Not everyone needs a powerful laptop, and though the HP Stream 11 isn’t going to win any performance accolades it is a decent choice as a cheap laptop on which to do homework, work with documents, browse the web, enjoy social media and watch online video.
The Stream has an 11.6in HD screen, which is smaller than most, but ideal if you want a machine that is going to be easily portable. This budget laptop weighs just 1.06kg.
Typically retailing at £179, a Cyber Monday discount sees a full copy of Microsoft Office Home & Student (retails separately at £119.99) and a Jam portable bluetooth speaker (£9.99) thrown in for just £188.99.
Core specs include an Intel Celeron N4000 processor, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of solid-state storage, along with dual speakers, dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, a basic webcam, a 3.5mm headphone jack, HDMI, a USB-C port and three USB 3.0 ports. The battery is said to last up to 13 hours, and though the storage allocation is rather meagre, microSD support does let you expand this.
Rather than Windows 10 Home this laptop runs Windows 10 S, which is primed for cheaper systems and education-oriented PCs. It is more streamlined and runs much faster than full-fat Windows, allowing the machine to also boot much more quickly, but a key difference is it will run only applications available in the Windows Store.
Since it is possible to get Microsoft Word for free, you might prefer to buy only the HP Stream 11 itself, which we’ve seen as low as £139 for Cyber Monday. Check out our live price comparison below:
If the HP Stream 11 doesn’t take your fancy, here are some other great deals on cheap laptops under £300:
Best Budget Laptop Deals
Coda 1.1
We’re not sure we’ve seen a laptop worth considering this cheap ever before. Granted, the Coda 1.1 has a small 11.6in and basic specs such as an Intel Celeron processor but it could make for a bargain to do things like simple school homework.
Asus VivoBook E510MA
This full-size Vivobook is already cheap and you can save even more and get a year’s subscription to Microsoft Office 365 included too. A bargain if ever we saw one.
Acer Aspire 1
Get this 14in Acer with 128GB of storage and plenty of ports for under £250. That’s a bargain price if a basic Intel Celeron processor is enough for you.
Asus CX1500 Chromebook
This full-size Chromebook with a Full HD screen is now well under £300 making it a value buy. It’s got an Intel Pentium processor and 64GB of storage.
Author: Marie Black, Editorial Director
Marie is Editorial Director at Foundry. A Journalism graduate from the London College of Printing, she's worked in tech media for more than 17 years, managing our EMEA and LatAm editorial teams and leading on content strategy through Foundry's transition from print, to digital, to online - and beyond.