Looking for BUDGET laptop

[Debutante]

I need something just for a very light office work doing spreadsheets and the like. I was wondering what I should get or even better yet should really avoid thank you

[jdoo]

'budget' means different things to different folks. Also may make a difference if you are invested in Microsoft software / PC stuff or Mac software..or like free Google docs/stuff. How much are you loioking to spend?

[Architect Audio]

Literally anything you buy at any price can do spreadsheets.

I would buy a Macbook Pro M4 Pro.

[vstdls]

Macs are for girls.

Here you go: https://ebay.us/m/naaMci

[Touch The Universe]

I picked up a used m1 Mac 2020 for like $450 and it's fantastic. It's silent in the battery lasts for like 16-20 hours if wise in usage.

[CrystalWizard]

Literally anything you buy at any price can do spreadsheets.

I would buy a Macbook Pro M4 Pro.

WTF? was that a joke?
edit: perhaps it was and i missed it.
OP-if you use Windoze, go on Ebay and grab a dell for about $150 USD
Apple i'm not as familiar with, but, i think a refurbished Air might be about $400 (?)

The last three laptops i got were given to me,
1. an ancient Dell running W7 (don't panic folks, it's air gapped)
2. a more recent Dell with a touchscreen W10 (5566 i3)
3. the machine i'm typing this on, a Dell inspiron 5770, i7 1.8G, 16G RAM, and i installed a 1T SSD.
surprisingly, it can run Reaper with a bunch of plugins.
Almost forgot, i was given an iMAC a few years ago.
As commented above, almost anything can do light office, browsing, etc.
Ask around for a throwaway.

and check out libreoffice

[mixyguy2]

Yeah get the cheapest thing you can find given your stated requirements.

[melvinroest]

Also, do you need to use Windows Excel? Excel on the Mac is different. If you just need to use Google Spreadsheet, I'd recommend a Mac as the administrative headache is just a lot less. I don't really need to think about viruses on a Mac and with Windows I do.

Unless your okay with Linux. But Linux also has a lot of hassle when it comes to installing drivers and software you know in general - if you're not used to it.

[legendCNCD]

G crap is not 100% compatible with universally used Office, so I would not give advice to use any of g-"software". You'll run into problems if you need to share etc. others using Office...

Any small laptop will do, with at least 4GB of memory. One can also use the slow webpage version but I'd use real .exe it is so much faster than webpages trying to act as proper software.

[dan_flash]

Look for an Asus R510L, swap out the HDD for an SSD and put an 8GB stick of RAM in it.

Then install a Linux distro (any should be OK but I recommend a Debian one like Mint) which often comes with LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird email client, VLC, etc.

My main laptop (for everything including audio production) is an 11 year old Asus R510L using LMDE 6 as an OS. Still using the original battery, can get 90-120 mins out of a charge.

But Linux also has a lot of hassle when it comes to installing drivers and software you know in general - if you're not used to it.

Na that's generally not true, unless you mean faffing around trying to get some fancy new Windows game running in Wind or something...? If you stick with Linux-native software, which in my opinion you should, then it's dead dead easy using a stock software manager or package manager.

[BertKoor]

Excel on the Mac is different.

Totally not my experience, for me Excel in Windows or Mac is a seamless transfer. Their own Numbers.app is different indeed.

[sempondr]

Honor is great for the money, just bought X16 2025 dirty cheap, very happy with it.
https://www.honor.com/global/laptops/ho ... -x16-2025/

[THE INTRANCER]

If you want good hinges, a cheap refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad should cover your needs. Just remember not to stand on it cause the screen will be instantly damaged. An alternative is to find an old Toshiba Satellite Laptop, these also come with a DVDRW drive built in which is uncommon on laptops these days so is useful for DVD/CD playback, they also have decent speakers, but most of all is that these things are built like tanks and are pretty heavy compared to modern ones. A dualcore 1.73 Ghz with 4 gigs of ram can be had for about 50 quid or a more modern one.

[audiojunkie]

Also, do you need to use Windows Excel? Excel on the Mac is different. If you just need to use Google Spreadsheet, I'd recommend a Mac as the administrative headache is just a lot less. I don't really need to think about viruses on a Mac and with Windows I do.

Unless your okay with Linux. But Linux also has a lot of hassle when it comes to installing drivers and software you know in general - if you're not used to it.

The key with Linux is to do your homework ahead of time and purchase Linux compatible hardware that has all drivers built into the kernel. Avoid any hardware that doesn’t have its drivers built into the kernel, and you won’t have any problems, and installs will be smoother than Windows.

Add to it the advice from above to stick to distro compatible native Linux binaries, and your system will be easy to use, performant, and problem-free.

The problems start when a person decides to use any old hardware, with no consideration about compatibility, and willy-nilly installs software from all sorts of sources, without considering underlying libraries and dependencies. Learn the simple rules above and stick to them, and there will be few problems.

[umd]

Check the HP laptops with the AMD Ryzen 7730u CPU. They are noisy, but you can upgrade the RAM to 64GB ( at least the inexpensive G10 255 model has upgradable RAM ). Regarding computing power, it will be confortable enough for the next years.

Don't buy anything with soldered RAM.