TOP 5 laptops of 2015 under $500

Lenovo IdeaPad B590 (B590 59-381384)

IdeaPad B590 is one of the most affordable laptops not only in the Lenovo range, but also on the market in general. However, it deserves buyers not only for this reason. It has its advantages, although, of course, it was not without its disadvantages.

The advantages of the IdeaPad B590, as with other Lenovo models, include minimal noise and heating during operation, as well as high-quality (for a low-cost model) housing design. The ergonomic island-type AccuType keyboard and a touchpad with a textured surface receive positive feedback from them. In addition, this model is the only one in the review that has four USB ports at once (among them — two USB 3.0). At the same time, one of them is "on" all the time — to recharge gadgets. And the ports are arranged thoughtfully: the cables do not interfere with each other when connecting numerous devices.

At the same time, the owners criticize the mediocre quality of the built-in webcam, the relatively short real—time operation on a single battery charge (up to 4 hours), as well as the combined microphone and headphone jack — a common feature for almost all available laptops. The location of the microphone built into the case is not very well chosen in the B590 — in certain positions of the user, the interlocutor may be hard to hear. Like the vast majority of inexpensive products, the LCD matrix has problems with vertical viewing angles, there is also a decrease in contrast at the edges of the display.

The younger Lenovo IdeaPad B590 is assembled on the basis of an inexpensive Celeron 1005M processor and has 2 GB of RAM on board. If you plan to limit yourself to the office and the Internet, then this configuration will suit . But for the comfortable operation of modern Windows and resource-intensive applications, this may not be enough. By the way, part of the RAM is used for integrated video. The situation can be partially corrected by upgrading memory (up to a maximum of 8 GB) and/or replacing the processor (installed in Socket G2) with a more performant one. However, you can purchase the B590 version with Pentium and 4 GB of RAM — (59-417884).

HP 250 G4 (250G4-N0Y18ES)

The HP 250 G3 is based on the Celeron N3050, which was introduced in early 2015 and costs about $100 (a significant part of the price of the entire laptop). This CPU is characterized by low power consumption — only 6 watts — with quite adequate performance for many everyday tasks. The N3050 is integrated into the system board and is not subject to upgrade. The computer also uses a discrete AMD Radeon R5 M330 graphics card with 2 GB of video memory (faster than the graphics core integrated into the processor). Therefore, in graphics-demanding applications and games, this model will give odds to others in the ranking. The hard drive has a capacity of 500 GB sufficient for an inexpensive system, even by today's standards.

The manufacturer saved on the pre—installed amount of RAM — only 2 GB of it is available. Not the best news, considering that the HP 250 G3 upgrade procedure requires disassembling a significant part of the case — there is no removable panel from below. The only USB 3.0 port is not painted in the traditional blue colour and is the same colour as the two USB 2.0 ports, and the headphone output and microphone input are combined in a combined cut. In addition, HP's low-cost is also given by an LCD matrix with low contrast and not the best viewing angles.

The HP keyboard has a standard-looking digital block. At the same time, the cursor keys "up/down" are made half as small as the second pair of arrows, which can be inconvenient, for example, when navigating through documents or web pages. Reviews of the HP 250 G3, among other things, mention the noise of the hard drive in the test model and a very small, at the level of 3 hours, battery life, largely "thanks" to a not very capacious battery. One of the positive aspects of the computer noted by the owners is the good quality of the case, matte, not very branded plastic, a classic—looking touchpad with two separate buttons that recognizes gestures well enough.

HP offers this laptop as a solution for a small office. The option we are considering is quite capable of occupying this niche. If you have a lot of money to buy, then taking into account the impossibility of upgrading the HP 250 G3 processor, you can pay attention to its configurations with Pentium or Core i3 and with 4 GB of RAM.

Acer Aspire E5-521 (E5-521-493T)

The issue of balancing the characteristics and price in the Acer E5-521 has been solved radically — there is no optical drive in the device, and from the CPU preference is given to the low-cost AMD Fusion A4-6210. This 4-core chip provides performance at the Pentium level, that is, it is a transitional option between Celeron and Core i3. Only the power consumption (15 W) of A4 is higher than that of Intel solutions, and there is no possibility of upgrading it. The advantage of this version is 4 GB of RAM with the possibility of upgrading to 16 GB. By the way, on the market options are also available with more performant AMD A6 and A8 chips, but there are no options with Windows installed.

The Acer E5-521 will please its owner with quiet operation without noticeable heating of the case. The plastic case of the laptop has one difference from competitors — in the form of stylization of the surface under the polished metal. Also, this model has good battery life indicators — up to 7 hours of operation without recharging with Wi-Fi enabled.

