Are you looking for a cheap laptop?
double-check your pursuit of a deal doesnt end up costing you more than you bargained for.
Here are some drawbacks you may encounter when you opt for the cheapest of the cheap.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek
Take the Intel Celeron N4120 found in the$250 HP 14-inch Ultra Light, for example.
This chip scores poorly inUserBenchmark tests, which youd probably expect.
Its not only the brain of the operation that can suffer.
Joe Robinson / How-To Geek
Cheaper laptops usually have less RAM, which can bite when it comes to multitasking operations.
The bad news is that manufacturers have started using eMMC storage to keep prices low.
eMMC stands for embedded MultiMediaCard.
Performance isnt only limited to raw speed, however, but overall bandwidth.
Operations will take longer to complete since theyll stack until space in the pipes becomes available.
Its a bottleneck you dont want, and it makes sub-par hardware even slower.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek
The higher the pixel density, the harder it is to distinguish individual pixels.
The harder pixels are to distinguish, the better the display will look.
Laptops dont need to hit such heady heights.
Joe Robinson / How-To Geek
While pixel density doesnt affect performance, it can negatively affect user experience.
This is a method of controlling brightness by flickering the LED backlight (shorter bursts mean less light).
This can cause eye strain and even headaches in some users, especially at low brightness prefs.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek
Lastly, the display will probably have a built-in webcam.
It should come as no surprise that the cheapest laptops have the cheapest webcams (and microphones too).
There’s only so much you’re able to do toimprove how you look on a video call.
These inputs can have a massive impact on the user experience.
Small frustrations add up over the lifetime of the laptop and can mar the overall experience.
A bad keyboard isnt just unsatisfying to key in on.
A cheap feel and hollow sound is only one part of the equation.
Cheap keyboards can lead to more typos and missed keystrokes.
And then theres the trackpad.
Not only are cheap laptops made of cheap plastic, but they can feel and sound cheap too.
Many will creak and flex even during normal use (like when typing, for example).
Weighting can also cause issues, particularly with laptops that use passively cooled components like cheap Celeron systems-on-chip.
The one silver lining to this is that these laptops can be very light to carry around.
With that in mind, cheap laptops can suffer from poor I/O too.
Not everyone is going to have issues with a limited port selection, but some will.
The same is true if you want to use removable storage like SD and microSD.
Spend More Today, Save More Tomorrow
Your cheap laptop can end up costing you.
Sub-par performance out of the gate is only going to get worse over time.
Theres also an argument to be made about e-waste.
Repairing or replacing components where necessary is unavoidable.
Looking to save some money on a new laptop?
