We found the best cheap laptops for under $350

The best cheap laptop is the HP 14. It has a 10-hour battery life with quick charge feature, which boosts 50 percent charge in just 45 minutes. The 14-inch display offers plenty of room for you to browse the web, write school reports, and even stream movies. Plus, the built-in webcam makes it easy to attend virtual meetings and classes.

Since the price here is fixed -- $350 or under -- our experts have narrowed down the field dramatically. But you still have important choices to make.

The first decision you need to make is whether you want a Windows machine or a Chromebook running ChromeOS. Both operating systems have their strengths: Windows offers continuity from the desktop experience, while ChromeOS offers simplicity. Think about how you intend to use the laptop when making this choice. 

Some of these systems run Windows 10S, which is a version of Windows 10 that can only run apps from the Windows app store. This has both pros (increased security and reliability) and cons (fewer options), so bear this in mind if you plan to take this path.

Next, prioritize what you want from the hardware. The $350 price point won't buy you everything, so you're going to have to choose which features you value most. Do you absolutely need a big display, more storage, or more RAM?

We compared price with other factors like reliability and durability. Laptops can be thrown around sometimes, and you want it to survive the normal wear-and-tear of life -- especially if it's in your student's backpack. Picking out a high-quality, low-budget laptop pays off in the long term.

Don't be fooled -- $350 will not buy you monster system that can do everything. If you are looking for a system that can handle tasks like photo and video editing (or even gaming), then you are looking in the wrong place.

But, if you want a basic system capable of browsing the web (keep the Google Chrome tabs down to a minimum) or making documents and spreadsheets, then these are the systems for you.

In some cases, a desktop may be cheaper than a laptop, especially if you're looking for a video-editing or gaming device. However, you'll be hard-pressed to find desktops suitable for daily use that can compete with these laptop prices.

The Envy TE01 is the most affordable HP desktop on the market, and its price starts at $450. In comparison, everything on this list is under $350. While you may get lucky with a great sale or discount coupon from certain retailers, a desktop that sells for under $400 is very, very rare.

Chromebooks tend to be more affordable than their Windows-based counterparts. However, there are also premium-grade Chromebooks that retail for $1,000 or more. 

If you want an everyday Chromebook, you can easily find one for $500 or less. Plus, kids can easily use these devices to attend virtual class or complete homework.

Chromebooks are offered at such low prices because they're more stripped-back than a typical Windows option. They have less powerful processors, less RAM, and much less storage space. However, they're often enabled for cloud-based storage, so you can offload documents, photos, and music to your favorite cloud storage provider while freeing up space on your local drive. 

The Dell Chromebook 3100 Education is the perfect budget-friendly laptop for school, especially for younger students. Its chassis has been tested against military standards for durability, so it can withstand your child's trek between home and the classroom every day. It's also spill and tamper-resistant, so you won't have to worry about spills during homework time or toddlers prying open the laptop. 

While 16GB is a limited amount of storage, it should be more than enough for reports, slideshows, and virtual class attendance. And if your older students need more space, they can offload documents and images to cloud-based storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox. 

There are plenty of options out there if you're looking for an affordable laptop for everyday use. Here's a short list of alternatives that are also solid choices: