3 Of The Cheapest Replacements For An Old Laptop

There's no way around it: you probably need a computer of some kind to participate fully in modern life. But tech is expensive, and new laptops can cost up to thousands of dollars. That's why so many people cling to their old, sluggish computers, cursing at loading screens and overactive cooling fans or crossing their fingers, hoping that a webpage will load. But there's only so many years any laptop can last. At a some point, any clamshell can become more or less unusable. And when that point comes, it's easy to panic about price.

But you needn't worry too much. Cheap laptop replacements are easy to find, many of which can meet most, if not all of your computing needs. There's even a chance you can keep the laptop you have and breathe new life into it by installing another operating system. Meanwhile, Windows laptops are coming down in price and can be found for a lot less money than you might expect. Whatever you need in a laptop replacement, there's a good chance you can find a device that meets those needs for under $300. So, from lightweight laptop replacements to appetizing aftermarket deals, here are three of the cheapest ways to replace an old laptop.

If you don't need to perform resource-intensive tasks like PC gaming or editing video, your best option for a cheap laptop replacement might be a Chromebook. These laptops run an operating system made by Google and based on its popular Chrome browser, making them amazing web browsing machines. There are plenty of things you probably never knew a Chromebook can do, such as the fact they can run Android apps and integrate fully with Google's services. Linux support is being built into ChromeOS, too, so you can run all kinds of open source software.

The reason Chromebooks are so popular is that they're often incredibly cheap compared to Windows laptops or MacBooks, and they constantly go on sale. Amazon's overall Chromebook pick, the Lenovo IdeaPad 3i, is just $235 as of this writing. If that's still too rich for your blood, you can grab a refurbished Lenovo N23 Yoga Chromebook for just $72 at the time of publication.

If you don't want to spend any money at all, you can even turn your old laptop into a Chromebook using ChromeOS Flex, a lightweight version of the operating system designed for breathing new life into old computer hardware. The process is easy and all you need is an empty thumb drive with at least 8 GB of storage. However, you won't get the aforementioned Android app support with ChromeOS Flex, and Linux support is far more limited. Still, this is a great way to squeeze more life out of your existing laptop without spending a penny.

Another great  — and often cheap  — alternative to buying a new laptop is a tablet. Android tablets tend to be cheapest, though the least expensive Android tablets often suffer in performance. Meanwhile, a brand new iPad starts as low as $300, which is cheap for a tablet but still plenty of money for the average person. You can get a higher end tablet for cheaper than usual if you're willing to risk a refurbished model. And companies like Apple and Samsung offer extra discounts on tablets during back to school season and the holidays. If you're a student or educator, you should also be aware that most popular tablet brands offer extra education savings.

Apple tends to have fewer sales than its competitors, which is a part of its market positioning as a luxury brand. But you can grab a refurbished, 32 GB, 10.2" iPad for just $144 on Amazon at time of writing. If you can meet your computing needs with apps available in the App Store, it's a compelling option, especially for the price. Alternatively, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+, a midrange, 11" tablet with 65 GB of storage, can be had for $219 brand new as of this writing. If you choose a tablet to replace your laptop, you may wish to invest in a keyboard as well, so factor that into the cost.

If you're willing to do a bit more legwork and exercise some caution, you can often find great tablets for great prices by stalking listings on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Just be sure to stay safe and take precautions to avoid scams or fraud. Private sellers are often willing to negotiate the price down a bit or accept trades of other goods in addition to money.

Depending on how ancient and far gone your current laptop is, a budget Windows laptop might still be an upgrade. If you don't need powerful hardware, there are plenty of cheap laptops that could work for your needs. The current best-selling laptop on Amazon that isn't a MacBook is the Acer Aspire Go 15, a 15.6" device with a 1080p IPS display, an Intel Core i3-N305 processor, and 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM. It's nothing to write home about, but it's a very solid entry level laptop that runs Windows 11, and it's only $260 at the time of writing. That puts it in competition with Chromebooks on price.

In fact, dig just beneath the surface and you'll find a glut of Windows laptops that hit a sub-$300 price point by making reasonable sacrifices to their spec sheets. You can go super low-spec with a $180 HP laptop powered by an Intel Celeron N4020, or bump things up a notch with a Ryzen 3 powered Acer Aspire 3 for $300. You can even grab a refurbished 2017 MacBook Air for $226. None of these options are going to crush benchmarks or run demanding software, but many of them will handily outclass the old and sluggish laptop you're looking to replace. When it comes to performance-per-watt, Chromebooks are usually a better bet, but if you need Windows for whatever reason (like needing Microsoft software for work), you don't have to break the bank for it. If you're unsure where to get started, check out our list of the 10 best budget laptops for college students, which includes both Windows and ChromeOS laptops, as well as our roundup of student laptop deals.