By For low-cost laptops, $500 is somewhat of a sweet spot. Since I believe that a good processor and at least 16GB of RAM are necessary for Windows 11 to function properly, there are plenty that fall under that price range, but very few that I would genuinely suggest. The HP offer from today, which practically halved the price of an OmniBook 5, makes this low-cost laptop worthwhile. The price on HP’s official store is $449.99.
A 6-core AMD Ryzen AI 5 340, one of the newest and most efficient mid-range processors, with some decent Radeon 840M integrated graphics for gaming, is available for that price. A respectable 512GB of SSD storage, a 16-inch, 1920×1200 IPS screen, and the previously mentioned 16GB of RAM are also included. Although the body of this base model configuration is sufficiently wide to accommodate a full-length keyboard with a number pad, it lacks a touchscreen.
HP has this designated as a sale, but I’m not sure how long it will stay – there’s no expiration period on the discount. If you’ve been waiting for a discount, act fast because a sale this deep for a budget design is not often seen. See bestcomputerfinder compilation of the top laptop models if this one doesn’t quite suit your needs.
Additional benefits include an IR webcam for simple Windows Hello logins, full-sized HDMI for connecting to a monitor or TV, and double USB-C and double USB-A connectors. It is not very light (but not heavy for its size) at four pounds, and its 59-watt-hour battery prevents it from being an endurance runner. However, this is roughly as inexpensive as any Copilot+ laptop from a well-known manufacturer, and a student on a tight budget would find it to be an excellent option due to its many ports and low gaming capabilities.
