The software is free, and built into any version of Windows since at least XP (the Windows Backup in NT 4.0 and earlier was tape-specific. Not sure about 2000, or if it was in 95/98/Me at all.) It's not super from any perspective, but it's there and it's reasonably easy.

The hardware is typically one external drive, cost between $70-$300 (at the higher end, it's a basic single-drive NAS; at the lower end, it's just USB.)

On a desktop, it's trivial; just schedule it, and leave it on overnight.

On a laptop, remembering to power it back up, and either connecting the drive or connecting it to a wired network (unless your volume of new files is quite low, in which case wireless might work) is tougher, but more in terms of habit vs. automation than actual practicalities.

On the road, it's much tougher. OTOH, images say, monthly, and then using dropbox or similar for your most critical documents day to day will cover most of it.

Still not easy, but it's mostly a matter of habit and time rather than software or hardware.