I’ve been looking for a new laptop to take with me on my journey as a digital nomad. Currently, I mainly use my custom built desktop pc at home and my Samsung, Series 7 Chronos, laptop (from 2011) when traveling. The laptop works great, but at 5 lbs, it’s a bit heavier than I’d like and its battery life is relatively short. So it’s time to upgrade my laptop to the 2018-2019 standards.

As a digital nomad, the key factors to look for in a laptop are weight, battery life, and performance. The irony is that to maximize the first two, low weight and long battery life, performance is compromised. But for a digital nomad, most work is usually performed online, making the online capabilities of the device the most important factor to consider in terms of performance.

One last factor to keep in mind, get a device with decent RAM, 8GB or more. As a digital nomad, using the internet is critical and internet browsers require a good bit of RAM. The more windows and tabs you have open, the more RAM you need. And with the way Google Chrome has been going, it uses more RAM with every update. RAM also crucial for editors and creators. So, do yourself a favor and spend the extra money on higher RAM, it’s worth it.

If you’re also a web developer, image editor, video editor, content creator, and gamer like me, then this list of budget laptops may not meet all of your needs. That’s why I still have a desktop for heavier workloads. If you want an article on the best laptops, desktops, and devices for heavy workloads, then let me know in the comments.

Without further ado, here are the best budget laptops available for 2018-2019, according to the top tech-tubers, and my personal pick at the end. (If you find a laptop you like, you can check it out on Amazon by following the links below the videos.)

Best Budget Laptops

by Linus Tech Tips

Surface Go

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LG Gram

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Dell G3

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Acer Predator Helios 300

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Acer Nitro 5

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Dell XPS 15

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Top 3 Cheap Laptops for Students!

by Dave Lee

Acer Aspire 5

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Lenovo 320S

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Asus UX330

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Dell 13″ Inspiron

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Is The Best Selling Laptop on Amazon Worth It?

by Austin Evans

Acer Aspire E15

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128GB ADATA SU800 M.2 SSD

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4GB Crucial DDR4 RAM

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My Personal Pick

Microsoft Surface Laptop/Tablet

The Microsoft Surface really is fantastic when it comes to all three factors; it’s super lightweight, has a very long battery life, and it can perform as well as some desktops. The biggest downside is the price, with the top of the line costing over $2,500, far from being budget friendly. However, the new Microsoft Surface Go hits a new price to performance ratio that is unmatched in today’s market. (And it looks so nice!) My next device will likely be the new Microsoft Surface Go or last year’s Microsoft Surface, once the newer model is released and prices for older devices drop.

Surface Go

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Let me know your thoughts on the best budget laptop/tablet for digital nomads. Comment below and share this article if you found it helpful. Have a great day and we’ll see you in the next article. #chasethesun