Can anyone recommend cheap laptops that have good build quality and see lightweight?

I aim to use it for programming, but I connect to my desktop for most hefty work so it doesn’t need to have solid performance. 8 GB RAM, 256 GB storage are enough for me. a lower grade CPU would still be good; a i3 that’s 6 cores is enough.

What’s really important to me is build quality, especially the keyboard. I also don’t want it to be big. 13" would be enough, but not too picky here.

Any recommendations? And are there any communities that are better to ask this in?

Budget: I am hoping to pay $400 or less, but willing to pay $1000 or even more if it’s justified or the value is worthwhile

OS: Linux. I can install it myself.

  • Extras
    4•4 months ago

    Budget? Also do you care about win11 support or…

    Edit: Assuming yes I usually suggest the t480 but that’s like a solid 250-300$ on eBay and its only going to go up once win10 drops support

    Edit 2: Based on your new criteria the t480 is still a solid choice for less than 400$ if you want something a bit newer but closer to the 1000$ mark look at the ThinkPad E14 Gen 5 hell I think even the dell xps 13 is 600$ right now too

    • CyclohexaneOP
      3•4 months ago

      Updated the post! Win11 is not necessary