In these glorious times, getting your hands on a shiny new laptop that offers good performance no longer means selling your treasured family heirlooms. Many laptops are now available that prove 'budget' no longer stands for 'plasticky and about as useful as a submersible toaster'.
You'll still have to make some compromises when you're shopping around though. Most cheap laptops pack an Intel Core i3 processor which, while offering great performance for the price, sits at the lower end of the CPU spectrum. If you're looking for a high-powered gaming machine, you'll have to fork out considerably more money.
Intel has unleashed its new line of processors known as Ivy Bridge, which offer greatly improved graphics performance, but it's unlikely that laptops packing this new silicon are going to be showing up in the budget market any time soon.
The best affordable laptops will happily tackle most office tasks though, as well as multi-tabbed web browsing and high-definition video streaming. With a decent amount of RAM, they'll also be able to handle a fair degree of multi-tasking without breaking down in tears.
The more RAM, the better. With modern programs becoming ever more demanding, I'd recommend looking for a minimum of 3GB of RAM, especially if you do plenty of multi-tasking.
If you're a movie fanatic, be aware that super-bright 1080p screens are still generally found only on higher-end laptops. Still, the displays on budget laptops are generally acceptable, and most machines come with an HDMI output so you can hook them up to a massive TV and really enjoy your flicks.
Budget laptops don't tend to be the most portable of machines, lacking super-lightweight components such as the thin magnesium alloy chassis and solid-state drives rather than hard drives that appear in ultrabooks. But you can still find something that will fit into a bag that won't break your back.
To help you on your quest, I've put together four of the current best laptops under £500. Please send thank you chocolates to the usual address.
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Comments 18
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trishvanheerdend 23 April, 2012 14:12
Could you please tell me if there are any laptops on special at the moment. I need 3gig ram, a good size screen. I always use Facebook and Youtube and don't play games on my laptop so don't need anything high tech. Many thanks for any advice you can give me as I cannot afford to make a mistake.
anonymous 4 July, 2012 21:02
I came looking for some recommendations, not a plug for Acer crap. There laptops are garbage build quality and they have zero support if anything goes wrong. How much are Acer paying you?
anonymous 6 July, 2012 18:17
thanks , i only do surfing the net, writing blogs and facebook, whats the cheapest thing for me , am I better with anet book?
anonymous 6 July, 2012 18:18
cAN YOU HELP
anonymous 16 July, 2012 11:39
What about laptops with AMD fusion? I've seen plenty on Amazon UK for between £260 and £400. Why only the more expensive Intel ones on here? Also since when does everyday usage warrant such high CPU speeds? Has Windows really gotten that slow or is there just loads of crapware?
anonymous 4 August, 2012 16:16
Hey, i'm looking for a Dell at that $500 price tags would be great if you could review one that is both high performance and durable at the same... That would somewhat complete this list of the best laptops under 500 dollars....
Any ways hope you review one soon, and all the best Andrew Hoyle.......
anonymous 31 October, 2012 10:29
Which is better Intel Core i3 or AMD A6 - I don't need it for gaming only for business, but I need a fast machine, not one that clogs up when I have a few programs open - I do not want to spend more than £400.00. I have seen a Samsung 300E5A with 6GB ram and 750GB HDD for £359.98 - is this a good deal or worth paying more for a faster machine.
anonymous 15 November, 2012 07:47
I do wish that persons posting here woould use proper English
anonymous 22 November, 2012 09:58
gramma nazi x
anonymous 24 November, 2012 16:52
Grammar Nazi plus you failed by saying persons not people, lol XD
anonymous 27 November, 2012 01:47
Your a cabbage
anonymous 28 February, 2013 11:49
"You are" should be abbreviated to "you're" not "your". "Your" is used to denote ownership. Example: This is your cabbage. You're a cabbage.
anonymous 28 February, 2013 11:50
"You are" should be abbreviated to "you're" not "your". "Your" is used to denote ownership. Example: This is your cabbage. You're a cabbage.
anonymous 28 February, 2013 11:50
"You are" should be abbreviated to "you're" not "your". "Your" is used to denote ownership. Example: This is your cabbage. You're a cabbage.
anonymous 28 February, 2013 11:51
"You are" should be abbreviated to "you're" not "your". "Your" is used to denote ownership. Example: This is your cabbage. You're a cabbage.
anonymous 28 February, 2013 11:52
"You are" should be abbreviated to "you're" not "your". "Your" is used to denote ownership. Example: This is your cabbage. You're a cabbage.
anonymous 28 February, 2013 11:52
"You are" should be abbreviated to "you're" not "your". "Your" is used to denote ownership. Example: This is your cabbage. You're a cabbage.
anonymous 28 February, 2013 11:53
"You are" should be abbreviated to "you're" not "your". "Your" is used to denote ownership. Example: This is your cabbage. You're a cabbage.