Laptop under $600 for programming

[EL02]

I need a laptop under $600 for programming in Visual Studio(ASP.NET), along with Microsoft SSMS and some chrome tabs opened in the background.

Form factor doesn't matter.

Display size doesn't matter.

My priorities: performance > battery > display > build quality.

Thanks.

[Slottr]

Used thinkpads are a really good deal

[EL02]

25 minutes ago, Slottr said:

Used thinkpads are a really good deal

emm...like what model, specs?

[8tg]

35 minutes ago, Slottr said:

Used thinkpads are a really good deal

You’re speaking my language

P50

I have personal experience with the P50, I own a decent one with a Xeon, 64gb of ram, m2000m, blah blah blah

They are worthless these days and are the peak price to performance for a 15” workstation when you don’t need to care about battery life or weight.

Average ones are under 500$ in decent refurbed used condition.

 

They have 2 m.2 nvme slots (though they require special caddies but those are like 10-15$), a 2.5” sata slot (again a special cable but it’s a few bucks), have 4 ram slots for up to 64gb of ecc 2133mhz ddr4, or non ecc ddr4.

CPU options are the i7 6700HQ at the minimum, and a Quadro M1000m at the minimum, a 1080p display at the minimum. They go up to the Xeon E3 1535m v5, up to the 4gb M2000m, and there are options for a 4k display, Pantone color calibrator in the palmrest, etc.

 

Its quiet, easy to work on if you want to upgrade the ram or drives or repaste it, durable as all hell and they perform great for the price. You can play GTA V at 1080p normal settings, ARMA 3 runs like ass the same it does on any PC but it’s 1080p mid settings in general, Halo MCC runs fantastic though the modern graphics for the older games can be a challenge, Squad, CSGO, whatever.

 

And it’s cheap because it weighs like 7lbs, and has maybe 3 hours of battery life with the average used battery. This is not a super portable machine unless you have a backpack full of batteries, but it’s cool and quiet and performs great.

Highly recommended, my personal P50 is a daily workhorse that handles massive JDA/Redprarie databases with ease.

Edited May 9, 2022 by 8tg
Phone autocorrected ddr4 to ddr3

[CephDigital]

Grab an old thinkpad, those things are built like tanks.
Most people in my CS lectures used them so if it's good for them to make AIs with, it should be fine for you.

[EL02]

57 minutes ago, 8tg said:

 

 

38 minutes ago, CephDigital said:

Grab an old thinkpad, those things are built like tanks.
Most people in my CS lectures used them so if it's good for them to make AIs with, it should be fine for you.

the thing is I already have a HP 15s with r5 4500u, 16gb ram and 512gb ssd, which does the job pretty well, but I'll have to give it to someone else. I can stretch up to $600, so I think I can get smth better than an old thinkpad. Thanks a lot for the suggestions though!

[Darkseth]

9 hours ago, EL02 said:

emm...like what model, specs?

if you want a smaller one than the P50 above, try T480 (not T480s) as a 14" Laptop.

 

The T480 specifically has a 24 Wh Battery build in, and a second Hot-swappable Slot, that fits another 24 Wh, 48 Wh or even a massive 72 Wh for a total of up to 96 Wh.

U-series 4-Core 8th Gen, huge battery, no dGPU, should lead in a very decent batterylife of over 10hours usage.

And since it's already Intel 8th Gen, it has full Windows 11 Support.