We review a number of the best laptops with Windows 11 Home and other versions of the OS every year at Engadget, but the cheapest among them often fall to the bottom of the list. Unlike our top picks for best Windows laptop, or even more niche devices like the best gaming laptops, these machines don’t have pricey OLED panels, high-powered graphics cards or super thin-and-light designs.
Gaming laptops are the true Transformers of the PC world: They’re powerful enough to play your favorite titles, ensuring you get the best gaming experience, but you can also harness their speed for media creation or extreme multitasking, like streaming high-resolution gameplay to Twitch. Today, you can even find a few that weight less than the smallest MacBook Pro, making them solid options for daily drivers as well.