Would be cool if you linked it but you don’t hve to!
additional info: won’t be used for gaming and i’m putting xcfe linux on it. i need it for school for basic stuff
Best has a lot of sub requirements, and cheap goes against that notion. Need to be specific about use cases. No one has the best everything because there are always cuts on design.
If you want the most generic answer, an arbitrary lenovo thinkpad
sub requirements? im nkt following
With the preface of “cheap”, do not ever buy a laptop under $500. They are simply underspecced by the time they get that low, and will give a bad experience.
I would also recommend something like a Lenovo ThinkPad, they are pretty damn tough. Maybe a ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 Intel. Spec it out to 16gb of memory and even the i3 processor will get your job done fine in Linux, while landing in under $650. Plus they have removable M.2 SSD’s that can be changed out for a higher capacity very easily, and much much cheaper than the $300 they charge to kit it with a 1tb drive…
This is a lot less true than it was five years ago. Web browsing and basic word editing has not become harder to do in the past ten years, but hardware has made some major leaps. (thanks amd) So as long as it has an ssd and a semi modern (within five years) processor, it will do a great job of handling homework and 4k video. With windows replaced with linux, it’ll do all those things and feel snappy while it does it.
Avoid sub 100$ laptops, and keep a skeptical eye on anything between that and 400$, but it can absolutely be done.
I’m biased, but the dell inspiron laptops that businesses offload are perfect for this sort of task. They have connectivity out the wazoo (useful for that outdated projector in the seldom used classroom) and their batteries are easily replaced.
To add to this, if $500 is actually your budget:
Get a good second hand laptop. I picked up a 2020 model X1 Carbon a few months ago for 🇦🇺$200 and paid another $90 for a new battery for it. Came to about $300 for a great little laptop.
This was for the kid to take to school, so I didn’t want to be buying a $1,000 thing that he’d destroy.
Holy shit, that is a great deal regardless of where in the world you are. How’d you get it so cheap?
It had a dead battery. Didn’t hold charge at all when you unplugged it. On the second hand market, that makes this laptop ‘faulty’.
How is a laptop with a dead battery usable for school? Do they spend the whole time in a single classroom which has sockets?
They wrote they got a new battery for it.
Dang, lucky you! Though also what in the world did the previous owner do to it to kill the battery so dead in just 3 years.
My suggestion is to get a device that can do the stuff kids want, but just barely do the things they want.
I probably spent more time tinkering around the family computer than anything else as a kid just to get games way over-spec to run on it. Throughout that process I learned programming, hex editing, and some Linux system administration, which eventually led me to my current career.
These days, it’s probably a lot easier to get started with a raspberry pi. But without something to motivate people to learn tech, why would they do it in the first place?
if you do go for a thousand thing get a framework, incredibly modular pc
To add to that, a used ThinkPad can be really good even under $500. Companies mass buy and replace them so they get sold for really cheap considering their specs
I’ve bought sub $500 laptops several times in the last 6 years or so, and they were all great. Lenovo puts (or at least used to put) out Ideapads with Ryzen processors that are crazy cheap, and fairly upgradable.
I have a Thinkpad E14 AMD from work and it’s fine. Zero complaints about the hardware. Got an extra USB C charger for it, but I’ve managed to charge it with my Nintendo Switch charger when needed.
Pinebook Pro
whats that??
You can always buy a USBC to barrel jack or whatever charger bit adapter. I did this with my surface, and work laptops for years. Just gotta make sure your USBC charger is up for the job. Got a 140w one now and works like a champ on my XPS, MacBook pro, steam deck, x1 carbon, surface book
Love my X1 Nano (have had it since 2021), one brick for all my devices.
I’d probably go for a used ThinkPad, they’re very sturdy and can take a lot of beating and on top of it it’s easy to repair them yourself. That is what I did when I was at university and didn’t have a company to sponsor a laptop for me.
there are some good convertible $500 chromebooks with core i3 + 8gb ram that are sometimes on sale for $400 or even $350. All Chromebooks support USBC charging and most $500 chromebooks will be convertibles and do video out as well.
ehich one specifically do yi tecommend