Okay laptop experts- I need a new (used) laptop. What is good for a low budget?

[Adrienne Owens]

Need a used or refurb laptop. I just do email, watch videos, surf the net- no games. Need enough power to run modern OS without lagging issues.
My current lappy is about 8 years old 1st gen I-core 3 with 4 gb ram. It came with win 7, but struggles with w7, w 10, or Linux. It is having keyboard issues too- need something else-
Budget?...less than $300

 

[Jollyriffic]

Most times you can find a i7 4000 or 3000 series on craigslist for around the 150-300 range.
Would be a large step up from what you currently have.
There are a few things you personally need to do when going with a used laptop.
fist open it up, remove the heatsink and clean it.
second remove all the thermal compound from the heatsink, cpu, gpu (if it has dedicated), and apply new thermal compound.
100% wipe the drive and install a fresh copy of w7 on it. w10 is a massive dog in performance, I've tested it with everything from i3, a4, to i7 in both the laptop to desktop range of cpus.
If you have cash left over, see what the highest amount of ram size and speed the processor supports, then upgrade to that for longevity. most laptops come with pretty bad speeds and somewhere around 4-6gb of ram.

 

[DelJo63]

You can order something new from Dell or Egghead close to that price range - - only downside would be Win/10

 

[Jollyriffic]

Yeah newegg does have some 300 range but they are 2xxx series i5 and i7.
really think going used directly to a craigslist or ebay listing would be far more beneficial. however you should crack it open and clean it up like I stated above.
there is one other issue, most laptops break at the solder points where the plug inserts. for some reason companies just rely on the pins and solder to be the structural integrity. so some need a little bit of iron put to them. Most you find don't really have that issue but it is a concern that needs to be part of your purchase of a direct used buy.
I have all the stuff to do that, so sometimes I don't think about the average user.

 

[joanna1]

Beside to choose old if I were in your place I would be choose Acer Chromebook 14 with following specs

• Intel Celeron N3160 Quad-Core Processor 1.6GHz
• 100% Aluminum Chassis
• 4GB LPDDR3 Onboard SDRAM Memory, 32GB Internal Storage
• 14 inch Full HD IPS Display (1920 x 1080)
• Up to 12-hours Battery Life