HP, Acer, and Dell for $350 or less

TL;DR: Cheap laptops are now even cheaper with deals at Best Buy, Dell, and Acer. As of June 12, save up to $50 and find a laptop for $350 or less.

Many lessons have been learned throughout this whole “can’t leave our houses” thing. One of them is that you should always have a cheap laptop on hand.

Employees who think they may never go back to the office (like this list of companies that are joining the “WFH forever” movement”) may consider investing in a MacBook or Microsoft Surface. But there are a handful of other cases where it just makes sense to have that affordable backup device. Perhaps you have a new schedule of working from home two days a week and don’t want to lug your employer-lended laptop back and forth. Perhaps your kid’s school will decide to do something similar — or continue virtual learning for the next semester all together.

Some folks who do have an assigned laptop from work will still use a cheap laptop as a burner laptop of sorts. Online purchases, banking, and streaming may just be better off on the device that your tech support team can’t access.

If you’re strictly trying to pay the least amount possible, your quest for a cheap laptop just got easier:

If your criteria include a 360-degree hinge for flipping to tablet or tent mode, this budget-friendly HP 2-in-1 is a hidden gem. The 11.5-inch touchscreen is stylus-compatible for quick notes, document markups, or doodles.

Acer Swift 1 — $329.99 (regular price $379.99)

There aren’t many times that you get to pay barely over $300 for a laptop with a full HD screen. The Acer Swift’s 14-inch 1080p display will be particularly great for anyone who watches or makes a lot of slideshow presentations. It also has a fingerprint reader.

There’s just something satisfying about a classic, reliable notebook laptop. Made for business, this 15-inch Inspiron 3000 is probably one of the most affordable large-screen portables you can find.