Pentium-based system. The laptop will still perform basic tasks fairly quickly, as does the Asus K60IJ-RBLX05, according to user posts on the Best Buy website. However, the laptop's performance won't be quite as snappy as that of a Core 2 Duo-based laptop, especially when multitasking or running more demanding programs, such as video editing software. An expert reviewer at Laptopmag.com notes that Dell's Inspiron 15 with a Pentium Dual Core CPU handles multimedia tasks quickly enough, but users would be better served by a Core 2 Duo for multitasking purposes.

Cheap Laptops Memory.

The amount of memory (or RAM) your economical laptop has can significantly influence how well it performs. Most cheap laptops have from 1GB to 4GB of memory, and more is definitely better. Try to avoid laptops that only offer 1GB of RAM, such as the Compaq Presario F750US (starting at $350, Amazon) we found at Circuit City. Such systems may be inexpensive, but 1GB of memory simply isn't enough for your laptop to run programs efficiently. This is due in part to the fact that most laptops have an integrated video processor that "shares" memory with the rest of the system. Video processors can tie up a lot of system memory, so the less memory you have, the less efficiently your laptop will run. Also, Windows Vista Home Premium tends to be a memory hog, so if that's the OS you use, you'll definitely want more RAM. An inexpensive laptop with at least 2GB of memory should be enough to handle the demands of a shared-memory video processor and Windows Vista Home Premium. Windows 7 doesn't eat as much memory, although some of the newest laptops sporting the lastest OS also come with a whopping 4GB of RAM; the Asus K60IJ-RBLX05 gets an approving nod from cnet on this matter and some users say an upgrade to 4GB will get you slightly better performance if you're still running on Windows Vista.

System memory is fairly inexpensive, and you'll find that most laptop manufacturers are pretty generous with the amount of memory they're installing in their systems these days. We found several reasonably priced systems with at least 2GB of RAM (Dell's most recent line of Inspiron 15 models, for example). Also, you'll find that laptop makers who allow you to customize your order online often offer free memory upgrades, say, from 2GB of memory to 3GB. Bear in mind that these customization offers change almost daily, so take advantage of these deals if you find one!

Cheap Laptops Hard Drive.

Like system memory, hard drives are fairly inexpensive, so most laptop makers are happy to outfit their systems with pretty sizeable hard drives. Hard drive sizes range from about 160GB to more than 500GB; HP's G60t starts with a 160GB hard drive, for example, the Asus K60IJ-RBLX05 features a 320 GB hard drive, and Gateway's NV7802U hard drive is half again as large, at 500 GB. Unless you have a huge library of videos, photos, and music that you want to store on your laptop, you can afford to go with a smaller hard drive. 160GB is a pretty generous amount of room for storing programs and files. Having said that, we found several budget laptops with hard drives larger than 200GB, including the Lenovo G530 (250GB) and the Toshiba L455-S5975(250GB) (starting at $379).

As with system memory, laptop manufacturers frequently offer free upgrades to larger hard drives when you customize your order online, so keep your eyes open for that option. HP has been offering a free upgrade to a 250GB hard drive from the 160GB drive included with the G60t base model, but remember that such offers come and go.

Inexpensive Laptops Optical Drive.

Nearly every new low-cost laptop includes a DVD recorder of some kind, so you can play DVD movies on your system as well as record data and videos to DVDs. You may notice that some laptops have an option to upgrade the DVD-recorder to a Blu-Ray player. Watching Blu-Ray movies on your laptop may sound like fun, but this upgrade is pricey (usually around $150), and the manufacturer may require you to upgrade additional components when you choose the Blu-Ray player. For example, if you upgrade a Dell Inspiron 15 with a Blu-Ray player, you'll need to upgrade either the video card (at a cost of $100) or the CPU (for an additional $200). Those kinds of upgrades can quickly boost the price of a budget laptop out of the budget range.

Discount Laptops Graphics.

Most cheap laptops include an integrated video processor, often made by Intel. Desktop PC video cards typically have their own memory built into the card to help process video data, but integrated video processors in cheaper laptops do not. Instead, they use a portion of the laptop's system memory. This is fine, so long as your low-priced notebook has at least 2GB of RAM to handle the extra demand from the video processor.

Today's integrated video processors are capable of handling most video tasks without any trouble, such as playing photo slide shows and DVD movies. They do tend to struggle when running demanding video games, but budget laptops aren't really optimized for that particular task. One user laptop review of the Lenovo G530 found on the company website notes that brand new video games had a tendency to freeze up on his laptop, but older games ran well. In some cases, you can choose to upgrade to a dedicated video card with its own memory (usually 256MB to 512MB) for about $100. Such an upgrade can boost your laptop's graphics performance, but this type of upgrade is more of a luxury than a necessity for frugal laptop users.

Cheap Laptops Battery.

A notebook's battery is a key feature for thrifty laptop users who frequently use their systems away from home, and away from a power cord. A laptop's battery size is indicated by the number of cells it has, and most budget notebooks have either a 4-cell or 6-cell battery. Naturally, the more cells a battery has, the longer it'll power your laptop before it loses its charge. A 4-cell battery is fine if you typically use your bargain laptop at home, or at least have access to a power outlet. In fact, some laptop users remove the battery from their systems and leave it plugged in all the time. If you frequently travel with your low-priced laptop, though, look for an inexpensive notebook with at least a 6-cell battery, such as the Toshiba L455-S5975 or the Gateway NV7802U. Some manufacturers will let you upgrade a laptop to a 9-cell battery for even longer use. You can upgrade the Dell Inspiron 15, for example, from a 4-cell battery to a 9-cell battery for $75.

Inexpensive Laptops Wireless Connectivity.

We can't imagine a bargain laptop being sold today without a built-in wireless card of some sort. Some manufacturers offer upgrades to name-brand wireless cards, or give you the option to add Bluetooth connectivity, but these are frills that budget laptop shoppers can ignore. If you were to upgrade HP's G60t with an Intel wireless card with Bluetooth support, it'd set you back an additional $50, a full 10% of the laptop's starting price.

Bargain Laptops Ports/Connectivity.

Laptops are self-contained units for the most part. Unlike desktop PCs, you don't need to connect a keyboard or mouse to the system; that functionality is already built in. Still, there are plenty of devices you can connect to a laptop, and for that, you'll need additional ports and connectors. Most inexpensive laptops include at least two or three USB ports, as well as various audio and networking connectors, and perhaps an ExpressCard 34/54 slot, but you may find some budget models that lack some of these features; the Gateway NV7802U, for example, has four USB ports but no ExpressCard slot. Many laptops, such as the Acer Aspire AS5335-2238 (starting at $448, Amazon), include built-in memory card readers, a nice convenience for shutterbugs who want to view photos straight from their camera's memory card; look for a memory card reader that supports several types of cards. Some laptops even include HDMI ports for high-definition video, although that seems to be a pretty rare feature in low-cost laptops, at least for now. HP does have a "quick-ship" version of its G60t that includes HDMI, but it's $570, $70 more than the base model.

Budget Laptops Software.

Most laptops include extra software that users don't want or need. Typically, the programs bundled with laptops are either "light" versions of the full program or limited trial software that you can use for 30 to 60 days. Manufacturers do sometimes offer discounts on full versions of security or office software, though, so check out those deals.

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Products Mentioned in This Review

Lenovo 3000 N500 4233-52U
HP 550 H24-15055
Lenovo G530
Toshiba L455-S5975
Gateway NV7802U
Asus K60IJ-RBLX05

Thrifty Resources

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