9 Best Laptop For FL Studio Under 500 In 2023 [Expert Picks]

Finding the best laptop for FL Studio under 500 can seem like a daunting task, given how there are a plethora of laptops available in the market. But how do you know which one is right for you?

That’s what we’re here to help you with!

In this article, we will discuss the top nine laptops for FL Studio that won’t break the bank. After that, you’ll be learning how to pick the perfect laptop for yourself in the supreme buyer’s guide we’ve written for you. And to top it all off, we’re going to be answering some commonly asked questions in the FAQ section.

Without further delay, let’s begin!

What specifications do we recommend for FL Studio?

Operating system: Windows 10
CPU: Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5
RAM: 8 GB
Storage: 512 GB SSD
Display: 15 inches.
Battery backup: 4 hours or more.
Weight: Under 5 pounds.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites:

Top 9 Best Laptops For FL Studio Under 500 In 2023

1. Lenovo IdeaPad 3 (AMD Ryzen 5) – Premium Choice

Lenovo’s IdeaPad line of laptops is a huge success for two reasons. They sit in the midrange price category and offer the best value for money at the same time – making them the perfect choice for someone who wants a laptop that neither breaks the bank nor has terrible performance.

And IdeaPad 3 is precisely that. The premium-looking laptop boasts a snappy performance and a sturdy build that far exceeds what we usually expect from a budget laptop.

The keyboard and touchpad feel great to use, and the cherry on top is that you can even upgrade RAM in the future, which can come in super handy for music production.

However, the speakers and display do have room for improvement.

But again, if you’re a music producer, you’ll be using studio headphones anyway.

All in all, IdeaPad 3 is a laptop that looks premium, feels premium, and most importantly, powerful enough for FL Studio. If this checks all your boxes, feel free to go for it – you won’t be disappointed.

Why Should You Purchase This System?

It’s a very fast laptop with a powerful combination of CPU and GPU. The peripheral features like display, keyboard, and touchpad are great too. If you’re looking for the best laptop for FL Studio under $500, Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is what you should get. Not only does it offer amazing performance but also allows you to do light gaming or smooth video editing.

2. Newest HP 14″ HD Premium Business Laptop – Best Overall

HP is good at making budget laptops, but unlike Lenovo, they often compromise specifications to keep the price of the laptop low.

Fortunately, this particular model from HP has been highly praised by users for its performance and portability. It’s slim, it’s lightweight, and the fact that you’re getting an Intel Core i5 processor in such an inexpensive laptop is simply incredible.

The battery backup is also pretty good; it lasts quite a while, even if you’re a heavy user. The only caveat is that it has only two USB-B and one USB-C port. If you plan on using a couple of USB peripherals for your laptop, you need to get a USB hub.

Overall, this laptop packs some impressive performance in such a small footprint.

Why Should You Purchase This System?

This HP laptop is inexpensive, but the specifications and its performance can be easily compared with top-of-the-line laptops. If you travel a lot and portability is one of your prime concerns, we would recommend you to go with this one.

3. Asus VivoBook 14 Laptop

Asus Vivobook 14’s specifications look impressive, but nothing exceptional compared to the ones we’ve checked about previously. However, what sets this laptop apart from its competitors is the thoughtful features it boasts.

First off, you’re going to fall in love with the backlit keyboard. As a musician, many of us prefer working in a studio where a backlit keyboard can be an absolute lifesaver. It’s not so bright that your eyes start hurting, not so faint that you can’t read your keys, but just the perfect amount of brightness that sits in between. 

Secondly, the performance is bound to make you go wow. Turn the laptop on, scan your finger with the nifty fingerprint scanner, and the laptop will be running before you can blink. The CPU has four cores and the clock speed can be boosted to 3.7 GHz. However, if you want to squeeze out even more performance out of it, it’s also possible to overclock the processor.

That, combined with the Radeon Vega 8 Graphics, will handle any CPU or GPU-intensive task you throw at it with ease.

Last but not least, the laptop looks very stylish with a slick but rugged design.

Why Should You Purchase This System?

