Best Budget Laptop PCs

There are a fair number of laptops that can be found for under $500 but most use older technology. The Lenovo Essential G570 uses a new Intel Pentium B940 dual core processor that uses the same technology as the second generation Intel Core i3 processors. It may not be as fast but for most people, they don't need the speed for web browsing, media watching or productivity software. The rest of the features are nearly identical to laptops costing almost $100 more. It comes with 4GB DDR3 memory, 500GB hard drive, dual layer DVD burner, 15.6-inch display, 802.11b/g/n wireless and Windows 7 Home premium. If you want a bit more performance and features for only a little more cash, the HP Pavilion dv4-4270us is priced as low as $530.

At first glance, the Dell Inspiron 15R doesn't seem like it would merit the honor of best overall budget laptop. After all, its base features are on par or slightly below much of the competition.. It comes with a Core i3-2350M processor, 4GB DDR3 memory, 500GB hard drive, dual layer DVD burner, 15.6-inch display and 802.11b/g/n wireless. What really makes the Inspiron 15R stand out is the external expansion capabilities. The system includes two USB 3.0 and an eSATA port that allow for a wide range of high speed external peripherals. This means that it has life beyond most budget laptops. In addition, it is possible to find offers from Dell that can get upgraded storage, processors or memory at no cost. If the external peripheral ports aren't an issue but you want some better graphics, than the Lenovo IdeaPad Z575 is a suitable alternative with an AMD a6 processor and dedicated graphics.

The majority of budget laptops use a 15-inch display panel. For those looking at a system that is more compact and lighter but without sacrificing features, the HP Pavilion dv4-4270us is a solid choice. It weighs under five pounds and is an inch shorter and narrower than competing 15-inch displays. Even with its compact dimensions it also offers some better than average features including 6GB of RAM, 640GB hard drive and an above average battery life. The downside of the smaller size means that it uses a keyboard without a numeric keypad which may be important for some users. Pricing range from $530 to $600. An alternative which is slightly bigger and heavier but still fairly compact is the Sony VAIO VPCEG33FXB 14-inch laptop.

One of the more expensive features for a laptop is the battery. With margins being so thing for manufacturers, putting in a smaller capacity battery can be one way to cut costs. This means that many budget laptops have fairly limited running times. Sony was once one of the companies that used very small batteries but they changed this with the VAIO EG series which features a 5300mAh battery pack. Now, they claim it can run over five hours playing a DVD but it is more like three and a quarter hours which is still a good deal longer than most. The 14-inch screen also gives it more compact dimensions than the average budget laptop. Priced around $600. A good alternative with close running times is the ASUS K53E but it is larger with its 15-inch screen.

Laptops with dedicated graphics are very uncommon in budget oriented laptops. The Lenovo IdeaPad Z575 is based around the AMD A6 quad core processor that features a Radeon HD 6620G integrated graphics but this is paired with a dedicated Radeon HD 6650M dedicated graphics. This gives it a huge advantage for those looking to have a laptop for 3D games or using for graphics and video work. The downside is that this setup is not as efficient in power usage which results in lower than average battery life which is a tradeoff. Other notable features include 6GB of DDR3 memory and an eSATA port for high speed external storage. Priced around $550 to $600. An alternative without dedicated graphics would be the Gateway NV55S22u but it does fall behind in 3D performance.