With a wide variety of options for laptops in the 2025 model year, you’re bound to find one that meets your needs. There are models from Asus, Acer, Lenovo and Dell that are designed to give you plenty of power and performance while still being affordable.
Acer Aspire 5
If you’re looking for a laptop for your next PC upgrade, the Acer Aspire 5 might be a great fit. This high-end portable PC isn’t the most gorgeous laptop, but it offers a strong level of performance at a reasonable price.
The Aspire 5 is a clamshell-style laptop that is thin, light, and portable. It’s also available in multiple configurations. At the entry-level, the laptop’s 14-inch display has a 1920 x 1080 resolution. That’s good for text and graphics, but it has a low color gamut.
The Aspire 5 has a 3.5mm combo audio jack. There are three USB-A ports and one USB-C port. In addition, the laptop has a full-sized HDMI port.
Aspire 5 is an improvement over the older Aspire E15. This newer model has a faster processor, more powerful graphics card, and a brighter screen.
Lenovo IdeaPad 3i
If you’re looking for a laptop with a nice screen, powerful Intel Core processors and great value for money, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3i is a good choice. It features a 1080p display, a 165Hz refresh rate, Dolby Audio, Nahimic audio, and a physical privacy shutter for the webcam.
Lenovo makes a wide variety of the popular IdeaPad Gen models. These are generally hailed as excellent business notebooks.
The Lenovo IdeaPad 3i is a good budget option that’s well-suited to everyday tasks. It isn’t very large, but has a full HD display and a thin profile.
The laptop offers plenty of port options. It has USB 3.1 (Gen 1), HDMI and USB 2.0 ports. It also has a USB Type-C port on the rear. There’s also a power connector and a four-in-one card reader.
Dell Inspiron 14
The Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 is one of the best business laptops. Its performance is good, it has a good battery life, and it has a nice keyboard.
One of the things I like about this laptop is its price. For $500, you get a laptop that performs well. This model offers all the basic guts of a $1,400 XPS 13, except it’s more affordable.
Its base model has an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. You can upgrade the RAM to 64GB, which is ideal for graphic design and photo editing.
The screen on this laptop is dim, but the color reproduction is good. Its IPS panel offers a 1920 x 1080 resolution, which means it’s bright enough to function in a bright room without straining your eyes. However, its limited color gamut is something that should be considered.
Asus Chromebook Detachable CM3
The ASUS Chromebook Detachable CM3 is a detachable laptop that can convert into a tablet. Its unique design makes it an excellent choice for on-the-go productivity.
This 2-in-1 device offers a comfortable typing experience, thanks to a comfortable keyboard cover. The hinge can be adjusted to suit different viewing angles, and the cover can slide to accommodate a more comfortable typing position.
In addition, the USI pen is available, making it easy to take notes or write quick sketches. The CM3 comes with a magnetic kickstand cover, which can hold the device in portrait mode. When you are not using the detachable, the CM3 can be used as a regular laptop.
The CM3 has a 12 inch touchscreen with a 1366 x 912 resolution and 220 nit brightness. It also has a microSD card slot, and you can use the touchscreen with a stylus.
HP Pavilion 14
HP’s Pavilion 14 is a good laptop for the price. It has a stylish design, a generously sized screen, and plenty of memory options. Normally, it costs around $800, but it has a special sale price of $850.
There are some features that aren’t available in the cheaper Pavilion. The webcam isn’t a 5-megapixel model, but it’s still a good one. Plus, you’ll get Enhanced Lighting, which turns part of the display into a ring light.
HP’s newest laptop is the Pavilion Plus 14. It’s a bit thinner than previous Pavilion models, but it’s also deeper. That said, it’s also lighter than its predecessors, and it offers a 2.2K resolution IPS display, which is rare in a laptop this size.
While it’s not the fastest PC on the market, the Pavilion’s 12th-gen Intel Core i5 processor gives it a good punch. And, it’s got 16GB of RAM, which is nice for productivity.