Help buying a new laptop for my mom

[Amelie-Sophie]

Hey, my mom needs a new (her first) notebook, all she really needs to do is browse the web / most things she does can be done in a web browser. Her budget is only about 350 euros (German prices). I figured a chrome book would probably do the job, but I have no clue which ones are actually decent. Also I might consider giving her a  notebook and installing Linux on it, if it's not a chromebook (smth like Ubuntu ), bc it worked really well for my dad and she isn't used to windows, and it might use less resources on a cheaper notebook.

 

Does anyone of you haven any recommendations? Thanks

[Indian pc builder]

5 minutes ago, Amelie-Sophie said:

Hey, my mom needs a new (her first) notebook, all she really needs to do is browse the web / most things she does can be done in a web browser. Her budget is only about 350 euros (German prices). I figured a chrome book would probably do the job, but I have no clue which ones are actually decent. Also I might consider giving her a  notebook and installing Linux on it, if it's not a chromebook (smth like Ubuntu ), bc it worked really well for my dad and she isn't used to windows, and it might use less resources on a cheaper notebook.

 

Does anyone of you haven any recommendations? Thanks

don't do linux, linux is rather complicated (and overkill for this use case) , a chromebook would seem to be the obvious choice here. As for which one, i suggest you go to a local store and look at chromebooks, with your mom, look for things like a good keyboard and screen, which can only be determined by looking at the laptop itself, dont worry too much about processors, ram and storage, as in a chromebook, it is basically just a laptop designed to be used to access web browser. Its basically a smartphone stuffed in a laptop form factor, with a slower chip and less storage, the things that really matter would be the hardware quality. Just look for one which has a good keyboard, trackpad and screen, and make sure it has enough storage or expansion options

[Indian pc builder]

here is what Linus thinks:

 

[Imbadatnames]

iPad?

[Darkseth]

hello, fellow German!

 

If your Mom really can live inside a Browser, a Chromebook can be fine. I would suggest Linus' Video too for that.

 

Another bet for that low Budget are older refurbished T-Thinkpads (or HP Elitebooks, Dell Latitudes etc).

They come with older hardware like a Dual Core only, but the Build qualitry is by far better than anything new you can find for the price, no exceptions.

For example: https://www.thinkstore24.de/laptops/lenovo-t-serie/thinkpad-t460/1820/lenovo-thinkpad-t460-i5-6200u-2-3ghz-8gb-256gb-ssd-1920x1080-ips-backlit

This one is not that old, the 6th Gen Dual Core is fine for basic browser stuff, Office and other things.

Keyboard is backlit (not to mention, even with todays Laptops it has one of the best Keyboards), Display is 1080p IPS, 256gb SSD and 8gb Ram which can be upgraded.

This Model does something interesting with the Battery: It has a small 23Wh Battery integrated, and another one that can be swapped (the internal one lets you hot-swap the battery without turning the device off). It's either another 23Wh Battery, or a bigger 6-cell Battery with either 48 Wh or a massive 72 Wh battery. That's HUGE for that size.

 

You are able to find spare parts and repair it if anything is broken or if you want to replace the battery for a bigger one.

 

There's no official Windows 11 support, so Windows 10 will be supported for at least 2025. Linux is a very decent option.

If you chose a lightweight lInux distro, there will be NO Difference in the user experience compared to a Windows or Chromebook or iPad/Android Tablet. There's a Firefox symbol, you click on it, you're in the browser.

There's no need to use the Terminal at all for doing basic stuff. And Ubuntu (or "Kubuntu") or Mint with a lightweight Desktop Environment should not just run well, but is popular enough so you can troubleshoot easily.

 

On Linux you can use a browser just like on ChromeOS. No disadvantage.

But on Linux you can do much more than on ChromeOS.

Performance won't be much better on a Chromebook since in that pricerange they have low-End Hardware anyway, and with a Thinkpad you can upgrade the Ram and SSD as you need. You're more flexible