Five great laptops for $550 or less

You don't have to spend a fortune to give a great laptop as a holiday gift. But you do need to understand what you're getting for the money, because what you spend will largely determine what that laptop can do.

Our list includes five models, from a $175 Chromebook to a $550 laptop. One of these is sure to please that special someone this holiday season.

Acer CB3-111-C8UB, $175. This 13.3-inch Chromebook is great for someone on the go who's also used to working online. Chromebooks use Google's Chrome operating system instead of Windows. All the apps reside on the Web, so it's important that you have Wi-Fi access most of the time. Some tasks can be done offline, but there's not a lot of storage space, so you'll want to store your files in the cloud. This Acer is quite light at 2.4 pounds, and the 10.5 hours of battery life will take you through a workday and then some. Performance was fair, but good enough for basic productivity tasks like word processing, as well as for Web browsing and casual gaming.

Asus Chromebook C300MA-DB01, $250. If you want a low-cost computer with extra-long battery life, search no more. This Chromebook's battery will get you more than 13 hours of use. It's an 11.6-inch model that weighs 2.9 pounds. As with the Acer Chromebook above, performance was fair, but good enough for word processing, Web browsing, and casual gaming. We liked the display on this one, because colors were accurately reproduced and looked natural. The anti-reflective screen also helps if you're using the Chromebook outdoors or in a brightly lit room.

Dell Inspiron 15 Non-Touch, $250. If you're on the hunt for a no-frills Windows laptop, take a look at this 15.6-inch Dell offering. Dell keeps the price down by using a low-end processor, and that means performance in our tests was only fair. But if you stick with the basics, like productivity tasks, e-mailing, and Web browsing, it's a fine machine. Battery life was 7.75 hours, which is good for a system this size. It's also among the lighter 15.6-inch laptops, at 4.7 pounds.

Lenovo Miix 2 10, $425. True to its name, this model mixes it up and nets you two devices for the price of one. It's a two-in-one laptop, so when you detach the keyboard, you end up with a 10.1-inch tablet. Performance was very good—it's speedy for productivity tasks and adequate for watching and editing HD videos, as well as editing photos. It's also good for mid-range gaming. Battery life was 8 hours. You will make some sacrifices. The 64GB solid-state drive is fast, but small. At 2.3 pounds, it's light for a laptop, but heavy compared to other tablets. And the touchscreen was not among the best we've used.

Lenovo U430P, $550. Not surprisingly, if you want top-notch performance, you'll have to dig a bit deeper into your wallet. Even so, this is a great price for a speedy 14-inch laptop with excellent performance. Battery life was an impressive 13.5 hours. Weight was just 3.7 pounds, which is light for its size. It comes with some interesting extra features, like gesture control and USB sleep and charge, which lets you use the USB port to charge other devices while the laptop is in sleep mode. All in all, it's a great package for the price.

--Donna Tapellini

Take a look at our Buying Guides for Chromebooks and Laptops for lots more info on how to choose a computer.