School Laptop

[ZekeZapper]

I am currently looking for a laptop for high school. It will mainly be using Google Services, but I want it to be a windows device so it isn't useless after school. I also want to do a little light gaming, probably just a little Minecraft and similar intensity games at mid graphical settings. My budget is ~550$, though going a little under budget would be nice. I am currently looking at the Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 14 (AMD 5500U & 16gb RAM). Is there another computer I should be looking at? Thanks in advance for your response.

[ZekeZapper]

2 minutes ago, 8tg said:

That would be a pretty good choice new, though if you’re down for used I would still recommend either an older business laptop or mobile workstation, or something like one of the Asus Vivobook spec equivalents as they seem to be tossing much nicer screens into that series these days.

Such as the Vivobook 15? Because I had that on my list, but it does only have 8gb ram and screen isn't a big concern. Also is the i3-1115G4 good?

[ZekeZapper]

5 minutes ago, 8tg said:

I would look more at things like this:

https://www.newegg.com/p/2WC-000N-01Z48
 

Ram isn’t a huge concern for your use case, 8gb is plenty for regular use and light gaming, and it does have a user upgradable sodimm slot, it’s 4gb soldered and a 4gb stick, so you could toss in an 8/16gb stick down the line if you found ram was a limitation.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

[hxdson.trxloar]

One thing I would consider when buying from Lenovo is when you buy. I found one of the best deals I have seen from them on Labor Day Weekend in the US. Memorial Day weekend is coming up later this month so there may be large discounts then. Personally I think I got 15% off on the computer over the weekend, was able to find a $100 off coupon on their site, I did a Groupon type thing as well, I used honey and got $30 or so from that, and got 5% back through my credit card. In total it was a few hundred dollars off so if you are looking for Lenovo there can be some amazing value if you are patient with the process of buying it. You could actually get a $1000 computer for only $500. 

 

(My gripes with Lenovo are battery life and thermals though so be aware of that) 

[ZekeZapper]

6 minutes ago, hxdson.trxloar said:

One thing I would consider when buying from Lenovo is when you buy. I found one of the best deals I have seen from them on Labor Day Weekend in the US. Memorial Day weekend is coming up later this month so there may be large discounts then. Personally I think I got 15% off on the computer over the weekend, was able to find a $100 off coupon on their site, I did a Groupon type thing as well, I used honey and got $30 or so from that, and got 5% back through my credit card. In total it was a few hundred dollars off so if you are looking for Lenovo there can be some amazing value if you are patient with the process of buying it. You could actually get a $1000 computer for only $500. 

 

(My gripes with Lenovo are battery life and thermals though so be aware of that) 

Thanks, it will be very helpful if I can get a lower price on it.