I need a good but very cheap laptop

[Zm1TDkSnQkY4KEqskCARSBpk]

This will be used for coding (Python and JS), note taking, web browsing, light gaming (Minecraft is the heaviest game I'll play), school work, light media editing (GIMP, KDEnlive, Audacity), and anything else I'll do in the next 6 years. Here's what I need:

 

Price: Must be $400 or less, maybe $450 if $400 is a real challenge, and I need to be able to get that price on a new laptop. I didn't choose the price or the requirement to buy new, so arguing that I should buy used or spend more is pointless. If it was up to me, I'd have a $600 budget.

CPU: I want a Ryzen 5 3500U, but am willing to settle with anything that is at least as powerful as the i7-740QM that I have now and has hardware virtualization, preferably not from Intel unless it's unavoidable.

RAM: I need 8 GB and must be able to upgrade it to at least 12 GB later.

Storage: I need a 256 GB SSD and don't care if it's NVMe. If I get a type-C port as defined below and/or an internal hard drive, the requirement is lowered to 128 GB. The SSD must be removable.

Display: I want a 1920x1080 14 inch IPS screen, but I am willing to sacrifice IPS to save money and get any screen size between 11.6 and 15.6 inches. If the screen size is 11.6 inches, the lowest acceptable resolution is reduced to 1366x768, otherwise it is 1920x1080.

Battery: I need at least 6 hours of real world use almost every day for the entire life of the laptop, but I want to aim for 12 to have headroom for more battery degradation.

Form factor: 2 in 1 is strongly preferred, but traditional clamshell is OK

IO: At least one USB-A and one full size HDMI or a USB-C port with support for USB-PD, HDMI alternate mode, and the ability to use the USB 2.0 differential pair while an alternate mode is in use, preferably both the full size ports and the type C. A TRRS headset jack, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth, a webcam, and a microphone are required

Human input: Durable keyboard with decent travel and a sane layout, good trackpad

OS: Very good GNU/Linux support, preferably with FOSS drivers only. Windows will be wiped upon arrival and replaced with either Arch or Manjaro.

 

I tried yesterday and someone suggested a Lenovo 330S and S145, which are almost suitable but just have disgustingly tiny batteries. There's no way a 30-35 WHr battery is going to power a 15.6 inch laptop for a full school day. I reconsidered my requirements a bit and tried to make it more clear where I'm willing to cut costs and where I'm not. Is what I want possible, or am I going to need to raise my budget or lower my requirements?

[Guest]

For what you want you'd need to spend about $1000, you can get probably a dual core and 4GB of ram for that much. Maybe try to find something used.

[Tarun10]

Look at deals or offers for Cyber Week or whatever it's called on the websites you use. You could find an i3 or an i5 7th or 8th gen with 8GB of RAM and a basic SSD at that price point, but battery life is probably gonna be mediocre. I did see a decent Dell Inspiron with i5 8th gen, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD for around 450$. The screen is only 720p though and I doubt anything new has a type-C at that price point with everything else you mentioned. 

[Zm1TDkSnQkY4KEqskCARSBpk]

8 hours ago, Darpyface said:

For what you want you'd need to spend about $1000, you can get probably a dual core and 4GB of ram for that much. Maybe try to find something used.

I don't need to spend $1000. A base model Envy 15 x360 is $600 and appears to cover both everything I need and everything I want. Unfortunately $600 is too much. I can live with a dual core if it has hardware virtualization and the single thread performance to make up for it, but I really don't want to. 8GB of RAM is a need, not a want, so 4GB of RAM is not acceptable unless I can upgrade it to 8GB now and still be under the budget, and 12 or 16 GB later. Like I said, due to factors outside of my control, buying used is not an option.

8 hours ago, Tarun10 said:

Look at deals or offers for Cyber Week or whatever it's called on the websites you use. You could find an i3 or an i5 7th or 8th gen with 8GB of RAM and a basic SSD at that price point, but battery life is probably gonna be mediocre. I did see a decent Dell Inspiron with i5 8th gen, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD for around 450$. The screen is only 720p though and I doubt anything new has a type-C at that price point with everything else you mentioned. 

