16GB of RAM is as low as I would recommend for Windows 11. Unfortunately, 16GB of RAM is currently… (checks Amazon)… about $200 for DDR5 laptop SO-DIMMs alone, jeez. If you’re looking for a budget-tier laptop with a usable amount of memory, you might have to go refurbished—like this 15-inch Acer laptop for just $240 on eBay.
Yes, that’s just a few dollars more for a full laptop than the memory inside it, at current market prices. It’s crazy out there.
The Acer Aspire 3 is a budget-focused 15.6-inch laptop, running a 4-core Ryzen 5 7520U CPU that’s pretty long in the tooth by now. The 1080p non-touch screen isn’t fantastic, and the plastic body isn’t notably sleek or light either. But with 16GB of DDR5 RAM, 1TB of storage, and a price less than half of its current retail rate, it’s an undeniable bargain.
This laptop comes with a full-sized keyboard including a 10-key number pad, which isn’t a given even on mid-sized laptops these days, and an okay-ish selection of ports: one USB-C, two USB-A, and HDMI. Though the Aspire 3 comes with an old-fashioned barrel charger, it can also charge over USB-C at 65 watts.
The Aspire 3 isn’t flashy or powerful, but thanks to that RAM and storage, it should handle basic browsing, work, and video tasks easily. Despite being sold refurbished on eBay, it’s coming straight from Acer with a 2-year Allstate warranty. That’s about as good as you can get for anything less than new. But if that doesn’t work for you, check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops on the market.
Get this refurbished Acer laptop with 16GB of RAM for just $240