Hello all.

I am once again asking for your technical advice. Maybe somebody else will find this thread useful and ask about their preferences, too.

What I mean by “budget” is the price range of 300-600 dollars.

My priorities are as follow:

  • Great battery life (!)
  • Lightweight
  • Quiet fans and keyboard
  • Able to run Linux (!)

What I will use this computer for is:

  • Writing documents, viewing PowerPoints, the occasional call.
  • Watching Youtube and movies.
  • Scrolling the web and engaging with sites such as Lemmy.

I will NOT be using the computer for any coding, programming, video- or photo editing. The occasional gaming may occur, but it’s only one lightweight game I play on Steam from time to time.

What I have been looking at so far has been: Acer Aspire 5, Acer Swift 3, and the Lenovo Slim Series. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about computers so I can’t tell if these candidates are worth considering.

Furthermore, I don’t really know what Ryzen or AMD entails. I think Ryzen is more apt for gaming? In which case, I’ll be an AMD user. As long as it’s able to run Linux, no problem.

Sorry to dump my personal insecurities on you all, but what say you, Lemmings? What is your verdict?

    • saltesc@lemmy.world
      3·
      5 months ago

      Yeah. They’re like the Toyotas of the PC world. Reliable, capable, everywhere, and just keep getting the job done well after most others gave in. Certainly more modular for upgrades too.

    • weeeeum@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      5 months ago

      Probably best option here. I worked at a computer repair shop and the prices for used hardware is astounding. Even for something new-ish, mint condition and good specs usually lands around 200-400$.

    • Thavron@lemmy.ca
      3·
      5 months ago

      Yeah honestly for casual use cases as this it doesn’t matter that much. Just get a Lenovo of around 500 or 600 bucks and you’re golden.

  • mikyopii@programming.dev
    4·
    5 months ago

    My recommendation for that price range is to buy a used business-class laptop. Emphasis on the business-class. These are the Dell Latitudes and the HP ProBooks. Try to find something less-than five years old (businesses tend to phase out older laptops in the three or four year mark). Buy from a reputable re-seller that offers support in case you get a lemon.

    It won’t be the fastest or sexiest laptop out there. But it will be long lasting and reliable.

    • weeeeum@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      5 months ago

      Business class laptops are a different class from typical consumer laptops. I work repair and I see cheap crappy dells and hps come in all the time. They are built like wet newspaper, they’ll creak and flex just by looking at them.

      I use an HP 8770w and it’s built like a tank. It’s been used by my mom and then handed down to me, then I upgraded the snot out of it and still use it. It’s been constantly used for 10 years straight.

  • FuzzChef@feddit.de
    2·
    5 months ago

    Great battery life and linux unfortunately are a hard task and linux support is often spotty for consumer devices.

    Sticking to used business hardware is usually a good start, but you should check for compability issues nonetheless.

    • Wild Bill@midwest.socialOP
      1·
      5 months ago

      This was my initial idea but not sure how reliable they are, especially since I’m looking at the older models from 2015-2017.

      • weeeeum@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        5 months ago

        As a repair tech, the MacBook airs within 7 or so years are nightmares to repair and aren’t upgradable. I’d personally avoid them because of the headache I’ve had maintaining them.

        Also as an experience as a repair tech, we don’t see these often, we rarely see them break. Dells and hps on the other hand, we get one of each nearly every day

      • DominusOfMegadeus@sh.itjust.works
        24·
        5 months ago

        I would go for an M1 Air or Pro from 2020 or later, and definitely get 16gb of ram. Do not not worry about internal storage as there are always numerous cloud storage options if really necessary. Facebook marketplace is a good source, or OfferUp. Apple stuff is the most reliable out there, software and hardware. They are built like tanks, and almost never actually suffer ‘blue screen of death’ software issues or anything like that. Plus no viruses. I have a Macbook with me in the room from like 2008; it powers up and works like a charm. I also feel Apple is one of the better options privacy wise.

  • chauncey [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    1·
    5 months ago

    My Asus zenbook, purchased in 2015, is still going strong. They’re pretty affordable and at least from my experience have held up well. I’m pretty sure you can run Linux on them too.