Good School (and future) Laptop

[ducckk]

Hi friends. I am looking for a good school laptop that I can take with me once I graduate in Spring. I have no interest in gaming, just something to compute, write papers, browse the internet etc. 

Are Chromebooks really worth it? I don't want to be bogged down by syncing with the cloud and any other nonsense. 

I'd like an i5, 8GB of RAM, either an SSD or SSD capability and just an all around good laptop that will last me a while (again, I won't be gaming so don't worry about that). My budget is ~$600 so I was looking at 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0762S8PYM and then I'd put my own M.2 SSD in.

 

Basically my question is whether this laptop would be a good option, or if something else is better in the same price point.

 

Thanks!

Edited December 13, 2018 by ducckk
Added a tag.

[Streetguru]

11 minutes ago, ducckk said:

 

Just buy an older thinkpad with an i7 2000 or better for maybe $150, replace the battery for $50 ish, and add an SSD for one of the best laptops ever made.

[ducckk]

4 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

Just buy an older thinkpad with an i7 2000 or better for maybe $150, replace the battery for $50 ish, and add an SSD for one of the best laptops ever made.

Eh, I would like a decent screen and I don't want to buy a laptop and immediately have to do upkeep.

[Streetguru]

1 minute ago, ducckk said:

Eh, I would like a decent screen and I don't want to buy a laptop and immediately have to do upkeep.

Their screens are fine, it's more for the durabiltiy and keyboard.

Otherwise just find something with either an i5 8300h or R5 2200U
 

This one has a solid GPU for any future reselling
https://www.amazon.com/HP-15-6-inch-Anti-Glare-WLED-Backlit-15-cx0056wm/dp/B07KQXHP4M/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1544681556&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=i5+8300h&psc=1

[ducckk]

That's a little thick and goofy looking which are two big reasons I don't want a gaming laptop.

[Streetguru]

33 minutes ago, ducckk said:

That's a little thick and goofy looking which are two big reasons I don't want a gaming laptop.

My issue is that if you're spending that much on a laptop the hardware should be pretty solid, or it should fill some strong niche

Otherwise it's just an overpriced basic laptop.

[ducckk]

11 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

My issue is that if you're spending that much on a laptop the hardware should be pretty solid, or it should fill some strong niche

Otherwise it's just an overpriced basic laptop.

Alright that is a fair point. I'll try to nail down my budget and work from there. You've given me some good things to think about, thank you!

[Streetguru]

20 minutes ago, ducckk said:

Alright that is a fair point. I'll try to nail down my budget and work from there. You've given me some good things to think about, thank you!

And you're sure you don't need to do like any gaming on it? not even like PS2 or gamecube emulation? which is fairly easy to do now.
 

You could always look into the Surface 4, at least it has a niche use and solid battery life

Actually I guess they haven't released a normal Surface 4 yet

 

[ducckk]

Just now, Streetguru said:

And you're sure you don't need to do like any gaming on it? not even like PS2 or gamecube emulation? which is fairly easy to do now.

Man, now you have me unsure. Back to the drawing board.

[Streetguru]

Just now, ducckk said:

Man, now you have me unsure. Back to the drawing board.

The other laptop above has really solid hardware for $600, things like battery life may take a hit, and cooling/build quality to fit the hardware into that price, but it should hold it's value better.

The Matebook D with a Ryzen 5 2500U is a good machine, but it really should be like $500, it hit that on sale not too long ago I think, It should be able to do emulation anyways. Though an i5 + MX150 may have higher performance, I think it would use more power.

Basically every modern laptop has some trade offs and none of them are as good as Ye Olde Thinkpads.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834324036&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Notebooks-_-N82E16834324036&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgMPgBRDDARIsAOh3uyJpoS-c9qNeMiivtcb_ht2WsHrrvQ7RBe9iVeIcLBDsUGW8nqP3G9MaApyvEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
 

 

[ducckk]

7 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

Basically every modern laptop has some trade offs and none of them are as good as Ye Olde Thinkpads.

Yeah, that's what I love about desktops, you can build it exactly how you want it and replace anything you don't like. Laptops are "well I hope I can find the right configuration for the right price."

[Streetguru]

29 minutes ago, ducckk said:

Yeah, that's what I love about desktops, you can build it exactly how you want it and replace anything you don't like. Laptops are "well I hope I can find the right configuration for the right price."

The machines are fine, there's like no good modern option overall though

Like the Ryzen APUs are great, but they need to be $400 for the laptop, and have 6 cell or 9 cell batteries, instead of the 3 cells they all ship with, and solid cooling for higher TDP modes.

Basically I need to hit the lottery and bring back good laptops.

[genexis_x]

5 hours ago, ducckk said:

My budget is ~$600

Location? Any preference on weight, display size and battery life?

 

Vivobooks are mediocre in general