So you’re heading back to school and you need a new laptop—but you didn’t manage your finances over the summer. Your bank account is nearly tapped out, and you still need to buy text books and lay in enough ramen noodles to last through the winter. Yeah, we’ve all been there. Fortunately, Moore’s Law is still in play, so today’s budget notebook is yesterday’s workhorse. Pretty much any modern laptop can handle the gamut of productivity chores—word processing, number crunching, email, and the like—but all of the machines in this roundup can also tackle media editing and encoding sessions, and deliver respectable entertainment experiences. To strike the best balance between performance and affordability, I gathered the top five notebooks I could find for $650 or less. Benchmark busters they’re not, but they aren’t budget busters, either. CPU, memory, and storage specs Model CPU Memory Storage Asus VivoBook S550CA (Reference) Intel Core i5-3317U 6GB DDR3/1600 500GB 5400-rpm (+24GB cache) Acer Aspire E1-572-6870 Intel Core i5-4200U 4GB DDR3/1600 500GB 5400-rpm Dell Latitude 3330 Intel Core i3-2375m 4GB DDR3/1600 320GB 5400-rpm HP Pavilion TouchSmart 11z-e000 AMD A4-1250 4GB DDR3/1333 500GB 5400-rpm Lenovo IdeaPad Z400 Touch Intel Core i5-3230M 6GB DDR3/1600 1TB 7200-rpm Toshiba SatelliteL55Dt-A5253 AMD A6-5200 6GB DDR3/1333 750GB 5400-rpm I used several criteria to evaluate these laptops, including benchmark performance, storage capacity, weight,... Continue reading at 'PC World'
[ PC World | 2013-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
Finally, a color Kindle. Amazon, the dominant force in ereaders, finally brought color eink to its series of devices — and we’ve reviewed it. The Kindle Colorsoft is a solid premium ereader, ideal for readers of comics and graphic novels. The company has upgraded page-turn speed and a handy... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-10-31 11:15:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Well, it finally happened. After years of waiting and requests, Amazon debuted the $280 Kindle Colorsoft, its first ereader with a color display. The company’s ereaders have dominated this space since the original Kindle came out 17 years ago, but in this case, it feels like Amazon is playing... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-10-30 13:15:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this
It’s now easy enough to find a laptop with a spiffy, super-vibrant OLED screen. But two OLED screens at once? That’s the stuff of science fiction — and, well, Lenovo’s weird Yoga Book 9i. But if you’re looking for a more conventional laptop design with a keyboard that just happens to go... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2024-10-11 15:20:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this
If you've been on the lookout for a killer deal on a perfectly decent tablet for streaming videos and catching up on some reading, hunt no more. Just ahead of the October edition of Prime Day, Amazon has slashed the price of the Fire HD 10 tablet to $75, which is a discount of $65. This matches... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-09-30 20:27:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this
With a battery life of up to six weeks, this will be your “everyday, everywhere companion.” Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2024-08-27 13:11:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this
With a battery life of up to six weeks, this will be your “everyday, everywhere companion.” Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2024-08-26 15:14:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
If you’ve been holding out for a deal on an iPad mini, it may be time to make a move. Apple’s mini-tablet has dropped to a record low on Amazon. Usually $499, the sixth-gen model with 64GB is on sale for a mere $379. If you want more storage, the 256GB variant, typically $649, is on sale for... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-08-05 16:30:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Scribbling on the pages of a real book is a capital sin, but not when you have a Kindle Scribe. It has all the features of a Kindle except you can also write and draw directly on the pages of your ebooks. And right now the Kindle Scribe is more affordable than ever at $260 for Prime... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2024-07-10 14:20:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Anyone who’s an avid Kindle reader is gonna want this tiny page turner for Kindle devices—and right now you can get it for just $15 if you’re an Amazon Prime member (or $18 if you aren’t). This nifty gadget is a total game changer if you love reading ebooks but hate having to tap the... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2024-06-24 16:23:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this
As Qualcomm-powered Windows on Arm PCs begin appearing here at Computex, ushering in a generation of AI-infused Copilot+ laptops, it seemed appropriate to interview a major player in the push. No, not Qualcomm. (We’ve already spoken to them.) Instead, I mean Arm, the semiconductor... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2024-06-03 18:35:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Over the last few days, heightened solar activity (and those heady geomagnetic storms) led to outages in the GPS navigation systems that guide some modern tractors from John Deere and other brands. 404 Media reported farmers have been told to pause using high-tech tractors that use GPS systems... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-05-13 11:15:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Samsung's latest slate of Galaxy devices arrives on August 11, but there's still time to lock in a pre-order to get free perks like a storage upgrade and gift card. The company's new flagship foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 5, is included in the offer. If you pre-order one, you can get double the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-08-09 14:52:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Amazon has the company’s Kindle Kids e-reader on sale for 33 percent off right now. Its $80 price (usually $120) is nearly as low as it was on Prime Day, making it an ideal time to surprise your little one(s) with the gift of distraction-free reading. The device is an Engadget recommendation in... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-25 19:20:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The season of sitting outside in the sun and reading is upon us — and, fortunately, so is a sale on Kindle e-readers. Amazon is running a deal on its adult and kids Kindles, with the original model down from $100 to $80 — a 16 percent discount. At this price, the base model is just short of its... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-06-12 10:55:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Amazon is having a big sale on its Fire Kids tablets just in time for summer break. The Fire 7 tablet 16GB boasts one of the best discounts (along with normally being the cheapest option), with a 45 percent off sale bringing it to $60 from $110. However, for only $5 more, the 32GB model is on... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-06-06 10:35:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Rakuten-owned Kobo unveiled its newest e-reader today, a $400 alternative to the Kindle Scribe and reMarkable 2. The Kobo Elipsa 2E iterates on its 2021 predecessor with a better stylus, more versatile lighting / color-temperature adjustments and other improvements.The Kobo Elipsa 2E has a... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-04-05 04:01:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In December, ByteDance confirmed it fired four employees who used TikTok to spy on the locations of two journalists. Now, Forbes reports the FBI and the Department of Justice have been investigating the incident. This investigation couldn’t come at a worse time, as ByteDance faces mounting... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-03-17 11:30:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this
While Valve’s awesome $399 Steam Deck is a capable enough gaming system out of the box, some of its best features are easy to miss. If you know where to look, you can customize the Steam Deck to your liking, minimize annoyances, and even expand your game catalog well beyond the built-in... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-02-10 12:52:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
If one of your goals for 2023 is to read more, a new Kindle might inspire you to stick to that intention. Amazon has discounted its entry-level e-reader. Right now, you can get the ad-supported model, in either Black or Denim, for $75 or $25 off its usual $100 price. The 25 percent discount... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-02-05 21:19:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this
There’s nothing more exciting to me than a laptop with unique features or an out-of-the-box design. While a slew of brand spanking new laptops were announced at CES this year, there were some that really stood out from the rest. From RGB keyboards on Chromebooks to portable laptops so thin... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-01-18 11:45:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this