What Is The Best Medium Priced Laptop

What Kind Of Connectivity Do I Need

If you plan to use your laptops touchpad, touch screen, and keyboard as the primary means of control, most of the time you may never need to plug in anything other than the power cord. In this case, youll rely on the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections that most every laptop offers.

The latest Wi-Fi standard is 802.11ax , and is a good feature to look for in a premium machine to ensure the fastest Wi-Fi connectivity in the future. The older 802.11ac, though, is just fine for mainstream and budget systems. Steer clear of the older 802.11b/g/n standards that are still available on some budget machines, if you can, as those can result in lower throughput speeds and less reliable connections.

Serious gamers might want to opt for a machine with a Killer Networks setup. It will allow for more granular control over giving wired or wireless gaming traffic priority on your internet connection. Business users and gamers may also want a dedicated Ethernet jack. Most gaming machines will have one, and some gamers insist wired Ethernet is still the only way to go for competitive online gaming. Some laptops implement Ethernet as a full-size or fold-out jack others may come with an adapter in the box that routes Ethernet through a USB port. And still others come with neither, leaving wired Ethernet up to you to add via a dongle if you want it.

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If your child is also of the age that they may be looking to play PC games on the same machine that they’ll use for schoolwork, that is a whole other set of considerations. We’ll address that in a section near the end of this article, but know that gaming machines cost more than our other picks here.

Best For A Little Bit Of Everything

• A few reviewers reported keyboard issues

The Bottom Line

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Its really hard to make it in todays world without a computer of some kind. Nobody wants to do school or work projects on a phone. Youve gotta get yourself a real laptop.

Unfortunately, laptops cost money. If youre not careful, you can end up spending well over $1,000 for a machine with impressive specs. But were not here to talk about those. Theres a whole world of laptops that cost $600 or less many of them are perfect companions for students returning to school or folks who just need something thats a little more capable than an iPhone.

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How Much Ram Does My Laptop Need

For the majority of people, 8GB RAM is the sweet spot. Four to six years ago, you could probably get away with 4GB RAM for a productivity laptop, but browsers have become increasingly power-hungry requiring more RAM to run without a hitch. Even if you dont take full advantage of the 8GB, it offers some room to manoeuvre futureproofing your device.

Some cases do warrant a different amount of RAM, though. 4GB RAM remains capable for light use think running one program at a time or three to six tabs in a browser. While many gamers will baulk at the thought of just 8GB RAM. For the majority of laptop gaming, 16GB RAM is closer to the sweet spot. But, if youre looking for a larger, more powerful gaming laptop for high-end gaming rather than something to carry around then 32GB RAM isnt out of the question.

How We Test Hp Laptops

We put HP laptops through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate everything from speed and battery life to display brightness, speaker volume and system heat.

We use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and sRGB color gamut of a laptop’s display. For performance benchmarking, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 4.3 and 5.0 and 3DMark professional graphics tests.

To determine real-world performance, we task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and to duplicate a 4.97GB multimedia file. Our real-world graphics test is the Dirt 3 benchmark with medium settings and 1080p resolution.

We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. We consider everything over the category average to be a good result. Of course, these tests are complemented with hands-on testing from our reviewers.

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Best Gaming Laptops In 2021

Predator Helios 300

The best gaming laptop used to mean picking a bulky clam that you could barely describe as portable, due to only chunky “desktop replacements” having enough space under the hood for a worthwhile GPU. That’s no longer the case. Today’s top gaming laptops are able to squeeze desktop-level performance into some impressively slight chassis.

The newest portable powerhouses pack all of the features of big desktop gaming rigs, including multicore CPUs, the latest Nvidia RTX 30-series or AMD Radeon RX 6000-series GPUs, and speedy NVMe SSDs. This includes configurations with heaps of RAM and super-high refresh screens. You can even find laptops with mechanical keyboards.

Gaming laptops have also sidestepped the silicon shortage, as there appears to be plentiful stockat least at the high end. Manufacturers have been focusing on high-end offerings, though, so midrange and budget models may be a little more sparse. Still, there are enough models out there to meet demand.

We’ve tested hundreds of gaming laptops over the years and continually update this guide with the latest models. What you’ll find below are the laptops that stand out as offering the best balance of performance, portability, and price. Whatever you’re in the market for, you should find the laptop that’s right for you right here.

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What To Look For In A Cheap Laptop

Here are the minimum specs to look for if youre buying for a younger child and have a budget of less than £200.

