Best 5 Budget Laptop PCs

By Mark Kyrnin, About.com

Budget laptops are a tough market for manufacturers. They have to produce quality systems for as little as possible and that often involves trade offs in hardware or software features. Below are the best value based laptop PC computers available for under US$750 based upon my research and experience.

1. Lenovo IdeaPad Y530

What makes the IdeaPad Y530 the top choice? The fact that it is using some of the latest technology for laptops and placing them in a low cost option. It uses the Intel GM45 chipset that supports faster DDR3 memory, comes with a draft 802.11n wireless network controller and the new GMA X4500 graphics processor. Combine this with a sizable 250GB hard drive and this laptop has just about everything that a person might need in a low cost laptop. The only real downside is that Lenovo used an older 32-bit Pentium Dual-Core processor rather than a newer Core 2 Duo, thus limiting its overall processing power.

2. Acer Aspire AS5920-6959

Those looking for higher performance and lots of storage space for applications and data would be best served by the Aspire AS5920-6595. At the heart of the system is an Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 dual core processor. This is one of the higher grade processors that you will find in the budget market and provides the system with a good overall level of performance. The 320GB hard drive is the largest that one will find in the sub $750 laptop market. This is anywhere from 50 to 100 percent larger than what other companies have in their budget laptops. The downside is that it is one of the larger 15.4-inch laptops on the market.

3. Gateway M-6843

This was one of the first budget laptops to feature the Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 processor for the budget laptop segment. It has been out for several months now sold through Best Buy and it appears to now be an outlet item that is being phased out. This means that the system can be found for some very discounted prices. In addition to the faster processor, Gateway also outfitted the red laptop with 3GB of memory that allows the system to run better with the Vista operating system. Some may be disappointed that there is no FireWire port on the unit. The speakers also tend to have static on them when the unit is playing audio while not plugged into an AC outlet.

4. Dell Inspiron 1525

Dell's Inspiron 1525 is one of the older models on the market that has gone through a wide range of changes over the years. This can make shopping for it a bit more difficult. Diligent consumers can end up with some amazing performance for an extremely low price though. In fact, it is possible to find one configured with an Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 3GB of DDR2 memory, 250GB hard drive and 2.0 megapixel webcam for under $700. That is one of the better configurations available in this market segment. So why isn't it higher on the list? Because consumers will have to do a lot of work ahead of time for coupons, specials and comparison between retailers and Dell to get the best overall deal and not a tired configuration.

5. CyberPower PC Xplorer X5-2900

One thing that most budget laptops lack is dedicated graphics. This prevents them from really being used with high definition video streams or PC gaming. The CyberPower PC Xplorer X5-2900 is unique because it is one of the only systems that can be configured for under $750 and still come with an integrated graphics processor. Sure, the ATI Radeon 3470 is not a high grade 3D processor, but it is capable of PC gaming and HD video that most of the models with integrated solutions won't be able to. The system also packs in an HDMI and eSATA connector for use with the latest peripherals. The drawback is that this system is generally more expensive than others on this list and lacks any software package that might require extra expense.