Here you will find Top 10 Affordable Notebooks For Office Work of the moment of less than 800 Euros analyzed by Notebook check in recent months. Our list of top models is updated, maintained and commented regularly and should help when deciding a purchase.
Office laptops, cheap bargains and computers for daily tasks: They require decent input devices and an ergonomic display, and connectivity should allow the user to easily connect at home or in the workplace.
The following table shows a summary of the Top 10 of affordable office notebooks analyzed by Notebookcheck in the previous 8. If the assessments are the same, the most recent analysis is listed first. The table can be sorted by clicking on its headers and filtered by entering text in the text field above (ex: “mate”).
Note : The cheapest street price at the time of the last revision of this article applies to the following list. The sale prices shown in the following table and in the price comparison with the individual items are automatically updated daily and, therefore, may differ.
Best Affordable Office Notebooks June 2019
1 – Lenovo ThinkPad E490
The Lenovo ThinkPad E490 is visually similar to the ThinkPad E480 , so the new E490 offers the same advantages and disadvantages as before. Again, you only get a microSD card reader.
The only important change is the implementation of the new Whiskey Lake processor, which should be a bit faster compared to the previous version of Kaby Lake. However, the E490 is slightly ahead of the E480 in single-core scenarios, but it is slower in multi-threaded tests. The Intel Core i5-8265U can not use its full potential and is surpassed by the old i5-8250U. The main reason is the very restricted cooling, which often allows silent operation.
The Lenovo ThinkPad E480 is a good 14-inch office notebook at a fair price ..
In general, the Lenovo ThinkPad E490 gained many points thanks to the excellent input devices and the long operating time of the battery. Despite the slightly lower multi-core performance compared to the ThinkPad E480, the new E490 has achieved a total score of 89% and secured a place in the Top 10.
Top 10 Analysis
2 – HP ProBook 430 G6
The HP ProBook 430 G6 (here under review) is an inexpensive business notebook designed for small businesses, freelancers and students. Our 13.3-inch laptop test unit is equipped with a modern Intel Whiskey Lake CPU, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD storage. In general, the device offers good CPU performance and the temperatures under load are still decent. The chassis is solid and HP fortunately does not give up the full-size SD card reader.
Our test unit has also achieved a longer battery life compared to that of competitors. We have determined almost 9.5 hours in our Wi-Fi test, which is excellent for an office device. The comfortable input device completes the good overall package.
The long battery life, the excellent upgrade options and the light and solid case of the HP ProBook 430 G6 create a very interesting device. The price is also good, because the list of features is good for about 800 euros.
However, there are also some issues that we want to talk about. The screen is quite dim and the coverage of the color space is very limited. The 12-month warranty period is also short; the competition often comes with 24 months. HP unfortunately relinquishes the Thunderbolt 3 for the ProBook 430 G6, which limits the expansion capacity. The device also offers less commercial features compared to the EliteBook product line.
3 – Huawei MateBook D 14
Huawai now also dares to take the step and equips the MateBook D 14 W00D [here in Test ] with an AMD APU. The device based on the AMD Ryzen 5 2500U works quite well in the test and can easily compete with an Intel Core i5-8250U. In addition, the SoC offers a significantly faster graphics unit with the AMD Radeon RX Vega 8.
In general, the Huawei MateBook D 14 W00D convinced us with a modern and stable box and a very good price-performance ratio. The battery life can also be seen, because in our WLAN test, our test device proved its strength with about nine hours.
With the AMD processor, the Huawei MateBook D now has a bit more performance, but the weaknesses of the Intel version have not been eliminated.
Buyers have to accept a reduction in connection equipment, which is very scarce. An increase in energy consumption has also been noticed and maintenance work on the device is practically impossible.
4 – Lenovo ThinkPad E485
The Lenovo E485 (here under review) is a ThinkPad based on AMD Ryzen processors. The AMD Ryzen 5 2500U is comparable to the Intel Core i5-8250U, but the integrated Radeon RX Vega 8 GPU from AMD is much more powerful and easily surpasses the Intel UHD 620 graphics.
Like other ThinkPads, the E485 also uses a robust chassis, and it is not necessary to give up the excellent input devices. They are among the best in the market for years. Lenovo also uses a decent screen, although the range of colors is not perfect.
The ThinkPad E485 with the AMD APU unfortunately can not keep up with its counterpart with Intel technology. Many small things, which are not immediately related to the AMD processor, result in a lower final score.
We have to criticize the device for the lack of lighting of the keyboard, which can not even be ordered as an optional accessory. The potential of the AMD processor can not be used completely either. By default, Lenovo also sends devices with single-channel RAM. The quality of construction itself is good, but some materials are inferior to Intel’s. It is difficult to understand why the E485 gets cheaper materials. A basic 12-month warranty is not good either, but the HP ProBook 430 G6 is not good either.