• Operating system: Windows 10 S or Windows 11 S or ChromeOS
• Processor: Intel Celeron or Pentium
• Memory: 4GB Ram
• Storage: 64GB of storage or 32GB of storage

We’d recommend a smaller, 11-inch screen . Avoid big, heavy laptops that a child will struggle to carry.

You should also check it’s going to be compatible with Windows 11 – use our free Windows 11 requirements checker tool. If it’s not compatible, don’t necessarily rule it out as it gives you the opportunity to haggle with the seller. After all, Microsoft will still support Windows 10 until October 2025, which may well suit your needs.

Steer clear of:

• Processor: Intel Atom and older Intel Celeron processors .
• Memory: 2GB Ram .
• Storage: 16GB storage .

If you opt for Windows 10 S, your computer will only be able to install apps from the Microsoft Store. This means there’s much less chance of your child accidentally downloading an app thats actually a virus or full of spam. You can also set up their Microsoft account to be a ‘child’ account linked to your own account, so you can limit what they’re allowed to do with the laptop.

Chromebooks are also worth a look. In fact, your child might already use one at school, as these are popular among educational institutions. Read our guide to Chromebooks for more.

About The Asus Zenbook 14 And :

You get a few interesting additions here:

Namely, you get dedicated graphic cards: A GeForce MX 250 2GB in the 14 model A GeForce GTX 1650 4GB in the 15.6 model

Of course, you probably noticed in the picture:The ScreenPad 2.0: From ASUS: The ASUS ScreenPad 2.0 is essentially a touchscreen like that on a smartphone. It has a variety of functions including housing shortcuts, offering additional application options, and even supporting handwriting so you can digitize your notes and drawings. When not needed, it can revert back to standard touchpad duties using the Mode Switch button.

The ASUS Zenbook has been a popular ultrabook for years now. Its easy to see why: You get great specifications, it has a gorgeous design thats solid, a good display, small screen bezels and a good battery life while being highly portable with a 14 or 15.6 screen, respective weights of 2.78lbs and 3.64lbs.

While being thin and lightweight, they are both quite powerful with their Intel Core i7-10510U CPU, a dedicated graphic card, 16GB of RAM and it is super responsive with a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD that greatly improves the laptop booting speed.

The screen is good too, offering a 1920 x 1080 resolution, with 100% sRGB color coverage.

Theres also a Built-in IR camera for facial recognition sign in with Windows Hello.

Pros:

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Are Chromebooks Worth It

Yes, they are, but they’re not for everyone. and Chromebooks — laptops that run on Chrome OS — are great for people who do most of their work in a web browser or using mobile apps. They are secure, simple and, more often than not, a bargain. What they can’t do is natively run Windows or Mac software.

The Best Laptop In 2021 For Big

Even if youve used a light laptop before, its difficult to explain how light the LG Gram 17 is. It has a massive 17-inch display, but its somehow only three pounds. Picking it up messes with your mind you feel like youre not holding anything.

But the Gram 17s weight isnt the only standout feature. It also has some of the best battery life you can get, lasting over 12 hours in our testing. Add a great keyboard, a solid port selection, quiet fans, and a fast processor, and theres very little not to like about this device.

Not everyone needs a 17-inch display, and many folks who do are looking for a heavier-duty workstation that probably doesnt get moved very often. But if youd just really like a large screen for your daily office work and Netflixing, youre the target demographic for this machine. Its a niche, but truly impressive device without much real competition in todays market.

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What Are The Best Hp Laptops

HP makes a lot of great laptops, but we really like the Envy x360 and Envy 13. They might not be the best laptop in the lineup, but they offer the best value. For $799, you get a premium aluminum design and fast performance in a portable package. The 13.3-inch, 1080p display is plenty bright and vivid and the keyboard is among the best out there.

If you can spend a bit more, the Spectre x360 13 and Spectre x360 14 are better laptops. The Spectre x360 13 and 14 have an even fancier design and their flexible chassis converts into a tablet. Best of all, the battery life is epic. Similarly, the Elite Dragonfly, built for business users, is a sexy laptop with a razor-thin design and a gorgeous display.

Business users who need more power than the Elite Dragonfly should opt for the ZBook Create G7, a slim workstation with epic specs. Gamers should consider the Omen 15, a powerful gaming rig with tons of performance at a good price.