The island keyboard used in many Acer models is equipped with a convenient digital block, and the cursor keys have a reduced size. The touchpad provides a good response to pressing over the entire surface and responds well to gestures. Users note a problem in the implementation of scrolling, manifested in the initial delay and the subsequent sharp "jump" of the scrollable content.

Also among the disadvantages noted in reviews and reviews is a complex upgrade and maintenance procedure that requires a complete disassembly of the case, and the brightness and contrast indicators of the LCD matrix are below average. Although the colour reproduction of the screen is better than that of most low-cost models, it will not be comfortable to work in bright daylight.

Acer is good for equipping workplaces in the office, and the absence of problems with battery life, heating and noise make it an attractive option to choose as a personal PC.

Fujitsu Lifebook A512 (A5120M73A5)

The Fujitsu Lifebook A512 in our review most resembles classic laptops. The case, as for a low-cost laptop, is quite well assembled. It is distinguished by a relatively easy disassembly procedure for prevention and upgrade. Only a pair of removable covers on the bottom panel restrict access to the cooling system, the WLAN module, memory slots, a battery for the BIOS and a hard drive. And more complex maintenance actions will require a complete disassembly — in this it does not differ from other models.

The laptop uses a 2-core Intel Core i3 processor with a frequency of 2.4 GHz paired with 4 GB of RAM installed. You can work on such a configuration for a long time, postponing the need for an upgrade. And Intel's integrated graphics emphasizes that the main purpose of the Lifebook A512 is work. But the case remains cold and it can be held on your lap (according to estimates in reviews, the temperature does not exceed 35 degrees). But there is no wide variety of complete sets. You can only buy version 0M62C5 with Pentium instead of Core i3, but the difference in price and performance from 0M73A5 is minimal.

The monolithic keyboard of the traditional type with protection from spilled liquid will appeal to fans of classic solutions . Its only drawback can be considered reduced cursor control arrows. The touchpad here is standard, with two buttons, with support for multitouch and gestures.

This mobile computer does not belong to the number of "centenarians". Judging by the reviews, the battery under medium load will hold up to 4 hours (with Wi-Fi) and up to 6 hours (without Wi-Fi). This is a normal result for such a model. The Lifebook A512 display has good average brightness characteristics that will allow you to work more or less comfortably outdoors. The audio jack for headphones and microphone is separate, which is a rarity in available laptops now.

The desire to save money is manifested in the absence of a USB 3.0 port. For users with a high-speed external hard drive, this is not the optimal choice. A relatively inexpensive adapter in the Express Card format, the expansion slot for which is provided by the manufacturer, will help solve the problem. By the way, Fujitsu offers a wide range of drivers for the device on the website, including Windows XP. Lifebook A512 users also have complaints about mediocre quality speakers and a bright device power button that distracts attention from the screen.

Dell Vostro 15 3558 (VAN15BDW1603015ubu)

Like the HP model discussed above, the Vostro 15 3558 is also a representative of Dell's initial line of business laptops, although it does not contain specific business options like a fingerprint scanner. This means that when you buy it, you will not overpay for options that are not used by many.

The Dell case is distinguished by the corrugated texture of plastic on the lid and the palm area — there are no finger marks left, and small scratches are almost invisible . Its design makes it easy to prevent and upgrade components — the removable panel gives access to memory, hard drive, wireless module and battery for BIOS. And the Vostro keyboard has a digital block, like standard computer keyboards.

The configuration of this model, taking into account its cost, is good: Core i3 4005U from the Haswell line, which requires little energy to work (15 watts compared, for example, with 35 Watts from Core i3 3110M), 4 GB of memory, discrete GeForce 820M video with 2 GB of video memory, a 1 TB hard drive. The system is suitable for both work and toys. Let her not be able to cope with "heavy" 3D games, many hits of recent years can be run on low or even medium graphics settings (for example, Sims 4 and Dota 2). By the way, there are Dell modifications with embedded video — if games are not included in the list of "tasks", you can save on this component.

As a video output, only VGA is available and users are surprised by the lack of an HDMI interface. In their opinion, a digital interface would be more useful than, say, an optical drive. Apparently, the manufacturer made this compromise because you can do without HDMI in a low-cost laptop for the office. But in addition to two USB 2.0 ports, there is also one USB 3.0 port.

The matte laptop display has very good brightness indicators, which makes it comfortable to use even in bright daylight. The manufacturer claims up to 8.5 hours of battery life of the device, but you can count on 5-6 hours of battery life at an average load. A quiet cooling system, minimal heating during operation and good (according to reviews) speakers allow you to consider a Dell computer universal. In addition, it is available in two colour versions — black and metallic red (although the second version is rarely on the market).