[<$600 USD] Laptop with USB-C Charging?

[Purphoros]

Hey everyone!

I just entered the market for a laptop recently when I realized that my Presario CQ60 which I have been using for the past 8ish years really isn't up to the task of normal everyday things any more.  There are one or two things in my Steam library it can run and it still works for taking notes and browsing the internet but it has terrible battery life, it's bulky, and feels like it catches fire when I boot up Chrome (even with new thermal paste). So I've come here for help looking for something to replace my dinosaur.

Usually my internetting skills are up to par with shopping but it seems most manufacturers have decided to make their websites as useless and frustrating as possible.  Usually I would ignore them but I can't seem to find a good way to look specifically for laptops with USB-C besides the manufacturer's website. So I've come here (and also posted on reddit) for some help.

 

To be as brief as possible I really want something that can charge through USB-C, since I already carry battery banks with me and would like to use them more often than the occasional phone charge, and have it be capable of some light gaming on the go.
 

• USB-C charging
• Can do some light gaming (30 FPS low settings at native resolution in Running With Rifles, Besiege, StarCraft 2, not AAA games)
• (Preferably) has a nice keyboard
• (Preferably) has a 1080p screen
• (Preferably) has a spot for a 2.5" SSD I already have lying around

 

I would like to have all of the above criteria met but if all else fails only the top two matter.

 

One of the budget laptops I looked at was the Lenovo IdeaPad 120S which has the USB charging but no expansion and a terrible CPU with meh graphics.  I feel like there is a better option out there I just can't seem to find it.

Any help is appreciated!

Edited April 2, 2018 by Purphoros
Formatting, clarified what games I would be playing

[genexis_x]

Your budget is a bit low. Maybe you can consider Acer Spin 5 13 or Thinkpad E480/E480

[Purphoros]

19 hours ago, ZM Fong said:

Your budget is a bit low. Maybe you can consider Acer Spin 5 13 or Thinkpad E480/E480

Cool, the Acer Aspire 5 was one of the ones I was already looking into.  Can it charge through USB-C?  The E480 is an odd one, I can't seem to decide if the upgrade to an i7 with an RX550 would be worthwhile for the $150 increase in price.  I also wish that I could buy it with no hard drive at all as I have ones that I could put in already but I guess that wouldn't make Lenovo enough money.

[genexis_x]

22 minutes ago, Purphoros said:

snip

Aspire 5 don't have USB C charging. i7 isn't worth it in ULV CPUs due to cooling and TDP limitations, i5 will perform the same. Avoid RX550 in E480/E580, bad temps.

[Purphoros]

40 minutes ago, ZM Fong said:

Aspire 5 don't have USB C charging. i7 isn't worth it in ULV CPUs due to cooling and TDP limitations, i5 will perform the same. Avoid RX550 in E480/E580, bad temps.

Ok thanks for the warning.  Are the HD 620 graphics adequate for some less demanding games at low settings?

[genexis_x]

33 minutes ago, Purphoros said:

Are the HD 620 graphics adequate for some less demanding games at low settings?

Which games? Esports games, for sure.

[Purphoros]

5 minutes ago, ZM Fong said:

Which games? Esports games, for sure.

Well I usually play CS:GO, Men of War AS2, Running with Rifles, and Starcraft 2.  As you already said it would easily run CS:GO on low settings but I've had weird issues with Running With Rifles and MoW in the past.

[Purphoros]

I've spent many hours pondering this today and browsing through laptops.  I think I have to either choose USB-C charging or a decent GPU.  For whatever reason this is a really hard choice even if the GPU would be better for me.