Laptop recommendation

GOTSpectrum · October 17, 2023

Hey guys, so here's the thing, I don't know much about laptops. So I'm here to Syphon the knowledge of the hive mind.

I'm looking for a laptop for basic office tasks. Especially a lot of writing! So this means a passable to decent keyboard is a must. Backlit preferably.

Battery life is massively important, I have two laptops already but both are high performance machines and thus have a shitty battery life.

Screen is not all that important, 1080p and IPS would be nice but I don't need anything exotic.

I use Google Workspace so I'm open to Linux, Chromebook, etc

To be clear, price is a massive factor for me, I have a gaming laptop so I would prefer ultrabook style laptops that are lighter while sacrificing sheet performance. Also I have a USB C external monitor and I would like support for that.

RONOTHAN## · October 17, 2023

19 minutes ago, GOTSpectrum said:

To be clear, price is a massive factor for me,

If it wasn't for this I'd say a base model M1 Macbook Air, insanely good battery life, pretty decent keyboard (not the best I've used but far from the worst), and super thin and portable. Looking for a used one of these is still an option, as you can occasionally find a pretty good deal on one.

Other thing that might be a good idea is to look for a used Thinkpad. They have a depreciation curve similar to a Lamborghini, where the moment they come out of the box they lost half their value, so you can get them for next to nothing. Their keyboards are top notch, they're very reliable and easy to find parts for so it'll last quite a while, and they're stupid cheap. You can get a T480 on occasion for as low as $200, and while their battery life isn't spectacular (still probably significantly better than your gaming laptops though), those still have hot-swappable batteries, so you can upgrade it to the larger battery and just keep a spare one charged for when you run low.

LloydLynx · October 17, 2023

Dells business laptops. https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/sr/laptops/latitude?sortBy=price-ascending&appliedRefinements=37865,37866

Especially the Latitudes, they're known for great keyboards, mediocre battery life(compared to the competition), and not amazingly accurate displays. These three truths have held for decades so you know you're getting a no frills work machine with a strong legacy.

Disclaimer: I'm Dell biased. Wait for the HP and Lenovo shills to make their recommendations before making your own decision. But at least try to stick to brands that have strong business product lines.