As an added bonus, the Inspiron 14 (5410) has a reliable fingerprint reader built into the power button. Its 14-inch 1920×1080 display is the best of the models we tested this year, as is its comfortable backlit keyboard and sturdy build quality. (We haven’t tested the Core i5 model, but aside from the processor, it’s identical to the Core i3 model we tested.) The Inspiron 14 (5410) is compact and light, and the Core i3 model we tested had above-average battery life of about 8.5 hours in our tests we expect the Core i5 model’s battery life to be a bit shorter but not by too much. But as of this writing, the version with a Core i5-11300H processor, 8 GB of memory, and a 512 GB solid-state drive is still available for $550, which is unbeatable performance for that price. It was going to be our top pick, but unfortunately Dell discontinued the sub-$500 model with an i3 processor. The Dell Inspiron 14 (5410) is a surprisingly great laptop.

If you can spend just a little more than $500…

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