These days, many entrepreneurs spend more time with their computers than they do with their customers and even their families. You might even say that entrepreneurs are in a relationship with their laptops. Just like in other healthy relationship, it is important that you have a partner you can trust and rely on.
When it comes to laptops to help entrepreneurs run their businesses, there some some power players out there like the Macbook Pro ($1,299.00) and the Dell Precision 5520 ($2,950.00). But what if you’re looking for a simpler, reliable laptop with lots of features to help run your business that won’t cost you $1,000?
We’ve got you covered. This article is first in a series of laptop and tech gadgets reviews for entrepreneurs. In future articles we will list the best overall laptops. Be sure subscribe by email so you don’t miss any updates. Here are some of the amazing features of the best five laptops to go for when you have less than 500 dollars with you.
If you’re looking for more, premium laptops, be sure to check out our list of the 10 best business laptops of this year.
1. Asus Chromebook Flip C302
Probably the best laptop available under $500 is the Asus Chromebook Flip. It is a little hard to believe that this gem is so reasonably priced when it offer so many premium feature. ASUS Chromebook Flip C302 has a touchscreen with a 360 degrees hinge that allows you to use it in various ways such like a laptop or a tablet. This flexibility allows you to use it in different working environments.
This Chromebook starts/boots in not more than 3.5 seconds and also works more than ten hours on a single battery charge. It is very portable due to it’s sleek, thin and lightweight design. It supports faster and reliable wireless connections (WiFi and Bluetooth) and has a 4 GB RAM and a 64 GB hard drive.
It is powered by intel core processors and it has chrome Operating system making it have a lighting speed.
The built-in security features keep you safe, secure and up to date while Gorilla glass display makes it look even more appealing to your eyes. No wonder the Asus Chromebook Flip made the list of Best Products of 2017 by PCmag.
Why it’s a good business computer:
For a laptop this price, this Asus Chromebook has a strong performance. It is also thin and light making it great as a second computer for a home office or working from remote locations such as a cafe or co-working space. Backlit keyboard that is full size makes typing on this laptop very easy.
2. ASUS VivoBook 15 F515 Thin and Light Laptop, 15.6
Asus is often an overlooked brand when it comes to the competitive laptop market. However, they have shown that they can produce some great devices for less than some of their competitors. The ASUS VivoBook 15 F512FA is one of those devices
This laptop is one of the most affordable on the market. It has a slim design and light so if you’re traveling it will make for a good companion. It is powered by the Intel Core i3 CPU with integrated graphics.
It comes with a 15.6 inch Full HD NanoEdge bezel display with a stunning 83% screen-to-body ratio. Ergonomic backlit keyboard with 10 key numeric pad and a fingerprint sensor activated via Windows Hello. If you’re looking for a top performing computer with a lot of features without a high price tag, don’t ignore the ASUS VivoBook.
3. Lenovo Chromebook Duet Two in One Laptop Mediatek P60T CPU Integrated Graphics 2 in 1 Laptop/Tablet
If you’re looking for a super affordable 2-in-1 Laptop/Tablet, you may want to seriously consider the Lenovo Chromebook Duet. This combo device sells for under $200. It is thin and lightweight while offering up to 10 hours of battery life.
Because of its size, you will be able to take it anywhere. It boots up quickly with just your Google login to give you access to all of your cloud-based documents, email and more. You’ll
10.1″ FHD (1920 x 1200) IPS, glossy, touchscreen, 400 nits so the visuals will be sharp for whatever you’re doing.
Keep in mind, because it is more tablet than laptop, it comes with only 4GB of memory and 64 GB of storage.
4. Samsung Chromebook Plus Convertible Touch Laptop-(XE513C24-K01US)
To start, it has a beautiful 2400 x 1600 pixel touch screen display which produces one of the most crisp picture displays around for a laptop of this price. Samsung Chromebook Plus comes with an embedded stylus that works well in operating the touchscreen for about $399. It does well for everyday use.
However, if you want a better, business friendly version, you have to go with the Samsung Chromebook Pro. Similar to our previous mention, the Asus Chromebook Flip C302, this laptop is also a flip model.
It has an average battery life of 8-10 hours for a single battery charge and has a reliable wireless connection (WiFi and Bluetooth). It has a 2 GHz Intel processor and has a 4 GB RAM and a 32 GB Hard drive. When it comes to ports, this laptop is definitely on the lighter side. However, Chromebooks usually makes it easier to live in the cloud.
