Looking for a Windows 8 laptop for $500

Hey guys,

My older Dell laptop is starting to show its age. The screen is cracked, and breaks every time I close it, and the battery doesn't charge anymore (its a problem with the jack). The laptop is 4 years old, and I figured its time for an upgrade.

I don't really want a Dell again, but any other brand is okay. I would prefer something around $500. I would prefer something with at least 4GB RAM and 500GB hard drive space.

What are your recommendations? Please let me know if you need anymore information !

Thanks,
-McDougal

Bought my kids a Dell inspiron 15 for Xmas, it had touch, 500gb and 4gb of ram and was around 479. I bought 4 more gb of ram from Amazon for about 35. Overall satisfied with this machine.

If you going for Used I recommend
ASUS K55A-DS71 15.6-Inch Laptop (Mocha)

Intel® Core® i7 3630QM Processor
8 GB DDR3;Ivy Bridge with Turbo (3.4GHz)
750 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
15.6-Inch Screen, Intel GMA HD
Windows 8

Great speed and storage also and memory is good.

Thanks for the quick replies!

The main reason why I am not considering Dell again is while this laptop has been great I have found the quality of the build to be cheap. If Dell has improved in quality that'd be great, and I will reconsider.

What are your opinions on processors? I've found a lot of the $500 range laptops to have Pentium processors. My understanding is that this CPU is rather old and there are better options out there. Also, what are some good AMD CPUs to look for? I've noticed a lot of the budget laptops have AMD processors also.

Thanks again !
-McDougal

Anything less than an i-series Intel CPU (3,5,7) or A8 AMD is really old school. Depending what you want to do, just get cheap i-series laptop with the integrated graphics, it is pretty good.

I have a very cheap Acer Aspire One netbook and even considering how cheap it was, I have no complaints whatsoever. It runs very well (even plays 720p videos well which is good for something so cheap) and Acer bios support seems to be on point and good. Drivers a re never a problem since they are easily found at the chipset makers' sites if the latest is not at Acer's site.

These machines will play 1080p video without a sweat.

Seems ok if you want touch: Acer Aspire V5-571P-6490 - Core i3 2375M / 1.5 GHz - Windows 8 64-bit - 4 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD - DVD SuperMulti - 15.6 multi-touch CineCrystal wide 1366 x 768 / HD - Intel HD Graphics 3000 - matte sil at TigerDirect.com

Without touch, seems ok: Acer Aspire V5-571-6679 NX.M1JAA.013 Notebook PC - 3rd Gen. Intel Core i5-3317U 1.7GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6 Display, Windows 8 64-bit at TigerDirect.com

I got this HP Pavilion recently at Staples and am happy with it:
Amazon.com: HP Pavilion 15-N028US 15" Laptop AMD Quad Core A6-5200: Computers & Accessories

I know the AMD processor is not supposed to be as good as the Intel i, but I don't notice any problem at all with the processor. (I don't do gaming.) Speed is fine. Display seems very crisp. The sound is excellent---above average for a laptop---even without headphones. Keyboard is very comfortable. I first got a Toshiba but the sound was really awful and the keyboard had problems so I exchanged it for this HP and have been very satisfied.

HP envy sleekbooks are nice for being under the sub 500$ range