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Any second-hand business class laptop that fits your budget, i.e. HP Elitebook/Probook/Zbook, Dell Inspiron/Latitude/XPS, or Lenovo Thinkpad.
Businesses tend to get rid of them after 4 years, even if they're still in good condition. Great bang for your buck and easily repairable if something does end up breaking.
You'll have to install Linux yourself, but generally support for older hardware is OK.
IMPORTANT: make sure the BIOS isn't locked before buying.
Any second-hand business class laptop that fits your budget, i.e. HP Elitebook/Probook/Zbook, Dell Inspiron/Latitude/XPS, or Lenovo Thinkpad.
Second this. I have a 10 year old Lenovo running Ubuntu that suits my minimal needs just fine
So much this. Go to eBay or if your country has an equivalent and search for business class laptops. Dell, HP, Lenovo, whatever you like. Business class laptops are way easier to work on and can usually be upgraded a bit easier. And like this post said, you can usually find 3-4 year old laptops in good condition and with decent specs.
I just got one for my daughter so we can play Valheim together.
Chromebooks are pretty cheap, and basically made for college students to take notes and watch youtube. You can dual boot linux on them pretty easy.
It's not even a dual boot. You can enable a linux access from ChromeOS that is essentially the full install. Shell access as well as GUI apps.
I have used it with a lot of success. The initial startup of the sandbox is a bit slow and I seemed to run out of space quickly on mine but for light work it's definitely usable.
I don't have any specific recommendations but when shopping for cheap laptops always keep in mind:
Always buy a laptop with an SSD, it will make a huge difference
Don't get a Celeron processor.
Aim for 8gb of RAM.
"Windows 11 S Mode" is a limited version of Windows that forces you to use the Microsoft store. Essentially it's a Chromebook style version of windows, and it's garbage, so if you see a laptop that sells this be ready to install a different OS when you get it.
Looking around, there are a few options that match the criteria in the $250-300 range. Good luck.
"s mode" can be switched off, but it requires a visit to the 'store' (and the requisite ms account linked) to do. once you get rid of that nonsense, a future reset or reinstall will activate the 'normal' home edition ('s mode' is a one time deal, once it's gone, it's gone)
Pretty much every laptop has an “SSD” now. You gotta make sure they have an NVMe, as opposed to an eMMC. eMMC is much slower than NVMe.
A used laptop with a fresh battery, SSD, and RAM would be the best performance-per-dollar setup, but I agree chromebooks are very cheap of you just want a simple web browser.
If you want to go with a chromebook, I repair chromebooks for my job. I recommend the HP 11 G8/G9 model. They're light, cheap, perform just as good as any other chromebook, and they're easy to repair.
See if there are any refurbished units available for the brand you want, it’ll save a bit of money
I'm a fan of used Lenovo T series laptops. The ones with the "s at the end of the model are the smaller and lighter versions. My last one was a t460s and it's great.
I got the T490 so without the 's' and it's quite light but rugged and was lucky so it's a 16GB / 512GB SSD for under 200€.
Runs like a charm, battery life is crazy good and it gots all the connectics I need.
Only downside I can see is if you want a bigger screen, it's a 14" which is okay for me but maybe not for you.
Great laptop. I’ve used one at work for the last couple of years. I’d highly recommend any ‘business’ Lenovos (Lenovii?)
Coincidentally I’m saying goodbye to my trusty T490 tonight and starting new adventures with my newly issued T14
Why did you change?
Just a work laptop refresh
I got my dad a t460 full size. That thing can do like 14 hours of car scanning and tuning without a charge.
What’s car scanning and tuning?
You can get carburetor replacements that give you electronic fuel injection. holly is a popular brand, and you use software to adjust the fuel and spark of the engine for power or efficiency.
How does the laptop factor in to this? Also, could I improve fuel economy with this method?
I just bought the Chuwi Gemibook XPro. I bought it as a “throwaway” laptop that I could take everywhere (I run an email business and need to be able to fix issues 24/7) and I wouldn’t really mind if it got stolen. It’s not an excellent laptop, but it’s exceeded my expectations for how cheap it is. I would call it a good laptop overall, and great for the price. The keyboard is not bad. Not as good as pricier laptops, but not bad like other laptops I’ve tried at this price point. The trackpad is probably the worst part, and that’s saying something, cause even it’s not bad, just ok. Anyway, it’s $250 USD, so I think that’s around your price range.
How about Pinebook Pro?
Is DRM still an issue with Pinebook Pro? Netflix, etc?
Apparently it’s possible, though I personally haven’t tried it. Probably not the best machine for streaming in general.
https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinebook_Pro_Software_Tuning_Guide#Watching_DRM_content_(Netflix,_etc.)