96 PCWorld JANUARY 2022HERE’S HOW HOW TO BUY A BUDGET LAPTOP
Our guide can help you buy a
budget laptop without getting
screwed on its specifications. If
you’re looking for more concrete
buying recommendations across a
mix of budgets, our roundup of the
best laptop deals can also help
(fave.co/33Lcczj).OPERATING SYSTEM:
WINDOWS OR
CHROMEOS?
The most important choice you
must make is the operating system.
Budget laptops run Microsoft Windows or
Google ChromeOS. The latter is often less
expensive, with budget Chromebooks sold
for as little as $125.
ChromeOS is a fast, smooth, simple
operating system ideal for people with a
good internet connection, a preference for
Google services, and basic expectations. You
will access most apps and services online and
have a more limited selection of apps and
services to choose from.
Windows is versatile, powerful, and
functional. It offers you access to hundreds
of thousands of applications to handle just
about any task. Most keyboards, mice, and
displays are designed for Windows first,
though they may also work with ChromeOS.
Windows isn’t as smooth as ChromeOS and
it requires a more powerful laptop in order
to run well.Can’t make a decision? Stick with
Windows. Its broad app support means it’s
never a bad option.PROCESSOR: STICK WITH
INTEL CORE I3 OR AMD
RYZEN 3 (OR BETTER)
Budget laptops are sold with a variety of
low-end processors you’d never see in more
expensive PCs. You’ll encounter not only
budget-tier Intel Celeron and AMD Athlon
processors, but also processors from MediaTek
and Samsung. Avoid them. These processors
are based on old designs and performance
can significantly lag more recent options.
One best-selling laptop on Amazon,
Lenovo’s Chromebook C330, has a MediaTek
MT8173, which, according to Geekbench 5’s
benchmark database, is lucky to score 750 in
the benchmark’s multi-core test. Intel’s Core