You asked for a Laptop costing under £500.
You told me that you needed a light gaming laptop for casual games such as Roblox or Rocket League. You also added the following additional information: I will play games on it but it is mainly for university.
To play AAA games, you are likely to need a discrete GPU which would probably take the laptop over your budget. However, I included one below (choice 3) so you can make that decision yourself. Otherwise, the two laptops below (choice 1 and 2) should be fine for your needs and will offer a light gaming experience that is fine for casual games.
I searched a range of different shops for something that would suit your needs. I have chosen the three options below as the best ones to suit your requirements. However, we all have our own tastes (and of course, prices can change), so I have also included search links for each shop at the bottom of this page in case you’d like to browse further.
I always choose three options. These are usually (1) the best performing option within your budget (i.e. best suited to meet your needs for the longest possible time), (2) the cheapest option that still meets your needs effectively and (3) usually a wildcard option or a compromise between the two. If you are able to, I would usually recommend the first option as it is likely to be powerful enough to meet your needs for the longest before it needs replacing. However, I specify three choices so that you can pick the one that best suits your circumstances.
I do not work for or on behalf of any of the retailers listed below.
Prices correct as of 11th May 2022
1. Best overall performance: Lenovo V15 G2 Ryzen 7 8GB RAM 256GB SSD Windows 10 Home 1…
£499.99
Key features:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700U Eight-Core Processor
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
Graphics: Integrated AMD Radeon Graphics
This choice represents the best overall performance I could get from your budget. I chose it primarily based on its all round performance, particularly from the strong CPU.
2. Cheapest option: HP 245 G8 Ryzen 5 5500U 8GB 256GB SSD 14 Inch Windows 10 …
£394.97
Key features:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500U
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
Graphics: Radeon Graphics
This choice represents the cheapest device I could find that still meets your needs. I chose it primarily based on its all round performance. This is an excellent value laptop.
3. Third option: Dell G15 5515 15.6″ FHD 120Hz Gaming Laptop, AMD Ryzen 5 …
£644.00
Key features:
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600H
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
Graphics: GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU
This choice represents the third option – the one for gaming. I chose it primarily based on the GPU – it is the cheapest I could find that contains an RTX 3050. It is also £144 over your budget though. It’s worth mentioning that Amazon Warehouse has one (possibly used or a customer return) for £483 – check the “new and used” prices after you have clicked through.
Why did I choose these for you?
It is important that you understand what the components of a laptop do so that you can make an informed choice. Here is my very basic explanation for each:
- CPU: The brain of your laptop. A better one makes your laptop faster.
- RAM: Your laptop’s short term memory – more of this means it can cope well with doing more things at once.
- Storage: How much space your laptop has to store files, photos, apps etc. More storage means you can store more stuff.
- Graphics: Your laptop has a graphics processor (GPU) responsible for how things appear on the screen. A better GPU will mean your device will cope better with more complicated graphics, such as in 3D games.
If you would like to browse the shops I searched for yourself, here are some links that will take you directly to the search results you require:
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links – that means if you go on to buy after clicking one of them, I may receive a small payment. This is how I am able to provide this service for free. It does not affect the price you pay, nor does it affect the recommendations I make – I will always recommend the best I can find to fit your usage, regardless of what shop it is from or any affiliation.
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