Asus VivoBook 14 is a laptop that’s adored by its huge fan base for its excellent specifications and stylish design. If you’re looking for something that offers plenty of well-thought features with snappy performance, Asus VivoBook 14 should meet all your criteria. Being one of the best-looking models in the segment, it’s also the best laptop for FL Studio under 500 in terms of design.

4. Dell Inspiron 15 3000

When it comes to laptops, Dell has always been a reliable name. They’re especially known for the rigidity and solid build quality of their products, and Dell Inspiron 15 3000 is no different either.

Firstly, the laptop has a fairly good combination of a dual-core processor and Intel UHD graphics. It might not sound like much, but the laptop should get you by for music production and casual internet browsing without breaking a sweat.

Another nice part is that Dell Inspiron 15 3000 comes with ample RAM and SSD, so the user experience is quite pleasant. It doesn’t start lagging even if you’re multitasking a lot, which all adds to the swift performance.

Lastly, the cherry on top is the 15.6-inch screen which is bigger than most laptops in this segment. Your workflow will be much better with the extra real estate.

Unfortunately, the processor might bottleneck the performance if you use a lot of CPU-intensive software. Apart from that, it’s a pretty decent choice.

Why Should You Purchase This System?

If you want the reliability of Dell along with fast performance and a stylish, professional design – Dell Inspiron 15 3000 will be a wise choice. It packs quite a few nice features like SSD storage and plenty of RAM that allows you to multitask smoothly. On top of that, it also offers a big display, good battery life, and lastly, a rugged build.

5. Lenovo IdeaPad 3 (Intel Core i3)

Guess who’s back again – the good old Lenovo IdeaPad 3! But this time, it has an Intel-powered heart for those who are not big fans of AMD. We’ve already seen what the AMD variant is capable of so let’s cut to the chase and check out what makes the Intel variant of IdeaPad 3 unique.

It boasts a 15.6 FHD screen, whereas the AMD one has a 14-inch screen. If you don’t want to use your laptop with an external display but want a smoother workflow anyway, this one meets the criteria.

The rest of the specifications remain the same, but one thing you should keep in mind is that the AMD processor was quad-core, whereas Intel core I3 is a dual-core processor. Although that doesn’t make the performance sluggish, it isn’t as good as what you’d get with the two more cores, either.

Why Should You Purchase This System?

IdeaPad 3 is a renowned model of Lenovo, that packs a good set of features and specifications under the hood. According to users, the laptop is reliable and fast enough for most applications. If you prefer an Intel CPU with a bigger screen, this would be a very good choice.

6. Acer Aspire 5

The Acer Aspire 5’s specifications are not going to blow your mind at first glance. Only 4 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD? That can be a dealbreaker for some.

But the reason why we’ve included this laptop is not for what it is, but for what it can be. Spend 50 bucks more on a 1 TB hard disk and eight gigs of RAM, and bam, it will be putting the $700 laptops in shame.

Because everything else about this laptop is top-notch, the screen is gorgeous, the Ryzen chip can be overclocked for bringing extra oomph out, and the build quality is 10 out of 10. As we’ve said, upgrade the storage and the RAM, and you have a head-turner in terms of performance.

Another nice thing is that it has a slim RJ45 port, something most laptops don’t come with these days. WiFi is convenient and all – but when you’re downloading gigabytes of sample packs and software, nothing beats the speed of a good old wired connection.

Why Should You Purchase This System?

If you’re searching for a laptop that has a huge upgrade potential and an inexpensive price tag, Acer Aspire 5 comes with both. On top of that, it also offers a rugged build and a display with a commendable resolution and crisp colors. Just upgrade the storage and RAM a bit, and you’ll have an excellent laptop at half of the cost.

7. HP 14″ Touchscreen Home and Business Laptop – Budget Pick

This laptop from HP offers the best value for money we have come across. Despite being the least expensive one on our list, it offers some great stuff like a decent CPU and good battery backup.

First off, let’s talk about the processor. With a high base clock that can be boosted even further, the AMD Ryzen 3 packs some serious power under the hood. While only certain Intel processors are overclock-ready, you can overclock all AMD Ryzen processors meaning this laptop can be sped up even more!

