Believe it or not, there are a fair number of laptops to be found for under (or just around) $500, though don’t expect any of them to offer a massive amount of storage space or RAM speeds. The 15.6-inch Acer Chromebook 315 is a good place to start with a current sale price of $139 netting you 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of hard drive space. It also offers an HD anti-glare display, a dual-core Intel Celeron N4020 processor, and claims over 12 hours of battery life. Just remember that Chromebooks use Chrome OS by design, so no Windows.
HP’s 17.3-inch HD+ laptop is about twice the price of the Chromebook 315 at $319.99, but it does come with better specs, namely 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, plus an AMD Ryzen 3 7320U processor. Its HD+ display also offers glare resistance, a two-speaker stereo system is built in, and it comes with Windows 11 Home installed. Battery life is a bit of a step down at an advertised 11.5 hours, though.
At the very top of the list, price-wise, is the Envy 2-in-1 15.6-inch Full HD Touch-Screen Laptop, also from HP, discounted to $499.99. This one comes with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, as well, but also includes an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U processor. Additionally, there’s the FHD touchscreen, dual speakers, a 360-degree hinge, a built-in webcam shutter, backlit keyboard, and Windows 11 (not Home) comes pre-installed.