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The Cheapskate Show podcast: Cheap-laptop buying guide

After listening to this week's podcast, you'll never spend more than $500 on a laptop ever again.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read
MSI MS-16W1
Sarah Tew/CNET

You can certainly spend $1,000 or $1,500 or more on a laptop, but the question is: Should you? After all, it doesn't take a lot of horsepower to delivery a satisfying experience web browsing or doing ordinary productivity work like creating documents and spreadsheets. To figure out how much laptop you really need, we enlisted CNET laptop guru Dan Ackerman to help you avoid overspending on one ever again. 

Most of the episode is focused on laptops, but we took a few minutes at the top of the show for me to give my hot take on the online customer service assistant GetHuman. As usual, Dave and I didn't see quite eye to eye. 

Want to read more about cheap laptops? You can check out CNET's take on the best laptop under $500, as well as a roundup of the best gaming laptops under $1,000

And while I have your attention, one more thing: Dave and I will drop next week's podcast as usual on Dec. 16, but we'll be taking the following two weeks off for the holidays. You'll have better things to do at the end of December than listen to us yammer anyway. We'll be back in your favorite podcast feed on Jan. 6 to start a bright, shiny 2021. 

You can listen to the new episode (and past ones) right here:  

Looking for all the links and other info we referenced in the show? You can find them in the show notes, which are available in the embedded player (above). Just click Description.

Want to connect with us? Send your thoughts, questions and suggestions to cheapskateshow@cbsinteractive.com.

If you like what you're hearing, why not subscribe to The Cheapskate Show via your preferred podcast app? You can find us on Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts and Spotify. While you're there, how about giving us a rating or review?


CNET's Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up for deal texts delivered right to your phone. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and check out our CNET Coupons page for the latest Walmart discount codeseBay couponsSamsung promo codes and even more from hundreds of other online stores. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Answers live on our FAQ page.