Recommended laptop for just web browsing and thesis writing.

[Reiidar]

For the longest time I've been holding on upgrading my old system since I plan on getting a 1440p rig with a 1440p 144hz monitor. However my college has required me to get a laptop as an admission requirement for my degree.
Mainly it would be used for online classes, web browsing, and thesis writing. I'd like to get a laptop that's as cheap as possible while not heavily compromising on the performance (at least I want it to be responsive when I switch between multiple tabs while looking at researches and my word document.) I will still be buying a PC for gaming so I want it to take as little as possible from my budget.

It's totally fine for me even if the keyboard is a little mushy and I'll be using a mouse so the track pad doesn't have to be that great.

For the budget? I don't want to go over $400 (I'm not from NA or Europe so if you recommend a $400 laptop it will probably be available here for around $450-500)

TL:DR I need a laptop for web browsing and thesis writing and I want it to be as cheap as possible while being responsive when I switch between word documents and tabs because I need to save money for buying a new gaming pc.
 
Thank you so much for your time.

[ManosMax13]

3 minutes ago, Reiidar said:

For the longest time I've been holding on upgrading my old system since I plan on getting a 1440p rig with a 1440p 144hz monitor. However my college has required me to get a laptop as an admission requirement for my degree.
Mainly it would be used for online classes, web browsing, and thesis writing. I'd like to get a laptop that's as cheap as possible while not heavily compromising on the performance (at least I want it to be responsive when I switch between multiple tabs while looking at researches and my word document.) I will still be buying a PC for gaming so I want it to take as little as possible from my budget.

It's totally fine for me even if the keyboard is a little mushy and I'll be using a mouse so the track pad doesn't have to be that great.

For the budget? I don't want to go over $400 (I'm not from NA or Europe so if you recommend a $400 laptop it will probably be available here for around $450-500)

TL:DR I need a laptop for web browsing and thesis writing and I want it to be as cheap as possible while being responsive when I switch between word documents and tabs because I need to save money for buying a new gaming pc.
 
Thank you so much for your time.

A cheap acer nitro with a 7th gen i5 and if possible an ssd will be fine.

[3 Lions]

You'd probably get something better on the used market. 

[ManosMax13]

HP 255 G7

Lenovo V330-15IKB

Acer Extensa EX2540-51H1 these are just some models

[Reiidar]

7 minutes ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

You'd probably get something better on the used market. 

I won't get too much into the the details but the used market here in general is a horrible place. But I think I've found another way, according to the recommended specs of the university there are recommending something with an i5 6200U or equivalent the equivalent would then be an i3 8130U if this benchmarks are correct then I could just get a laptop with an i3 8130U with slot for additional ram, add an ssd for a boot drive (if it doesn't have one) and just slap another ram stick in. This laptop from HP as well as their other laptops at that range have and ssd as an option (though I don't know if the ram is upgradeable, but 8gb will probably be enough for me).

[genexis_x]

7 minutes ago, Reiidar said:

I won't get too much into the the details but the used market here in general is a horrible place

New models in this price range are mostly crap. Buying laptop isn't just specs

[Sauron]

Get a refurbished Thinkpad x220, it's perfect for what you described. Source: I used one for university work for 4.5 years.

 

The CPU (in the i5 or i7 models) is a 35W, non-undervolted monster that still holds its own against modern mobile dual cores.

The keyboard is possibly the best you can find on any laptop.

It only weighs 1.5kg.

You can find them with an ssd, 8gb of ram and an IPS screen - often for around 200$ (of course you can add the ssd and extra ram later if you can only find models with 4gb or with a hdd).

It will definitely give you a better experience than any new 400$ laptop.

[Reiidar]

2 hours ago, Sauron said:

Get a refurbished Thinkpad x220, it's perfect for what you described. Source: I used one for university work for 4.5 years.

 

The CPU (in the i5 or i7 models) is a 35W, non-undervolted monster that still holds its own against modern mobile dual cores.

The keyboard is possibly the best you can find on any laptop.

It only weighs 1.5kg.

You can find them with an ssd, 8gb of ram and an IPS screen - often for around 200$ (of course you can add the ssd and extra ram later if you can only find models with 4gb or with a hdd).

It will definitely give you a better experience than any new 400$ laptop.

I managed to find an i5 and an i7 model on newegg (link in the text) I'm assuming I won't notice much difference with the cpu itself the way I'm using it, the 120gb ssd is probably enough for all of my files since they take literally almost no space at all and I'd have a desktop at home. I'm leaning towards the i5 and just adding my own ram.

[Sauron]

17 minutes ago, Reiidar said:

I managed to find an i5 and an i7 model on newegg (link in the text) I'm assuming I won't notice much difference with the cpu itself the way I'm using it, the 120gb ssd is probably enough for all of my files since they take literally almost no space at all and I'd have a desktop at home. I'm leaning towards the i5 and just adding my own ram.

They perform about the same, I have an i5 model and it runs very well - the only reason I'd consider the i7 is that those come with a usb3 port whereas with the i5 model you need an expresscard add-on if you want that. With that said my i5 is faster than the one you linked, I have a 2540M which runs at 3.3GHz on boost. Also be aware the ones you linked probably don't have the IPS display.

 

Honestly I'd go for either this one if you want to spare money or this one if you prefer the best performance and features. They also have a touch screen as a bonus. I wouldn't worry about the storage, as I said if it ever becomes a problem you can easily swap it with any standard 2.5" sata ssd.