In part because of their added complexity compared with traditional clamshell designs, you won't find quite as many affordable ones, but there are a few Windows and Chrome OS-based models that cost $500 or below. See our guide to the best 2-in-1 convertible and hybrid laptops for more information about this popular segment of the market. Some come with detachable keyboards, but most of these are far less comfortable for typing on your lap than a conventional laptop. Tablets rose in popularity throughout the 2010s, and though we have plenty of reviews of those-take a look at our overall roundup of the best tablets, as well as our favorites running the Windows and Android operating systems-they are sufficiently different from traditional clamshell-style laptops that they don't always make good substitutes. The Best Cheap Tablets and Hybrids: 2-in-1s on a Budget Intel Core and AMD Ryzen "C"-series processors tend to be found in the more premium class of Chromebooks. Note that a Pentium or Celeron processor is adequate for a light-usage, budget-minded Chromebook.
Just be sure you have easy access to stable Wi-Fi wherever you'll use one, as Chromebooks have limited offline functionality and scant local storage. It will also likely cost you a lot less than other types of notebooks, as many Chromebooks come in at less than $300. Wi-Fi 6, isn't widespread yet among budget laptops, though you will see it in a few models.) A Wi-Fi radio that uses the speedy 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) protocol is also the norm now. In terms of features, budget laptops will come with (almost always) at least one USB 3.0 port, and possibly a USB 2.0 port or two. This is not the same as the flash memory used in a true solid-state drive (SSD), and it will feel a tad sluggish if you're used to an SSD. Also, know that budget machines with this little local storage, among them many Chromebooks, are using what is called "eMMC memory" as their main storage. Of course, as with anything cloud-based, you'll need to be online to access it. Other budget systems, particularly Chromebooks and some under-$400 Windows laptops, will have only a small allotment (32GB or 64GB) of local storage, but compensate for it with generous offers of additional free cloud storage. If you can get by with the capacity of a small SSD, we strongly favor opting for one, even over a roomier platter-based hard drive, for their durability. When it comes to storage, a handful of inexpensive systems still use spinning hard drives, with capacities often at 500GB, but increasingly, inexpensive Windows machines opt for small-capacity solid-state drives (SSDs) of 128GB or 256GB capacity. Consumers seeking a real computer for the price of a toy need look no further. It would be great if the IdeaPad 1 had a USB-C port and 8GB instead of 4GB of memory (don't expect to multitask much or open more than two or three browser tabs), but then it would cost considerably more. Its AMD Athlon Silver processor is slow compared to AMD's Ryzen or Intel's Core CPUs, and its screen brightness peaks at 220 nits instead of the 300 or higher we prefer, but check that bottom line again: $299.
The Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14 is a 14-inch laptop with full HD (1,920 by 1,080 pixels) screen resolution (not an unsatisfactory 1,366 by 768), a snappy keyboard (not a patch on Lenovo's famed ThinkPads, but a lot nicer than you'd expect), and a bonafide (albeit small-capacity) solid-state drive (SSD) instead of the puny, poky eMMC flash storage of some super-economy notebooks. Yes, it's only $299 list price (and maybe less than that if you hunt around resellers).
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