And then comes its built-in GPU, which is not over-the-top but pretty good nevertheless. Should you want to, you can use lightweight graphic designing and video editing software on it as well.

The best part about it is its touchscreen, which allows you to use it as a drum pad or a touch controller while making music. Given how low the model is priced, the touchscreen was an unexpected touch, no pun intended. The stock RAM is enough for most purposes, but there’s an extra slot, so you can also add more if you feel like it.

Last but not least, it comes with an SSD as well – so you won’t need to wait forever while the laptop starts up or shuts down.

Why Should You Purchase This System?

If you’re on a tight budget and/or prefer a touchscreen display, we strongly recommend you consider this HP laptop. The processor and GPU offer excellent performance and the fact that it packs a 14-inch display at such a small size is simply amazing. If we were to pick the best laptop for FL Studio under 500 with a touch screen, this would be our choice.

8. HP Laptop 14-fq1025nr

At first glance, this HP laptop isn’t going to steal your heart. But when you get to witness the performance, you’d have to try very hard to keep your face straight.

Let’s cut to the chase, what makes this laptop so impressive?

It comes with a Ryzen 5500u processor, which is an absolute beast in its segment. The CPU can plow through music production, your everyday web browsing, and guess what, even some gaming as well! Combined with the RX Vega 7 integrated graphics, you can do GPU-intensive tasks like video editing and graphic designing without any issues.

The RAM it comes with is enough for FL Studio. That being said, it has an additional RAM slot so you can get some more performance out of it by throwing in an extra RAM stick, which we highly recommend. It’s an easy upgrade that’ll yield you great results.

The laptop lasts hours on battery, making it ideal for those who would be commuting a lot. And last but not least, you’ll be getting Windows 11 as the operating system which is another plus point.

To wrap things up, this is a great laptop for the price but we would strongly recommend you add another RAM stick to unlock its true potential.

Why Should You Purchase This System?

Hp 14-fq1025nr is quite an impressive laptop that comes with both a decent CPU and a great integrated GPU – something we weren’t anticipating at this price. On top of that, it also offers terrific battery backup, a full HD screen, and Windows 11 – the last one making the laptop truly future-proof.

If you’re looking for something you can upgrade and turn into an absolute beast, this would definitely be the best laptop for FL Studio under 500 you’ll find.

9. HP 15-dy1036nr

Here’s yet another laptop from HP to end today’s roundup. But wait for it, this might be the best HP laptop you’ll find in this budget.

The processor is Intel Core i5 to start with, which is always a great touch in entry-level laptops. Compared to other dual-core processors, the additional two cores of Core i5 will make FL Studio run more smoothly with heavy plugins and VSTs. Not to mention, you’ll be able to do a lot of multitasking as well.

This laptop’s RAM is good enough, the storage isn’t massive but gets the job done, and the display is big and offers crisp colors and a high resolution.

Now, those are nice and all, but what puts it miles ahead of its competitors is the battery life – which is simply unreal! You can work anywhere for hours without worrying about the laptop running out of charge.

Combined with the specifications this HP laptop boasts, it’s a fantastic choice for frequent travelers or commuters who don’t get to charge their laptops more than once a day.

Why Should You Purchase This System?

 If your criteria include having a perfect battery backup, look no further. It might not be the most popular model in the market, but don’t let that make you overlook the impressive specifications you’ll be getting with this. The quad-core processor with the killer display is an absolute steal at this price point!

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Choosing the best laptop for FL Studio: The Supreme Buyer’s Guide

CPU vs. GPU: Which one is more important for running FL studio?

The CPU, undoubtedly.

The only part of FL Studio that uses the GPU is its user interface, which your integrated graphics card (Intel UHD, for instance) can handle just fine. Even if you have an external powerful graphics card, it won’t improve the performance.

On the other hand, FL Studio relies entirely on the CPU for most of its audio processing, so your processor plays a crucial role in the performance. In other words, a better CPU translates to overall better performance.

As for which manufacturer you should go for – both AMD and Intel are good options, and end of the day, it all comes down to the number of cores. Try not to go for anything lower than dual cores.

