Best laptops for $350 or less (January 2017)

A strong all-rounder laptop, with a great keyboard, decent battery life, and above-average sound system. Also, the Lenovo build quality means this system is perfectly capable of taking day-to-day knocks.

Tech specs:

• 11.6-inch HD LED Glossy 1366 x 768 display
• Intel Atom Z3735F quad-core CPU
• Intel HD graphics
• Up to 2 GB RAM
• 32GB storage
• Dolby Advanced Audio
• Windows 10

Price: $199 | More information

Image: Sarah Tew/CNET

The 6GB of RAM in this HP 15 model really lifts this laptop above the rest of the crowd, making it better suited for more RAM intensive tasks such as handling large spreadhseets or word processing documents, or the odd photo editing.

Tech specs:

• AMD 2.4GHz quad-core A10-9600P
• 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 HD SVA WLED-backlit touch screen
• 6GB of RAM
• 1TB hard drive
• 31 Wh Lithium ion battery
• Windows 10 Home

Price: $350 | More information

The HP Stream 11 makes the list because it offers adequate performance and strong battery life, all for under $200.

Tech specs:

• Intel Celeron N3050 processor CPU
• 2 GB memory
• 32 GB eMMC storage
• 11.6-inch HD display
• Intel HD graphics
• Up to 10 hours and 45 minutes battery life
• Windows 10

Price: $199 | More information

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Budget laptops tend to skimp in storage, but with the Dell Inspiron you not only get a roomy 15.6-inch display, but an entire terabyte of storage, which gives your data room to breathe.

Tech specs:

• 5th-generation Intel Core i3-5015U CPU
• 15.6-inch 1366 x 768 HD display
• 4GB of RAM
• 1TB hard drive
• Intel HD Graphics 5500
• 40 WHr Lithium ion battery
• Windows 10 Home

Price: $330 | More information

If you want a hybrid system that offers the rugged simplicity of the Google Chrome OS, the Acer Chromebook R11 is hard to beat.

Tech specs:

• Intel Celeron N3060 dual-core CPU
• 11.6-inch HD (1366 x 768) display
• Intel HD Graphics 400
• 4 GB, DDR3L RAM
• 16GB storage
• Chrome OS

Price: $290 | More information

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A popular chromebook, and not just because of the price. If you can live and work with the limitations of a Chromebook (in other words, you don't need Windows), the the Toshiba Chromebook 2 offers a sturdy travel companion with an all-day battery.

Tech specs:

• Intel Celeron Processor N2840 CPU
• 4 GB DDR3L RAM
• 13-inch IPS Screen
• Intel HD graphics
• 9-hour battery life
• Can Open/edit MS Office Files Using Free Embedded Quickoffice Editor or Google Docs, and Can Download Microsoft Office Online (an Online Version of Microsoft Office) for Free. Cannot Install Standard MS Office Software
• 16 GB SSD storage
• ChromeOS

Price: $249 | More information

Image: Sarah Tew/CNET

This is a Walmart exclusive, but don't let that put you off. At under $150 it's hard to knock Hisense's entry into the Chromebook arena. Despite the minimal hardware spec needed to keep the price as low as possible, this Chromebook is perfectly capable of doing real work.

Tech specs:

• ARM Cortex-A17 quad-Core processor
• 11.6-inch HD (1366 x 768) screen
• 2GB DDR3 RAM
• 16GB eMMC storage
• 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wireless LAN
• Chrome OS

Price: $149 | More information

Image: Josh Miller/CNET