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PaperclipPerfector  11d ago (text post)   2332 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 23, 2025

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Any recommendations on a decent cheap laptop for writing on the go? I just need battery life, word processing software, and passable keyboard ergonomics. Drop survivability and lightness are secondary concerns. I'm thinking something like a Chromebook, but something about the name just puts me off.

The cheapest Macbook Air on Costco (where I got my last one) is still $650. While the OS leaves something to be desired at times, the actual physical laptop itself is far superior in construction quality to everything I looked at five years ago. To get a similar quality aluminum case and solidity of function on a windows laptop would have cost me twice as much at the time.

Given that an even-decent quality Chromebook will run you in $400 range, you are better off splurging to get a nicer item, given how many hours you'll spend using it.

At least, that was my reasoning when I bought mine.

Macbooks excel in construction quality, battery life, and especially battery-life for high performance tasks, though that last isn't very important for word processing. I don't like the OSX UI, but that's not very important for word processing either. The only thing I'd caution is that something about my Macbook keyboard just doesn't "feel right" to me; I can't touch type quite as fast and I make more errors. I'm not sure if this is something real about the tactile feedback, or if I'd just get used to it if I used my laptop more frequently and other keyboards less frequently.

For me, the construction quality is the most important quality, which is why I chose a macbook four years ago.

I know a lot of people who got pretty good deals on used laptops on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, usually windows. You'll need a bit of pc knowhow as these are almost never wiped by the previous owners and are sometimes even PW locked and the person selling it to you can't even get it open. Most of these can be wiped and restored with little issue. Repair places sometimes have abandoned ones too, and they'll definitely wipe them first. I've seen a lot of 3-4 year old windows laptops that are more than adequate for running MS Office software for @$200.

What's your budget?

If battery life is a top priority, you're probably going to want something based on an M-series chip (Mac) or Snapdragon (Windows). The Snapdragon devices are still pretty new. Microsoft has them in a version of the Surface Book: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/surface-laptop-for-business-copilot-pc/8tkcbz02bdvk

I'd try getting a used MacBook Air and doing a battery replacement. They tend to be really good at build quality and battery life.

Is turning a few screws and running Linux (or pirated Win 10 LTS/cracked Win 11) an option? I'd personally get an old Thinkpad X270.

Small, compact, robust, really good keyboard, long battery life. All around high quality, those were $2000+ when they were new (and they are below $200 now).

It's also the first model that has USB-C charging, and the last model to still have upgradable RAM (so I'd max that out). And I'd probably put in a new SSD, new battery (if the previous owner used it much). Maybe get a SIM for it, so you don't have to tether if you want internet on the go.

But honestly, you probably don't even need to open it up if you mostly do Word. Most corporate leasing models (and many used X270s will be from that category) never ran on their batteries, and text processing doesn't need 32GB memory and a fast SSD.

I got tired of accidentally destroying my laptops and got a renewed Dell Latitude 5414. It's been working pretty well so far.

Alternatively, you may want to buy a used Alphasmart Neo for distraction-free writing.

Chromebooks are terrible and overpriced for what you get. They aren't meant for software but for cloud computing, so if you want to do something basic like chew a picture in .tiff format you have to upload it to the cloud. Forget about running Word, it's Google docs or something similar. The better spec'd ones are the same price as a cheap laptop with less functionality. Your best bet is to go to a computer store and find something you like that fits your budget. Just don't get the cheapest one because they're tech from five years ago that probably won't last another five. I have a Lenovo IdeaPad that I bought for 700 bucks on a Costco deal during the pandemic and it's still going strong (I wouldn't even think about upgrading at this point) but you probably don't have to go that high end. If you can afford it, it's worth getting something nicer that you don't have to worry about. I can't comment on keyboards because I'm a desktop guy and hate typing on any laptop for anything more involved than entering search terms into a browser.

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