When it comes to shopping for the best cheap laptops, you can do a lot with $1,000. (Heck, even $500 cuts some mustard nowadays.) But you’ll probably have to make some compromises along the way to stay below that price point.
That doesn’t mean you have to settle for a total clunker that doesn’t tick any of the boxes on your must-have specs list. It just means you have to shop a little smarter than someone on an unlimited budget — and that’s where we come in.
After meticulous hands-on testing and careful research, we can recommend several affordable laptops for different budgets, operating system loyalties, and use cases. Keep reading for our guide to the best cheap laptops of 2024, including models from Acer, Microsoft, and, yes, even Apple.
Dispatches From The Front 