Today we’ll be talking about the best laptops under $500. Unless you are doing serious photo editing or gaming most people will not need a laptop that costs more than $500. If you are doing photo editing or gaming, some of the higher performance models under $500 will suffice, but you may be disappointed by their speed.
The first thing to consider when looking for a laptop in this price range is whether you want to go with a netbook or laptop. Netbook are mini-laptops with a screen size no larger than 12.2 inches. Most netbooks are designed for basic Internet browsing, email, and word processing, and will not handle high performance functions like photo editing or streaming HD video very well. Some of the more expensive netbooks do, but when you get into that price range you might as well consider a laptop unless size is the most important consideration.
Because we’ve already had the netbook vs laptop discussion on our homepage, we are going to skip it here. W’e will assume that you are looking for an actual laptop at this point.
It should be noted that most quality laptops start at $350. You may find models listed as low as $280 but these models tend to have very negative reviews, and these are basically the cheapest, lowest quality models you can buy.
Best Laptops Under $500 – Models
On the entry level side the Compaq Presario AMD laptop seems to be a decent choice. It features an AMD Athlon II processor, 250 GB of memory, 3 GB of RAM (they normally come in even numbers, this is odd as it may not be expandable to 4 GB), and a 15.6″ screen. It has a 4.5/5 rating on BestBuy, which is not too bad.
One level above this we have the Asus Laptop with the Intel Core i3 processor. Anyone who has read our previous entries knows we are a huge fan of the Core i3 processors, as they are the best out-of-the-box chips on the market right now. This Asus model features 4 GB of RAM and a 14″ inch display. In general we’re not huge fans of Asus as they are definitely a budget brand, but this model has a 4.2/5 rating and will be good for those with basic computing needs.
At the same level we have the HP Pavillion Laptop with AMD Phantom II processor. This processor is one level above the Athlon (see Compaq above). This model features a 14″ screen, 4 GB RAM and 320 GB memory, which is the largest memory we’ve covered up to this point. If I had to choose between the i3 processor and larger memory, I would definitely choose the processor. Memory alone will not increase speed, as RAM has a bigger impact on speed. If you download a lot of music and movies and do not have an external hard drive, however, the HP will hold more content. This model also retails for $379.99.
As we cross the $400 dollar mark, begin to find some pretty solid models. The Samsung silver laptop, model # NP305E5A-A03US, features 500 GB of memory, 4 GB of RAM, a 15.6″ display and an AMD A Series processor. This is one of the best budget models you will find, with the only real downside being the lack of a Core i processor.
Best Laptops Under $500 with Core i3
Also at the $400 mark is the Asus Core i3 with 4 GB RAM and Windows Home 7 and a 14″ display. As you can probably guess, if I had to choose between the two I would sacrifice the larger screen on the Samsung for the Core i3 processor on this Asus model. With that said, there are some Asus models with the Core i3 and a 15.6″ display at the $400 mark. Beware though: they have significantly lower ratings than the 14″ models.
The next best model above $400 is the Toshiba Satellite, with the Core i3, 4 GMB RAM, 320 GB memory and a 15.6″ display. This is the best model we’ve seen under $500 so far, as it has all the features we like a to see, including a screen larger than 14 inches, and it is not made by a budget brand like Asus or Acer.
The Dell Inspiron also has the same exact features but with a 500 GB memory, instead of 320 GB. Given they’re the same price, we would probably opt for the Dell, as Dell is a computer brand, whereas Toshiba is simply an electronics brand.
Oddly enough, the models between $430 and $500 do not stand out much, and seem to reduce some of the core features like 4 GB RAM or the Core i3 in favor of higher speed video cards or features like facial recognition. For this reason we are not recommending any of these models unless you are a serious gamer, in which case the higher performance video cards will be an important criteria in your selection process.
That’s it for today. We hope our analysis has helped you find the best laptops under $500. If you found this article helpful make sure to Like or +1 us below, and if you’re still not sure what kind of computer you need make sure to check out our netbook vs laptop breakdown. Thanks!