Saving with 6abc: Best buys for laptops

The countdown for Christmas shopping is on. And if you're thinking about getting a laptop, beware.

Prices for laptops are all over the map. Some can set you back thousands of dollars, while others cost $300 or less.

So which one's right for your loved one?

Well, just in time for the holidays, Consumer Reports has tested some of the lowest-cost laptops to find out what they offer, and what they don't.

Some high-end laptops boast a terabyte of storage and a super-fast processor - important for playing graphic-intensive games or editing video.

But Consumer Reports says if you just do the basics like word processing, browsing the Web and streaming video, some budget laptops are a good choice.

A few we found are less than $300 and come with Windows 8.1 with Bing.

Rich Fisco from Consumer Reports explains, "Windows 8.1 with Bing is the same Windows you've seen in other systems except that Microsoft Bing is the default search engine. These computers don't have the faster solid state drives that the more expensive computers have. So they're not going to boot as fast, and some of their applications won't launch as fast."

And unlike many more expensive laptops, you won't find a touch screen, extra USB ports, or in most cases, a DVD drive.

But for no-frills computing, Consumer Reports says a $250 Dell is a good value and it gets nearly eight hours of battery life.

Another budget option is a Chromebook, which uses Google's Chrome operating system instead of Windows.

All the applications you need are online, so an Internet connection is important.

Fisco tells us, "If you wanted to do something very typical like word processing in a Chromebook, you would use Google Docs which is an online word processor."

Acer's $175 Chromebook is a Consumer Reports Best Buy. It's lightweight and gets over ten hours of battery life.

You'll pay more for Consumer Reports' top-rated Chromebook. It's another Acer with a more powerful processor and twice the storage. It's the Acer C720-3871 for $350.

If you prefer a laptop that runs Windows 8.1 with Bing, another good choice is the Asus X551MAV-EB01-B for $250.