Recommendation: Laptops Less than $250

This time of year I am often asked what laptops I recommend. Ultimately, it comes down to budget and requirements. Today, I'll share some of my recommendations on laptops (mostly) for under $250.

HP Stream 7

HP Stream 7
While not a laptop, it's a full-featured Windows 8.1 tablet with a 8.0" 1280x800 screen with Intel Atom processor, 32GB storage, and 1GB RAM. You can connect a mouse and keyboard through bluetooth (or USB through an adapter) to get a laptop-like experience. If you want Windows on the cheap, there's really not a better solution than this.

HP Stream 11

HP Stream 11
If you're wanting more of a traditional feel laptop on the cheap, it's hard to beat the HP Stream 11. It's sports an 11.6" 1366x768 screen, Intel Processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB SSD and 1 year of 1TB CloudDrive. The nice thing about this option is the inclusion of Microsoft Office 365 for a year.



Acer C720 Chromebook

Acer C720 Chromebook

The Chromebooks should certainly not be overlooked, especially if you're looking primarily for something for web browsing as your primary function. If you understand the limitations of Chrome OS (no, iTunes, no Microsoft applications, etc) then this option is tough to beat. It has an 11.6" 1366x768 screen, Intel processor, 2GB RAM, and 16GB SSD. The battery life is also rated at 8.5 hours!

Acer Aspire E 15 ES1-512-C88M

Acer Aspire E 15 ES1-512-C88M
The Acer Aspire is a no-frills laptop. It sports nothing fancy and doesn't come with special offers of cloud storage, but for a basic laptop to do 99% of what the average user will need, this laptop will fill that need. It comes with a 15.6" 1366x768 display, Intel processor, 4GB RAM, and 500GB HDD (which is plenty of storage for photos, videos, etc). If the basics are all you need, this little guy will do the trick.

Stay tuned for different price ranges and product types coming up!