Brand New 2017 Laptops Priced At Less Than Php 20,000 for School and Small Business Use

Are you currently looking for a good notebook to be your daily productivity companion at school, in your small business, or in your workplace but you're a bit tight on budget?

Is Php 20,000 (or $390 USD) your limit in buying a laptop and you're not keen on getting a second-hand device?

Well, here are three notebooks - from leading and respected international tech brands - priced at less than that amount, which are now officially available in the Philippines. 'Officially available' is the key phrase because with it, you can be sure to get after-sales support should your unit require servicing.

Acer Aspire ES1-332
Price: Php 16,999

Key Specs:
34.3 x 24.5 x 2.36 cm
1.7 Kgs
13.3-inch 1366 x 768 pixels display, 16:9 aspect ratio
2.2 GHz Quad Core Intel Celeron N3450 processor
Intel Integrated Graphics
4GB RAM 1600 MHz
500GB HDD 5400 RPM
640 x 840 resolution front-camera
DVD-WR Optical Drive
High-definition audio support
Two built-in stereo speakers
Built-in microphone
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
USB 2.0 x 1
USB 3.0 x 1
Ethernet Port
HDMI Port
Card Reader
3.5mm Combo Jack
37 Wh 2500 mAh 14.8 V 3-cell Li-ion battery pack
7 hours uptime with regular use

Dell Inspiron 3462
Price: Php 16,490

Key Specs:
23.3 x 34.5 x 2.43 cm
1.8 Kgs
14-inch 1366 x 768 pixels display, 16:9 aspect ratio
2.4 GHz Dual Core Intel Celeron N3350 processor
Intel Integrated Graphics
4GB RAM 1600 MHz
500GB HDD
Integrated Widescreen HD 720p Webcam with Microphone
DVD-WR Optical Drive
Built-in stereo speakers
Built-in microphone
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
USB 2.0 x 1
USB 3.0 x 1
Ethernet Port
HDMI Port
Card Reader
3.5mm Combo Jack
3-cell Li-ion battery pack
9 hours uptime with regular use

Asus Vivobook Max X441NA
Price: Php 16,795

Key Specs:
34.8 x 24.2 x 2.76 cm
1.7 Kgs
14-inch 1366 x 768 pixels display, 16:9 aspect ratio
2.2 GHz Quad Core Intel Celeron N3450 processor
Intel Integrated Graphics
4GB RAM 1600 MHz
500GB HDD
VGA webcam
DVD-WR Optical Drive
Asus SonicMaster Technology
Built-in stereo speakers
Built-in microphone
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
USB 2.0 x 1
USB 3.0 x 2
VGA
Ethernet Port
HDMI Port
Card Reader
3.5mm Combo Jack
3-cell Li-ion battery pack

What's nice about these three laptops is that all of them have large displays, sizable hard drive space, and fairly long uptime with regular use. These features are a must-have on a notebook for school or business use.

I'm not sure if the optical drive is still important at this point but I think it's nice to have just in case you purchase a device with a CD installer or you decide to transfer your files to blank CDs before delete them to free up HDD storage.

If you're wondering why these notebooks are so affordable, it's largely because of these reasons:

1. They run on an Intel Celeron processor instead of a more powerful Core-i CPU. Both Celeron N3350 (of Dell Inspiron 3462) and N3450 (of Acer Aspire ES1 and Asus Vivobook Max) are capable of running Microsoft Office apps as well as very light PC games but the latter is slightly more powerful as it has four cores.
2. They only have HDD storage instead of the pricier Solid State Drive (SSD) storage.
3. 4GB of RAM is good enough for running a few apps for word processing but it's not as much as what you'll get on enterprise or gaming laptops these days.
4. Although they have big displays, the screens have rather low resolution compared to what more expensive laptops have.
5. The shells of these models are crafted from plastic or polycarbonate instead of aluminum, which makes them less expensive to produce.

So which of these three sub-Php20K notebooks give the most value for money? Based on the combination of technical specifications alone, for me, it's the Asus Vivobook Max X441NA. With it, you get a bigger screen, Quad Core Celeron chipset, and a VGA port, which still comes in handy when giving Powerpoint presentations both in the academe as well as in corporate or business settings.

Do you own any of these laptops? Is your unit reliable? Do you think it gave you great value for money? Share your thoughts about your notebook via our comments section below.