If you’ve been desperate for an affordable laptop lately, I’m sorry. Even the much-celebrated MacBook Neo has fallen victim to the price hikes seen across the industry. There’s hardly anything left out there… but if you’re open to a refurbished model, you might just find a diamond in the rough. Today, eBay has a refurbished 13-inch Dell Latitude laptop with a whopping 32GB of RAM for just $399.99.
The Latitude 5330 is a workhorse of a 2-in-1 corporate laptop, more at home in a cubicle than… well, at home. But its parts are solid and reliable, starting with an Intel Core i7-1265U processor with 10 cores. Though it’s a 2022-era CPU and only supports DDR4 RAM, at least you get plenty of it. (32GB of DDR4 RAM currently goes for about $200 on Amazon, which is half the price of this entire laptop.) It also has a 360-degree hinge, so you can use it like a tablet or prop it up for comfortable reading/viewing.
Other specs include 512GB of storage, a 13.1-inch touchscreen (hard to find on business laptops), double USB-C ports, microSD card slot, and full-sized HDMI. At 2.9 pounds, it’s not the lightest or thinnest laptop around, and with a battery that maxes out at 58 watt-hours, it’s no thoroughbred in terms of battery life. Intel Xe graphics are serviceable, but you’d better stick to 2D games to make the most of it.
I won’t lie: this is a pretty basic design and it won’t win any style points even if you do use it in an office. But with a solid CPU, plenty of memory and storage, and a robust build that’s tougher than it looks, it’s a much better deal than you’re likely to find for even $600 new at any electronics store. As part of eBay’s Certified Refurbished program, it comes with a two-year Allstate warranty (not bad, not great).
If you’re struggling to find a budget laptop that’ll get you through work tasks and streaming media with ease, don’t look this gift horse in the mouth. But if you don’t think it’s the right fit for you, check out PCWorld’s picks for the best budget laptops under $500.