Why it’s a good business laptop:
If you create your own images for your visual marketing on Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat, this Chromebook works well. With the full library of apps from the Playstore, it makes capturing images and using your social media easier. Since Instagram currently doesn’t allow you to upload images on a desktop browser, this laptop will allow you to do that seamlessly. 2.4 lbs, it is even lighter than the Asus Chromebook Flip C302 which makes it easier to work remotely.
5. Lenovo Idea pad 320 17.3″ Traditional Laptop
Lenovo has made a affordable laptop for programmers as well as video content and podcast creators. There is plenty of storage space, it comes with your Windows 10 Pro home pre-installed and it is great for using graphics and creating documents.
The display is attractive with a maximum resolution of 1500 x 900 pixels on a 17.3 inch screen.
However, with a battery life of 5 hours, this laptop’s charge is less than some of the other devices on our list. It is durable and comes with 2.5 GHz Intel core i5 processor. It has a 8 GB RAM and a I TB hard disk. The laptop can be found most places for $499.
Why it’s a good business laptop:
Another model with a 10-key pad makes accounting easier. This is also the most durable laptop on our list.
6. Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14 Laptop
For the price, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 will be able to do the everyday things your work may demand. Its performance is impressive with the AMD Ryzen 5 5500U mobile processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD storage, and AMD Radeon 7 Graphics.
This device Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, plus USB, USB-C, and HDMI ports. A nice addition is the 10 keypad that you rarely see on laptops in this price range. The numeric pad is great for calculating and inputting numbers into spreadsheets more quickly.
Speaker quality isn’t great so using your headphones for listening to sound is recommended. The style of the laptop is nice although it doesn’t have a premium feel which is understandable for a budget computer. Overally, this is a great device for a great price.
7. HP Pavilion Professional Laptop AMD CPU Integrated Graphics Touchscreen
The HP Pavilion Professional Laptop AMD CPU Integrated Graphics Touchscreen is a high-end laptop that is designed to be used in professional settings. It has a 14 inch display, 8GB High-Bandwidth DDR4 Memory and 192GB Storage.
The HP Pavilion Professional Laptop AMD CPU Integrated Graphics Touchscreen is designed for professionals who need to use their laptop for long hours (10 hour battery life) and are looking for a device that can handle their needs.
This laptop comes with a large 14 inch display with an anti-reflective coating and offers excellent viewing angles. The screen is also touchscreen enabled so users can interact with the screen by touching it as well as using the keyboard or mousepad on it to control the cursor on the screen.
8. HP W0S99UT 13 -Inch G1 Chromebook
Another simple, cloud-based laptop that is great for professionals is the HP Chromebook 13. One of the things that makes this laptop great for business is the fact that the HP Chromebook 13 is compatible with several high-performance enterprise virtual desktop environments and VPN tools.
It has a 1.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4405 dual core and 4 GB RAM and a 32 GB hard drive. Chrome is pre-installed. It has a stable and reliable wireless network connection. It also has a fanless design to protect it from dust.
Why it’s a good business laptop:
Light and with an attractive design, this laptop can go anywhere.
9. (2022) Newest Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6
This sturdy laptop surprised a lot of people with its features and performance for under $500. I mean, really surprised. A 1920 x 1080 display is rare in a laptop under $400 but Acer has offered that along with a 15.6-inch screen. It has got plenty of ports that lets you connect with almost any device.
It supports up to 8 hours battery life for a single charge. It has the AMD Ryzen 3 3350U Quad-Core Processor. It comes with backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader and Amazon Alexa. The webcam is good but could be improved upon but still decent for the price.
Why it’s good for business:
Besides being reliable, one of the benefits to this computer is its larger keyboard with 10-key pad. Imputing numbers for simple coding, accounting, or calculating is much easier with a 10 key-pad. Even though this is a low cost laptop, its surprisingly fast and the 8 hour battery life is nice to have.
10. New HP 15.6″ HD Touchscreen Laptop
You may be pleasantly surprised by this $500 laptop after you open the box. This budget-friendly HP has an15.6 in HD WLED touchscreen with 10-finger multi-touch support. The display is really nice so doing visual work will not be an issue.
It houses the 10th Generation Intel Core i3 and comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB SSD. The design is slim and fairly light. The speaker quality on this machine is also really good so when you’re done working you can enjoy streaming movies or listening to music.
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