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What is the best laptop you can get for under 650€? (lemmy.asudox.dev)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [M] to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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I am looking for a new laptop for my sister. Her budget is 650€. What laptop is the best overall? Macbooks are excluded, as she doesn't like them. The OS is not important, I can install the OS myself. It shouldn't be a gaming laptop and it also should have a long battery life. No ARM or RISC-V laptops please. Build quality should be decent.

Thanks in advance.

edit: specific requirements

  • Display size: 13 to 15 inches
  • Display resolution: +1920x1080px
  • Aspect ratio: 16:9
  • Thickness: Slim
  • Screen color accuracy is not important
  • Screen should be anti glare
  • RAM: +8GB SODIMM DDR5
  • Storage: +512GB SSD
  • Touchscreen: preferred
  • Foldable screen: preferred
  • Upgradeability: RAM and the SSD should be upgradeable
  • Keyboard: QWERTZ, DE-AT
  • GPU performance does not matter, would be only useful for video hardware acceleration
  • CPU performance does matter
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[–] 11 points 3 months ago (1 child)

"Best overall" is nonsensical in this context. Here are some things people care about:

  • Size class - a 17" laptop isn't better or worse than a 12" laptop. They're for different use cases.
  • Thickness class - thicker tends to make it better at computer stuff and battery life, thinner is thinner
  • Screen color quality and accuracy - important to some, not to others
  • Touchscreen - yes, no, indifferent?
  • Screen aspect ratio - most are 16:9, some are taller
  • Screen resolution - most are at least FHD, but you can probably find something worse. Do you want better?
  • Upgradeability - can you get to the SSD? Can you put a DIMM in it after you win the lottery?
  • Keyboard feel and layout - some of us are more picky than others
  • Power supply - does it need to run from USB-PD?
  • "OS is not important", but you probably have one in mind and may need to consider compatibility
  • Does GPU performance matter? It's 2026 and GPUs aren't just for gaming anymore
  • Does CPU performance matter?
  • How much RAM and storage is required?

I like my Thinkpad P14s III 6850u, but being a good fit for my needs doesn't mean it's the "best" or that it would be suitable for your sister.

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