Full disclosure: Laptops in the $300-or-below price range are not going to be good for PC gaming. You’re priced out of a 4K resolution display or a refresh rate higher than 60Hz, and your RAM is going to max out at around 8GB. (Not bad, but not spectacular, either.) You’re also unlikely to get more than 500GB of storage space out of a cheap laptop.
Screen-wise, most of the best laptops under $300 are on the smaller end. Manufacturers are starting to make more in the 14- to 15.6-inch range, but most clock in around 11.6 inches. Bells and whistles like touchscreens and backlit displays are available on some machines in this price range, but they’re few and far between.
You’re mostly going to be looking at entry-level, pared-down laptops that are best for light tasks like browsing the web, writing and editing documents, video calls, and streaming — which again, may really be all you need. Basic isn’t necessarily a bad thing.