Best Laptop under $400 USD 2022

[Rooster77_77]

Hi, I am looking for a laptop for my grandfather. He says his budget is between 300-350 dollars but can go up to 400 if needed. I'm not entirely sure what the best laptop is. He has said that it would be for word processing, light excel, and surfing the internet. I thought it might be a good idea to prioritize CPU and then upgrade the ram myself if needed. Not sure though. Would love to hear some opinions on this.

 

Thank you in advance!

[Devryd]

In that price range, I would consider buying used. 

[Rooster77_77]

3 minutes ago, Devryd said:

In that price range, I would consider buying used. 

Yeah, I'm not against that idea. Where is the best place to look to buy used laptops?

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

10 minutes ago, Rooster77_77 said:

Yeah, I'm not against that idea. Where is the best place to look to buy used laptops?

With Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 in 2025, just make sure you get something that supports Windows 11 otherwise you'll be revisiting this in a few years time. Craigslist is a good place to start. You can also find refurbished office machines off Amazon and Best Buy. 

 

You could go Linux after support ends... but considering you're needing to help your grandfather find a machine, I wouldn't open that can of worms. He might brick it like Linus. In fact, I've bricked several Linux installations just by installing software I needed for school. 

[Rooster77_77]

40 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

With Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 in 2025, just make sure you get something that supports Windows 11 otherwise you'll be revisiting this in a few years time. Craigslist is a good place to start. You can also find refurbished office machines off Amazon and Best Buy. 

 

You could go Linux after support ends... but considering you're needing to help your grandfather find a machine, I wouldn't open that can of worms. He might brick it like Linus. In fact, I've bricked several Linux installations just by installing software I needed for school. 

would like a ryzen 3 work? Should I get 8gb of ram or 4gb of ram?

[Devryd]

4 minutes ago, Rooster77_77 said:

would like a ryzen 3 work? Should I get 8gb of ram or 4gb of ram?

Depends on the architecture. 

I would at least get 8GB, if not 16

[Rooster77_77]

18 hours ago, Devryd said:

Depends on the architecture. 

I would at least get 8GB, if not 16

would 128gb work if he installs pretty much nothing besides like microsoft word, excel, and firefox?

[powertoys]

I have recommended laptops to older people before, and nearly all of them wanted the same thing: a large screen. At this price range, CPU is the absolute, top #1 priority. No Celerons, no eMMC storage.

 

You didn't specify a country so I'm assuming USA. This one is my pick.

 

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-3000-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-3511-laptop/nn3511eyxth

 

Just under 400 USD, 11th gen i5, 8 GB (socketed, upgradable) RAM, 256 GB NVMe SSD, reputable brand. 

 

Also a tip: older people don't appreciate high resolutions on laptop screens as it makes everything too small for their eyes - if that's the case for your grandfather, set up 125/150% scaling for him if you decide to go for this one, as it has a 1080p resolution.

[yeezylover911]

If you're still looking, or for anyone else stumbling in here this is a good option I found on Ebay for 500.