You can’t get a lot of laptop for three hundred bucks, unless you’re looking for a Chromebook or a twelve-year-old refurbished Mac off Woot. But today, you might be able to get juuuust enough, at least if you’re hunting for a budget model. The Acer Aspire 3, which has been PCWorld’s favorite budget laptop for the last year or so, is down to just $299.99 on Amazon.
In his review (which is the exact same configuration, hey neat), Robert Strohmeyer praised the Aspire 3’s long battery life, decent performance, and surprisingly good webcam, while noting that you’re not gonna get tons of gaming done with basic integrated graphics and a 128GB SSD. Ports are surprisingly generous with HDMI, USB-C, and double USB-A. You can read the full review here.
The biggest draw for the Aspire 3 is probably its 15-inch 1080p screen and keyboard with a full number pad — both are definite plusses if you’re doing a lot of Excel work. The AMD Ryzen 7320U is a good pick for a budget model, but 8GB of RAM is the minimum you want for running Windows 11. And sadly that RAM is soldered into the motherboard, so there’s no upgrading even if you crack this sucker open.
Even so, if you absolutely must have a laptop with a pretty sizable display and Windows, this is pretty much your only choice from a reliable brand at this price level. The upgraded model, with 16GB of memory and a much roomier 1TB SSD, is $500 with no discount.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.