You may be on a budget, but you're not out of luck—if you look, you'll find some very serviceable Chromebooks, Windows clamshells, and 2-in-1 laptops under $500. By knowing what you want and what your cash can buy you, you can still find a decent deal on a laptop that will do the job.

We've laid out our favorite frugal options here, but you'll still need to decide whether you want a Chromebook or a Windows machine, a laptop or a 2-in-1 design, and even whether you want features, like a touch screen, that may be rare in the very cheapest laptops. The specs for all of our top picks are listed in our spec comparison, along with links to the full reviews. And if $500 is too tight a filter for what you are looking for, also check out our roundup of the best budget laptops (which includes some slightly pricier machines) and our picks for the best laptops overall.

Don't get too discouraged reading about specs and performance on these budget-friendly laptops. For most shoppers, a laptop serves as a web browsing machine, used more for social media and occasionally typing up some documents than it is for anything requiring a more capable model. And with the right laptop, you'll still get plenty of usability, even with lightweight processors and minimal specs.

We've reviewed plenty of budget laptops in the $600 or $700 range, along with reasonably priced laptops for kids and laptops for college students. These can be especially enticing if student discounts are available to knock off part of the expense. We find that the price range is the real sweet spot for basic Windows machines.

Plus, it doesn't cost a whole lot more to step up in power and performance. Our recommendations for Chromebooks and the best laptops for under $1,000 open up a lot of possibilities, at prices that are still quite attainable. You can even find some cheap gaming laptops for three instead of four figures.

When you limit yourself to $500 or less for a laptop, you need to manage your expectations. There are a lot of ways to save money on a cheap notebook, but a price this low is going to require you to prioritize just what's important. Budget laptops in this price range will have certain limitations in hardware, performance, and storage, and these all carry over to the end-user experience. Read on to learn what to expect and what trade-offs are required when your spending power is limited.