5 – Fujitsu Lifebook A357
The Fujitsu Lifebook A357 ( review here ) is a device that works from start to finish. The technology of the 15-inch notebook is, therefore, simple. The Intel Core i5-7200U is not the latest model, but it’s still powerful enough for office applications. It is also very efficient, which guarantees a long battery life.
In combination with the SSD and good input devices, the Fujitsu Lifebook A357 convinced us during the review. The device also has a large maintenance hatch, which should make many users happy. The Lifebook A357 is equipped with a fast card reader, which is increasingly rare. This could influence the buying decision of some potential buyers. .
The Fujitsu Lifebook A357 is a business device with a solid list of features at a fair price.
The manufacturer implements a matte IPS screen, but it could be a bit brighter and have a better contrast ratio. This SKU is still recommended for a price of ~ 600 euros. Unfortunately, Fujitsu only ships the device with a one year warranty.
6 – Acer TravelMate P2510
The Acer TravelMate P2510 ( review ) is an economical office device with a 15.6-inch screen. The laptops are equipped with an Intel Core i5-8250U and the dedicated GeForce MX130 offers a bit more performance than the SoC’s iGPU. Buyers also get 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB drive.
The Acer TravelMate P2510 is just a revision and update of the CPU on the old Intel Core i5-7200U. We appreciate the additional performance of the Intel Core i5-8250U, even though the result of the CB15 Multi loop is not perfect.
In general, this combination is very suitable for all common office tasks. The construction quality of the box is not perfect. We already criticized this in the revision of the predecessor, but Acer did not change the base unit, so the case of the TravelMate P2510 is not the most robust either. The SD card reader is also quite slow, but at least Acer still implements one. The screen could also be a little brighter.
7 – Lenovo Ideapad 330S
The Lenovo IdeaPad 330S (here under review) is an economical office notebook with a rugged aluminum housing. Our review showed that it is a solid off-road vehicle that handles most applications. The Intel Core i5-8250U is powerful enough for smooth handling and a 16GB Optane memory compatible with the conventional hard drive. Lenovo also sells models of the Ideapad 330S with SSDs.
We must make concessions in terms of visualization. You get a 1080p-IPS screen despite the low price, but the average luminance of around 250 nits is not very high. The integrated SD reader is also not very fast and does not break any record with USB 2.0 transfer speeds ..
8 – Lenovo V320
The Lenovo V320 ( review ) convinced with good features without overloading your pockets. The device is equipped with an Intel Core i5-8250U, which works very well. The specifications with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of SSD storage are solid for an office device. This is supported by the keyboard, which is good for writing, but lacks backlighting.
The Lenovo V320-17IKB is a good 17.3-inch office notebook with a modern CPU.
The matte, bright and high contrast 1080p screen is good and proves once again that affordable devices can be equipped with decent panels. In addition, the laptop is very quiet and the chassis does not get too hot with the load.
There are limitations in terms of the battery’s operating time, because it is not a strong point of the V320.
9 – HP 14
The HP 14 ( review ) is an affordable office notebook. It sells for about 600 euros and has a powerful Intel Core i5-8250U CPU with 8 GB of RAM and 1 TB of hard disk storage. The conventional hard drive is compatible with Intel Optane 16GB memory. However, the prices of SSDs continue to fall, so these SSD cache options are not really necessary. You would get an M.2-SSD with much more storage for the price of an Intel Optane module.
The HP 14 unfortunately loses a better rating due to the obsolete list of features. CPU performance is still good, though.
HP equips the device with a matte screen, but viewing angles are limited due to TN technology. The HD resolution (1366×768 pixels) is not adequate in 2019. The Wi-Fi transfer rates are also quite low, which is due to the lack of support for 802.11ac.
10 – Dell Inspiron 15 5575
The Dell Inspiron 15 5575 (here under review) is an economical office device. It is powered by an AMD Ryzen 3 2200U APU with 4 GB of RAM. Storage is provided by a conventional 1TB hard drive. You can also equip the laptop with a modern SSD drive thanks to the free M.2 slot.
The Inspiron 15 5575 looks like an Inspiron of the 7000 series, so the affordable device does not seem cheap as the price would suggest. The keyboard, with its quiet pulsations and good response, leaves a positive impression. The device is also not very hot and the microphone is very suitable for VoIP applications.
However, those were all the advantages of the Inspiron 15 5575. The performance of the AMD Ryzen 3 2200U is very strangled. The screen is only 1366×768 pixels and the TN panel has limited viewing angles. The screen is also too dim and has a blue tone.
In general, the implementation of Ryzen 3 in the Dell Inspiron 15 5575 is not successful because all the drawbacks prevent a purchase recommendation. The direct rival, the Acer Aspire 3 A315 is more powerful with the same CPU.
