Looking for a sub-$500 laptop for programming

[rugbyralph288]

I’m looking to buy a laptop for portability because I find that being trapped in my room to work on projects every day is kinda depressing. My work PC is overspec’d for the work I do on it especially since I daily drive Manjaro and spend most of my time just writing code. I’m looking for a 15”+ display with a decent processor that isn’t overkill for compiling code around 10KLOC. I’m not saying I’ve looked at EVERY single laptop on the market but my search has been fruitless so far so any tips are appreciated. 

 

I really must stress that I don't need it to be an absolute beast. Because I'm running a pretty lightweight Linux build that I built to be as bloatware-free as possible (essentially nonexistent), I would literally only be running a text editor/IDE, GNOME/Firefox and compiling code. I keep seeing posts and recs about how much more I could do with xyz components but the main point is just to be powerful enough to not chug, have a decent typing experience, and have a decent display. 

 

tldr: need a 15”+ laptop to code on that isn’t awful.

[RONOTHAN##]

You're basically describing the exact purpose of a used Lenovo Thinkpad. They're built very well, they have really good keyboards, and they overall have pretty good Linux support. They aren't super performant depending on what you get, but for what it sounds like your doing, a decent dual core should do the job. Something like a T580 if you can find one would be your best bet, though you might have to go a bit older depending on prices in your area. I wouldn't go much older than a T550, that being said. 

[Chris Pratt]

You can always remote into your current machine to get the performance while being mobile, so you could use a Chromebook for all it matters, not that you necessarily should. I'd focus on finding something with a good keyboard and decent screen, specs don't really matter. Especially for your budget, you're not getting good specs no matter what.