Cpus: Cores And Intel Vs Amd Vs Apple

Intel CPUs versus AMD CPUs is a long-running battle with no clear winner. More of our best laptop picks have Intel cores, but you’ll note that for the one laptop that offers both Intel and AMD processors â the Acer Swift 3 â we went with the AMD variant for its increased performance. Complicating this even further, at least for MacBook fans, is Apple’s new custom silicon M1 SoC chip. Apple has discontinued its Intel MacBook Air models moving forward, and its M1 laptops have such drastically improved CPU performance that you can’t argue with the results.

We won’t recommend one brand over the other two, as all of them can be trusted to perform well. What matters more is the number of cores, clock speed, and CPU benchmarks for your laptop of choice. With most of our top picks, you can buy an i3, i5, i7, 10th, or 11th Generation Intel CPU. The more cores you add, the better performance you’ll get, though louder fans and a hotter device often accompany this. Higher-level CPUs are often more likely to have hyper-threading, or the ability to have one core split itself to handle multiple tasks and better overclocking capabilities.

If you’re shopping Intel, an i3 for a Chromebook or i5 for a laptop should be more than sufficient for your daily tasks, especially if you’re buying the latest generation chip. That being said, springing for an i7 can be worth it for the same users who need upgraded RAM: gamers, media editors, and users that like to multi-task.

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Do Budget Laptops Have Good Battery Life

Some do, some dont. The models that prioritize portability tend to offer a little more, and youll want to skip a dedicated graphics chip if you want the most battery life.

However, you can find plenty of budget systems that offer a full workday and beyond on a single charge. In some cases, an option like the Asus ZenBook 13 UX333 offers better battery life than many laptops that cost a few hundred dollars more. Many Chromebooks also offer impressive battery life thanks to how lightweight the software is.

The Best Budget Laptops At A Glance

Why you should buy this: Its the best budget laptop.

Who its for: Anyone who doesnt mind sacrificing style for power.

Why we picked the Acer Swift 3 :

Finding a fast, well-built, cheap laptop for $650 isnt easy. Normally, one of the things you give up is processing power, relegated to low-end and/or last-generation Intel Core CPUs, in addition to builds that are plasticky and dont elicit confidence in their long-term viability.

Fortunately, Acer has come on strong with the Swift 3 equipped with AMDs latest Ryzen 7 4700U CPU. For around $650 , you get an eight-core laptop with AMD Radeon integrated graphics. That helps the laptop not only perform productivity tasks with aplomb but even churn through demanding tasks like encoding video. The display isnt the best weve seen, but youll forgive it once you see how well this budget laptop performs.

The $650 Acer Swift 3 also gets you 8GB of RAM and a large 512GB SSD. Its not a sleek or modern-looking laptop by any means, though it is very well built, and youll be hard-pressed to find a faster or better-built laptop for this kind of money. It even had a backlit keyboard, too.

Why you should buy this: Its the best budget laptop for students.

Who its for: Students, buyers on a budget.

Why we picked the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go:

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The Best Laptops You Can Buy Today

Reasons to buy

Reasons to avoid

The Dell XPS 13 is one of our favorite laptops thanks to its excellent performance, beautiful display, and svelte design. While the battery life isn’t as good as some other laptops of similar price, it’s usually more than enough to get you through a day of work without scrambling for a charger.

Plus, in 2021 Dell began offering the XPS 13 with a 3.5K OLED touchscreen option. If you can afford it it’s well worth the investment, as the OLED’s deep, inky blacks, vibrant colors, and high contrast ratios really shine when mounted in the XPS 13’s thin-bezelled InfinityEdge design. As mentioned earlier, it’s so good that it won the awards for best laptop display and best laptop overall in our Tom’s Guide Awards 2021.

Not interested in OLED? Don’t miss our Dell XPS 13 review.

Reasons to avoid

Apple has revolutionized its laptops, thanks to its own Apple silicon processors, which are replacing the Intel chips it’s previously used. This chip delivers faster speeds than the Air’s ever seen, and the longest battery life in any MacBook either: it lasted 14 hours and 41 minutes on the Tom’s Guide battery test. Not since 2015 has a MacBook come close to that. Not only does the M1 chip make the MacBook Air a multi-tasking fiend, but it also enabled me to play Rise of the Tomb Raider smoothly, and that’s even with Rosetta 2 conversion of that Intel app.

Reasons to avoid

Reasons to buy

Reasons to avoid

Reasons to avoid