Ask HN: Best Budget Windows Laptop?

Posted by _bxg1 on Sunday December 22, 2019 @06:35PM
from the ask-hn dept.

My dad needs a new laptop:

- He has Windows-only software he wants to run, so no chromebooks

- In general he prefers a bigger screen if possible

- He doesn't need very powerful specs

- He doesn't care for a touch screen or anything

- Beyond the above, low price, high durability, and maybe battery life would be the priorities

Any recommendations?

( 6 comments | 7 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: Best Budget Windows Laptop? by mister_hn on Monday December 23, 2019 @03:48AM (#21862301)

The HP 250 G7 is the best one. You can buy it for 400€ and it supports up to 32 GB RAM (warning: you need to pick up the Ryzen variant)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Best Budget Windows Laptop? by ToFab123 on Monday December 23, 2019 @05:00AM (#21862604)

I would say basically any cheap laptop where the hard drive is user replaceable so you can replace the spinning disk with a SSD. Doing that a cheap windows laptop becomes almost as fast as higher-end models. That 5400 rpm hard drive they put in cheap laptops are really the thing that makes them super slow.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Best Budget Windows Laptop? by m-p-3 on Monday December 23, 2019 @05:08PM (#21867908)

Make sure to consider the screen resolution. Most cheap laptops comes with a 1366x768 display resolution, which can severely limit the usable workspace.

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Re:Ask HN: Best Budget Windows Laptop? by llampx on Monday December 23, 2019 @08:37AM (#21863497)

A refurb Thinkpad T5xx or E5xx from the Lenovo outlet should fit the bill.

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Re:Ask HN: Best Budget Windows Laptop? by gaspoweredcat on Monday December 23, 2019 @02:56AM (#21862136)

does it need to be brand new? if not consider a refurbished thinkpad, a T4xx or T5xx should do nicely depending on which screen size you want

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Re:Ask HN: Best Budget Windows Laptop? by GeoffIsTheBest on Monday December 23, 2019 @12:39PM (#21865320)

I would agree with this. Get the latest model T series you can with your budget.

I would avoid the E, X, L series as they are either too cheap(in quality) or either too expensive (X series) due to thinness. The T series strikes the perfect middle ground and it well known for available replacement parts and upgradability.

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