Laptop for a week's salary?

[Okjoek]

My birthday is tomorrow November 7

 

I make up to ~250 USD a week so I was curious what kind of used/refurbished laptop I could get for that price on Amazon/Newegg/Ebay where I do all my online shopping. It might make for an interesting log on experimenting with living on such low-end/ mainstream hardware. Perhaps I could make a video based on my findings such as those by RandomGaminginHD who is sort of an inspiration to me. More seriously though I'm still dealing with the problem that because we now live in a small apartment any of our desktops are now in one cramped and uncomfortable room and I'd rather sit on the more comfortable and spacious sofa or recliner. I also wouldn't have to worry about privacy and things like needing multiple accounts on one computer so I don't have random stuff being done on the same computer I use for more sensitive information and having my recommended shopping/youtube flooded with junk I'm not interested in.

 

Some specs/goals I'd like to meet with such a device:

 

768p resolution

Either come with an SSD or be capable of taking my 250GB Samsung 850 evo.

SD card reader

Atleast 3rd-4th generation Intel CPU/GPU

Decent build quality

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ashypanda]

for that price you're going to end up with a shitbox with a 3rd/4th gen core I, or drop down to sandy bridge, and you can get a fantastic work truck of a laptop in the form of a used business machine.

[handymanshandle]

Wait two weeks and get something better?
Or this

1 minute ago, ashypanda said:

for that price you're going to end up with a shitbox with a 3rd/4th gen core I, or drop down to sandy bridge, and you can get a fantastic work truck of a laptop in the form of a used business machine.

 

[Catsrules]

You can get a ThinkPad T520 for around 250 or less. I still use one for work. It is a great little machine. I would recommend finding one with a 1080p screen. That 768p resolution is really lacking.

But it is a second gen CPU.

[PlayStation 2]

If sufficient, look into older ThinkPads.

[Okjoek]

12 minutes ago, ashypanda said:

for that price you're going to end up with a shitbox with a 3rd/4th gen core I, or drop down to sandy bridge, and you can get a fantastic work truck of a laptop in the form of a used business machine.

 

11 minutes ago, wcreek said:

Wait two weeks and get something better?
Or this

 

 

11 minutes ago, Catsrules said:

You can get a ThinkPad T520 for around 250 or less. I still use one for work. It is a great little machine. I would recommend finding one with a 1080p screen. That 768p resolution is really lacking.

But it is a second gen CPU.

 

10 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

If sufficient, look into older ThinkPads.

Okay, thanks for replies. I could wait an extra week for more budget, but every week is one less paycheck I can invest or use for other things.

[Okjoek]

2 minutes ago, Abyssal Radon said:

Save up a little bit for something you'll love... just a foo for thought. 

I wouldn't mind saving up for an i5 8250u system, but I'd be working a whole month for something that's still budget and likely poor build quality. I'd just like whatever it is to get atleast 30+ fps in Rocket League at a native resolution. Anything more and I'd just go use the desktop.

[Staas]

An 2nd/3rd gen used business laptop like an i5 Elitebook/Latitude/Thinkpad with a decent screen can be had for ~$100 or with a quad core i7 for $50-75 more. Highly worth it imo. Those things are tanks and highly upgradable.