Buying Guide: Best Cheap Windows 7 Laptops

by Matthew Smith on May 12, 2010

Windows 7 has quickly replaced Vista as the standard for laptop computers. There are still a few rare laptops which have Vista installed, but they are usually older models leftover from before Windows 7 was released. If you are thinking of purchasing a laptop, you certainly are going to want to buy a laptop which has Windows 7 installed. Windows 7 is a great operating system for a laptop thanks to improved performance and improved power management compared to Vista. Purchasing a Windows 7 laptop doesn’t have to cost you a fortunate, either. This guide rounds up the three best cheap Windows 7 laptops. These are full-featured laptops, but they cost $750 or less.


The is the little brother of the amazing ASUS UL30 and is very similar. The ‘s 12.1 inch screen and extremely thin frame makes it one of the most portable Windows 7 laptops sold today. In fact, the system is barely any larger or heavier than a netbook, and with around six hours of battery life it is nearly as easy to travel with as a netbook. However, the features a powerful 1.3 Ghz Core 2 Duo ultra-low voltage processor. When combined with Windows 7′s performance enhancements, the feels extremely fast in day to day use.

But despite this laptop’s small size, great battery life and reasonable performance, the is among the cheapest Windows 7 laptops available today. The most common model, which has 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive, . That is an extremely competitive price, and for many users it will make a lot more sense than a netbook. The low price makes the ASUS UL20A not only one of the cheapest Windows 7 laptops, but also one of the cheapest ultraportables on the market today. But don’t think that the cheap price means this laptop isn’t of quality – ASUS is currently ranked the most reliable laptop brand.

If you need a larger, more mainstream Windows 7 laptop, Toshiba has the answer in the form of the . This is a large 15.6 inch laptop with a display resolution of 1366×768. The is all about cramming in cutting-edge hardware for a low price, and it comes with the latest Intel Core i3 processor along with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. This doesn’t mean the Toshiba is of low quality, however. Toshiba laptops are very well constructed and have also proven to be the second most reliable brand of laptop overall.

Being so large, the isn’t the most portable laptop, and with Windows 7 it receives around four hours of battery life. These faults are excusable, however, as the , making it one of the cheapest laptops to include both Windows 7 and a Core i3 processor. In other words, for less than $600 bucks you can buy a laptop with the latest version of Windows and the latest Intel processor. That’s not a bad deal at all.

The laptops are the least expensive laptops which Sony makes. Sony is a premium brand, and so they do not sell any laptop which is built strictly to a budget. This shows in the as well. This 15.5 inch laptop is overall about the same size as the Toshiba, but it has some great features which the Toshiba does not, including an excellent island style keyboard and the ability to select your laptop in funky colors like neon green. Sony is also one of the best laptop brands today and is highly ranked in reliability and customer satisfaction.

Inside, the has hardware which is virtually identical to the Toshiba, including a Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. This makes its performance in Windows 7 virtually identical, yet , much more than the Toshiba. This makes the Sony the least cheap of this cheap Windows 7 laptop roundup – but is it worth it? Perhaps. The Sony does have a better keyboard, and looks more modern. To some, these features will put it over the top.

Additional Reading

Want to know more? Check out the guide to the best Toshiba laptops and the guide to the best Sony laptops.

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