Best Laptops Under $300

Tech-experts say that we are now living in the post-PC era…is that really happening? For the last five years, we’ve seen dramatic growth in the tablet & mobile phones industry. It seems like everyone is using more handheld devices compared to laptops. But don't go assuming that the days of the laptop are already numbered. While some can settle with a tablet, there are some drawbacks for the tablet-only lifestyle that some users can’t stand. Despite the advances such as faster processors and high-definition displays, tablets are often not suitable for heavy users. If you need to do serious work, need powerful processing, or need compatibility with an accessory or storage device, there's no good alternative to the laptop. However, like all things in life, everything good comes with a price. One won’t have to worry though since there are currently plenty of options for those of you who are seeking budget-friendly portable computers.

With a budget not exceeding $300, we will feature two of the outstanding models in the land of portable computing. And just because it’s cheaper compared to those high-end laptops doesn’t mean that it’s low quality. Both devices offer pretty similar features yet the real choice entirely depends which suits your needs.

If you’re looking for a Windows 8-based laptop, a touch screen is highly recommended such as the ASUS VivoBook X200CA-DB01T. It weighs around 2.6 lbs with an average battery life of five hours. It has a regular hard drive capacity of 500GB along with a free ASUS WebStorage cloud-based service. Although this laptop is really small, it does support USB 3.0 for fast data transfer from any storage device. This 11.6-inch laptop retails at $293 only.

ASUS VivoBook X200CA-DB01T Quick Overview

Processor	1.5 GHz Intel Celeron 1007U
RAM	2 GB DDR3
Memory Speed	1333 MHz
Wireless Type	802.11b/g/n

Another notable laptop is the Acer C710-2055 11.6-Inch Chromebook. This Chrome OS-based computer has a similar HD screen resolution of 1366 X 768 pixels as that of the ASUS VivoBook. The unique operating system is specifically designed for Web-based tasks. Instead of dealing with applications, Chromebooks run Web-based apps. This means files are stored in the cloud instead of the machine since they don’t come with large-capacity drives. If you are used to Windows-based software, no need to worry since there are still apps that can be used to open and edit them. Since this is basically a Google product, all their services are built-in such as Google Search, Hangouts, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, and YouTube.

Acer C710-2055 Quick Overview

Processor	1.1 GHz Celeron 847
Hard Drive	320 GB SATA
Graphics Coprocessor	Intel HD Graphics
Graphics Card Ram Size	128 MB
Wireless Type	802.11b/g/n
Number of USB 2.0 Ports	3
Average Battery Life	6 hours
Item Weight	3 pounds

With twice the RAM (4GB) and an impressive battery life, this Chromebook is a good choice when you’re just a regular computer user who needs simple, virus-free, and a budget of $299.

By: Vanessa Barros - Tech Support Engineer at Supportrix