Depending on what "battery life is probably gonna be mediocre" means, that might or might not be acceptable. If it will consistently last 6-8 hours on a charge, that's fine. If it's in the 1-4 hour range, that's not acceptable. Also, I need a 1080p screen unless it's only 11.6 inches. Lower resolutions on a larger screen are too pixelated and they hurt my eyes to look at for more than a few minutes at a time. A surprisingly large amount of computers do technically have a type C, but not the kind I want. Luckily, I listed it as a sacrifice I'm willing to make to hit the budget.

 

Is there something like a 330S or S145 except it has a larger battery? Lenovo could cut a hole in the bottom of the laptop, have the battery stick out the bottom, duct tape over it to keep it in, and put thick rubber strips on the back for stability for all I care. Even at 50¢/WHr, which is far more than what they actually cost, an additional 30 WHr on top of the 30 WHr already there should cost less than $20.

 

If I really can't get a machine with decent battery life on it's own, how much would a decent low-profile power bank that could give the desired battery life to the laptop cost?

[Tarun10]

On 12/4/2019 at 9:37 PM, Zm1TDkSnQkY4KEqskCARSBpk said:

I don't need to spend $1000. A base model Envy 15 x360 is $600 and appears to cover both everything I need and everything I want. Unfortunately $600 is too much. I can live with a dual core if it has hardware virtualization and the single thread performance to make up for it, but I really don't want to. 8GB of RAM is a need, not a want, so 4GB of RAM is not acceptable unless I can upgrade it to 8GB now and still be under the budget, and 12 or 16 GB later. Like I said, due to factors outside of my control, buying used is not an option.

Depending on what "battery life is probably gonna be mediocre" means, that might or might not be acceptable. If it will consistently last 6-8 hours on a charge, that's fine. If it's in the 1-4 hour range, that's not acceptable. Also, I need a 1080p screen unless it's only 11.6 inches. Lower resolutions on a larger screen are too pixelated and they hurt my eyes to look at for more than a few minutes at a time. A surprisingly large amount of computers do technically have a type C, but not the kind I want. Luckily, I listed it as a sacrifice I'm willing to make to hit the budget.

 

Is there something like a 330S or S145 except it has a larger battery? Lenovo could cut a hole in the bottom of the laptop, have the battery stick out the bottom, duct tape over it to keep it in, and put thick rubber strips on the back for stability for all I care. Even at 50¢/WHr, which is far more than what they actually cost, an additional 30 WHr on top of the 30 WHr already there should cost less than $20.

 

If I really can't get a machine with decent battery life on it's own, how much would a decent low-profile power bank that could give the desired battery life to the laptop cost?

I know they could easily do that even if it isn't a high quality battery but they need to squeeze the profit out of these things so they don't. You probably should go to a good online retailer filter by all the important features you need and then make a list of laptops that work for you. Then look at reviews for battery life. I agree with low res screen hurting on larger displays. Also look for decent colors. Some panels are atrocious to look at. A lot of budget laptops have horrible screens. A battery bank might extend it by an hour or much more if you can get a high capacity one but that's expensive.

 

The Envy x360 is good value, great materials on the top of the chassis and good screen though brightness could go higher. The hinge is annoying though and not reliable for long term usage.

[zeros]

Not IPS screen but uses a "nice" TN panel if I remember correctly.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TXH2YSH/ref=psdc_13896615011_t3_B00405WVVW

 

-quad core AMD A12-9720P with an integrated R7 GPU

-15.6" - 1080p

-16GB  RAM

-256GB SSD+1TB HDD

-AC wi-fi

-1 Type C, one USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and one full size HDMI port

-SD card reader

 

$429

[debatenerd]

I hate to be that person but going refurbished is probably your best bet.  This often times knocks the price down 30-50% and you still get a warranted and a pretty new looking machine.