We recommend going for an Intel Core i3 or an AMD Ryzen 3, at least.

RAM and storage: The bigger, the better

When it comes to RAM and storage space, go for as much as your budget allows – you can never have enough of them.

In FL Studio, the data used by the VSTs are stored real-time on RAM. So basically, the more RAM you have, the heavier VSTs or, more VSTs you can use in your project. While 8 GB RAM is enough for starting out, we recommend you upgrade to 16 GB or 32 GB in the future so you can work on more complex projects.

As for storage, SSD is a must. 128 GB or 256 GB SSD is enough for your operating system and FL Studio, but we would strongly suggest getting a 1 TB hard disk drive for the sample packs and VSTs. Do check if your laptop has an additional slot for installing an HDD if it only has an SSD. Otherwise, you might need to use a portable hard disk.

Display: Smoother workflow or higher portability, why can’t you have both?

In a nutshell, a bigger display means better workflow with a heavier design or vice versa. We all get the part about the additional weight, but how does a large display help you work better?

Well, when you use FL Studio, you’ll have a lot of menus and options on the screen. The playlist takes a lot of space. Then, you need to see the knobs and their values in the currently opened VST. And we’re not even going into the mixer rack, which many music producers even use a large TV screen for. You get the idea; more screen real estate will let you see more things while making music – which is essential.

But a bigger display also means the laptop will be bigger in size and heavier in weight, so it won’t be as easy to carry as a laptop with a comparatively smaller screen.

The decision is yours; determine which one you need more – a better workflow or a more portable laptop. Tip – you can always keep an external monitor at home to use with your laptop if it has a somewhat small screen. But if you want to have a large screen anyway, our article on the best 17-inch laptops in the market might help you.

As for what screen size we recommend for FL Studio, anything starting from 14-inch is fine.

Battery backup: How much do you need?

Put simply, how many hours of battery backup you need is directly correlated to how many hours you spend working on your laptop while traveling.

If you plan to spend at least six hours outside every day, you might be using four hours of it to make music on your laptop; give or take two. In that case, you should get a laptop that has a battery backup of at least five hours.

That’s how you determine what kind of battery backup you’ll be needing.

Weight: The lower, the better

Last but not least, it’s a no-brainer that your laptop should be lightweight. After all, why go for a laptop and not a desktop if you can’t carry it everywhere?

Having said that, weight should be prioritized relatively lower on your list as the other components can greatly influence it. For instance, a 15.6-inch laptop will offer a better workflow than a 13-inch laptop, but the price that would be coming at is the extra weight.

So, you need to think it through carefully and determine how important the weight is to you. Make sure to keep other factors in mind, like if you’ll be carrying it in your backpack, in which case anything heavy will make you tired faster.

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FAQs on Best Laptop For FL Studio Under 500

Can any laptop run FL Studio?

No, the laptop needs to meet the minimum system requirements for FL Studio. To check whether the laptop you’ve picked can run the software, take a look at the minimum requirements for Windows laptops –

• Operating system: Windows 8.1 or higher, both 32-bit and 64-bit versions would work. Windows S users will need to upgrade to regular Windows 10 first.
• CPU: A dual-core processor at least; the more cores there are, the better. Intel Core i3 is the bare minimum. But an Intel Celeron will also work, although the performance wouldn’t be good.
• RAM: 8 GB.
• GPU: Doesn’t really matter for FL Studio.

Depending on whether you want to use FL Studio 20 or 12, the requirements vary slightly. However, we recommend FL Studio 20 for weaker laptops as it lets you freeze and replace patterns with audio clips easily – reducing the workload on CPU and RAM.

If you’re unsure whether your laptop can run it, install the trial version and see for yourself before purchasing the full version.

The Bottom Line

A laptop is one of the most important investments in your music-making journey. If you don’t pick the right laptop for yourself, you and your music will end up suffering.

To help you with that, we have recommended nothing but the best laptop for FL Studio under 500 in this article. That being said, it would be you using the laptop for the next few years end of the day, not us.

So, make sure to do your own research before settling on one and making the final decision. Best of luck!

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