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 ]
If you've been looking to grab Amazon's Kindle Scribe but didn't want to jump in at full price, the company has rolled out the first set of discounts on its new top-end e-reader with note-taking support. Depending on which configuration you want, the deals take $45 to $60 off the device's... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-01-05 20:40:33 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is the best e-reader for the money bar none, and you can now pick one up at the lowest price we've seen. It's back on sale at its Prime Day price of $135, for a savings of $55 (29 percent). Amazon has also knocked 29 percent off the regular Kindle... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-10-03 08:48:51 UTC ]
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Getting an e-reader can do wonders for bookworms struggling with library management. (Physical space is a finite and precious resource, as we all found out during the pandemic.) You don’t even have to spend that much either, as today’s entry-level options pack a slew of features. Case in... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2022-09-13 15:01:41 UTC ]
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With Amazon Prime Day only a few days away, the early deals are in full swing. Prime members can pick up things like Echo Dots, Kindles, Fire TV devices and more for less right now, while anyone can pick up the latest Apple TV 4K for one of the best prices we've seen. Roku has also discounted... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-07-08 15:45:42 UTC ]
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Lingering Micro-USB ports are the bane of consumer electronics. Every time I see an allegedly “new” gadget with one of those fragile, asymmetrical charging tips I cringe. Following in the footsteps of its Kindle e-readers, Amazon is updating its phenomenally popular base model Fire Android... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2022-05-18 14:09:54 UTC ]
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Samsung's newest tablets have only been available for a few weeks, but they're already receiving discounts on Amazon. You can snag both the Galaxy Tab S8 and S8+ for less right now thanks to clippable coupons that knock $50 and $75 off the tablets, respectively. Just make sure to clip the coupon... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-03-09 14:54:03 UTC ]
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This might be a good time to buy an e-reader and foster your child's love of reading. Amazon is selling the Kindle Paperwhite Kids for $110 as part of a one-day-only sale, or a full $50 below the usual price. The standard Kindle Kids is also on sale for today at $60 with a similar $50 discount.... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-03-04 14:15:59 UTC ]
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Samsung may be best known for its Galaxy phones, TVs and household appliances, but I think its laptops deserve more recognition. At MWC 2022 today, the company unveiled the next generation of its Galaxy Book series of PCs. Last year’s models brought vibrant AMOLED panels while maintaining... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-02-27 18:00:01 UTC ]
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Regardless of how 2021 went for you, 2022 is another chance for all of us to make the new year better than those that came before it. We set New Year’s resolutions with the best of intentions, but it’s no wonder that so many people fail after just a few weeks – old habits die hard. Just as it’s... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-01-01 14:34:42 UTC ]
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It's now that much easier to use Arturia's softsynths on your brand new MacBook. Arturia has released a free V Collection 8.2 update that adds native support to the (currently discounted) suite for Macs with M1 processors. That should improve performance, as you might guess, but it could also... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2021-11-25 15:00:35 UTC ]
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It’s hard to believe that in just a matter of years, foldable devices have gone from the stuff of science fiction to actual usable daily drivers. Here we are today, checking out the third generation of Samsung’s foldables, which the company just launched at its Unpacked event. The Fold 3 is the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2021-08-11 14:00:51 UTC ]
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Stay on top of the latest tech with PCWorld’s Digital Magazine. Available as single copies or as a monthly subscription, it highlights the best content from PCWorld.com—the most important news, the key product reviews, and the most useful features and how-to stories—in a curated Digital Magazine... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2018-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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We love the Surface Book. We love the Surface Pro 4. But what we haven’t told you yet is the question many of you are asking: Which one is better? And the answer is: the other one. For the last week, we’ve tossed the question back and forth: which one do you like? Why? We both agree that the... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sony is stopping e-reader production following the transfer of its ebook business outside Japan to Canada’s Kobo.“Final production of the current Reader model, PRS-T3, was made at the end of May,” a spokeswoman for Sony in Tokyo wrote in an email Wednesday. “The product will continue to be... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Asus continues to break new ground in computer form factors, announcing a number of new PC products at the IFA show in Berlin today. The company demonstrated two new additions to its Windows Transformer line of convertible tablets, two glass-enveloped Ultrabooks, and what must be an extremely... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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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,... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2013-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this