We find a lot of people asking that very question, “Do cheap laptops have the features I need?” and we have got to tell you that it is a very tough question to answer. Everyone needs something different out of their laptop, we all use them for different activities and we all interact with them in a different manner, so to say yes without a doubt a good cheap laptop will work for you is virtually impossible. That is given that we don’t know you and your computing requirements of course. So the easiest way to provide an answer to this question is to break down several types of laptop users, and then you can determine which group you fall into, and determine the perfect laptop from there, so lets get started.

Basic home users: This is really the most common group of laptop users and it is also the group most suited towards the lower end or cheap laptops on the market. Virtually any laptop will suit a home user, as their computing needs are usually very little. Most basic home users, use their laptop for accessing the internet, sending email back and forth with friends and maybe playing the occasional computer game, which are not typically games that require tons of system resources. If you find that you fall into this group we have compiled a list of 7 cheap laptops that cost under $600, any one of the cheap laptops on that list should work just fine for you.

Home and office users: This group is actually quite similar to the basic home users with the exception of using your laptop for daily office/work needs. The first thing to point out here is that none of the cheap laptops we are aware of come pre-equipped with any office applications such as the Microsoft Office suite of tools. This is primarily due to the cost associated with such programs and including them would drastically increase the laptops bottom price for the manufacturer. That’s not to say that there isn’t a way around this, because there is. If you were to choose one of the cheap laptops in the article that I highlighted in the basic users group, you could then add a good free office suite such as OpenOffice and be ready to go.

Mid-level users: This is the group that uses their laptops a little harder than the basic users. Maybe you run a home based business or your work requires a lot of heavy applications that eat up the laptops resources. If you spend most of your day on the laptop performing various functions, chances are that you probably fall into this group of people. If you find yourself in this group you can still get a cheap laptop, but we would recommend shopping in the sub $1000 range rather than the sub $600. If you step up to the next level of laptops, you are going to find faster processing speeds, better functionality and an overall better system that is less likely to get bogged down by your constant use. If you choose to buy a cheap laptop under $600, you may find yourself having a lot of headaches and will probably be replacing or upgrading the laptop sooner than you would like to.

Power users: I unfortunately fall into this group and it is of course the most expensive one to be in. Those of us in this group tend to have very specific needs for what we do and that may be web design, graphics, pc gaming or a whole slew of others. If you find yourself in this group, chances are that there is not a cheap laptop in your future, but we can cut costs by buying cheap and upgrading them ourselves. That’s right, if you buy a cheap laptop and then perform the necessary upgrades yourself, you can usually save a lot of money and have a laptop that is custom tailored to your needs.

Whatever group you may find yourself in, you should now have enough knowledge to point you in the right direction when shopping around for cheap laptops. If you are in the mid-level to power users groups you might consider having a look at one of our other articles Turn your cheap laptop into a great machine for under $200, for some low budget ideas for upgrading your system.