Acer, Dell, and HP laptops on sale for less than $500

We don’t always have the cash to shell out for the latest MacBook Air. But take a moment to step back and think about what you really want in a laptop. There’s an entire world of laptops from trustworthy brands that tackle all of your essential tasks without straining your budget. Whether you need to just work from home, watch films, or write your memoirs, you have plenty of laptop options available for under $500. 

Every day offers the chance to find cheap laptops at Amazon and Best Buy, but there are some amazing deals available right now for top brands such as Acer, HP, and Dell. Let’s take a quick rundown to help you find the best budget laptop option for your needs. Everything listed below costs less than $500, with some as low as $300.

The Acer Aspire E 15 is the definition of a well-rounded laptop for everyday use. Available for $70 off its regular price, you get plenty of power for a laptop that’s just over $300. Packaged with an 8th Generation Intel Core i3 processor, you can take care of almost any workload and take it anywhere with over 13 hours of battery life. This configuration also starts off with 6GB of RAM and 1TB of hard drive storage. If that’s not enough for you, the Aspire E 15 also includes a simple compartment door that allows for easy future upgrades. After you save big on your new laptop, you can also shop at Amazon for other deals on Acer accessories such as a new gaming mouse, backpack, and keyboard.

If you need a laptop that adapts to any environment and you’re always online, the Acer Chromebook R 13 notebook will check off most of your requirements. With 360 degrees of rotation, the 13.3-inch touch screen can move from a laptop to full tablet mode, or whichever configuration is most comfortable for you. The Chrome OS is optimized for anyone who works online most of the time, and it comes with built-in virus protection and boots up in seconds. While 4GB of memory and 32GB of internal storage may not sound like much, you do get an extra 100GB of Google Drive space to back up your most important documents. 

Another versatile option, this 2-in-1 Dell Inspiron allows you to flip and fold to tabletop, presentation, and tablet modes. No matter how you look at it, you’ll enjoy a beautiful LED backlight screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution that also supports EMR pens. Inside, you’ll find a compact 8th-generation Intel Core i3-8130U processor, 4GB RAM, and 128GB eMMC flash memory for fast boot-up times. As a special bonus along with the $150 discount, you can even get a free Google Home Mini smart speaker when you order from Best Buy. 

Get some extra kick in processing and memory and spend less than $330 with this $100 discount from Best Buy. Whether you use it for work or entertainment, this 15-inch HP laptop helps you go from task to task with an advanced AMD Ryzen 3 processor and 8GB of memory. That provides enough bandwidth for casual gaming and photo or video editing, plus with 1TB of storage you’ll enjoy enough room for plenty of media. For other entertainment options, its HDMI output allows you to connect to another high-definition monitor or TV to enjoy bigger and more beautiful images.

Already a perfect budget option for under $300, you can save an extra $45.70 from Amazon on this sleek workhorse. Another 2-in-1 that’s a great buy if you’re indecisive between a laptop or tablet, the Lenovo C330 helps you enjoy a variety of media on its 11.6-inch IPS touchscreen. At less than an inch in thickness and 2.6 pounds, it’s hard to find a laptop that’s easier to take everywhere. And it won’t be hard to take care of all daily tasks with 4GB of DDR3 memory, 64GB of eMMC internal storage, and an extra 100GB of cloud storage for fast boot-up times and processing.