Any Recommendations for Day-to-Day Laptops/Chromebooks under $600?

Tapori on 17/12/2020 - 16:00

Hi,

Looking for a laptop or chromebook (with USB port) with following minimum specs under $600:

Laptop - 8 GB RAM, 256 GB HDD, intel processor, light in weight
OR
Chromebook - 4-6 GB RAM, 64-128 GB HDD, Touchscreen, USB port(s) essential for any plug-n-play devices.

This machine will only be used for browsing, Office 365 and ocassional movies etc day-to-day usage. Light in weight is equally important as it will need to be carried around on frequent bases.

Any suggestions within this price range will be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

Computing Chromebook Computer Laptop

Comments

RichardL on 17/12/2020 - 16:03

+1

Lenovo Chromebook Duet is a decent Chromebook which meets your requirements (note it only has 1 USB-C Port).
- Tapori on 17/12/2020 - 16:05
  
  Thanks for that, can that USB-C port be used for plug-n-play? Is it not only used for charging?
  - RichardL on 17/12/2020 - 16:08
    
    +1
    
    Yep, may need an adapter/hub if you want to plug in multiple devices.
    - Tapori on 17/12/2020 - 16:09
      
      Would you know if the charging works through the adapter/hub?
      - RichardL on 17/12/2020 - 16:15
        
        +1
        
        @Tapori: You should be able to with an hub that has USB-C PD Passthrough (Note: haven't tested it myself, so can't confirm).
        
        Tapori on 17/12/2020 - 16:22
        
        @RichardL: Thanks very much, just came across this: https://www.hootoo.com/p/b01k7c53k2 which can perhaps do all that. Thanks again.
scotty on 17/12/2020 - 16:15

+2

Or Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 — was $499 during BF/CM weekend but now $599. I actually have bought both the Chromebook Duet (for me) and Chromebook Flex 5 (for my wife to replace her old Acer C720 Chromebook) and the Flex 5 is a lot more usable as day to day. Great 13.3" size, converter touch screen, i3 / 4GB RAM / 64GB SSD and can run Crostini, i.e. most Linux apps.
- Tapori on 17/12/2020 - 16:23
  
  That's great to hear someone who has made some comparisions. How do you find Duet in terms of speed etc compared to i3 Flex 5 given Duet uses MediaTek?
  - scotty on 17/12/2020 - 17:42
    
    +1
    
    Duet is slow — it's only using a mid-range MediaTek chip. Opening a mid-size Google Sheet with ~1000 rows take around 20 seconds, verses around 5 seconds on my main laptop (i5-8300H). Every day browsing is fine, but feels sluggish when you need to use complex web app.
    
    It's still fast enough for me though, who intend to use it as my browsing device, as my previous Chromebook is even slower (Asus C100P with Rockchip RK3066), and it runs Crostini so I can use it as a lightweight development laptop. I can also use it to play games by streaming (GeForce Exp on gaming PC —> Moonlight on Chromebook) but with only one single USB-C port the use is quite limited.
    
    Flex 5 on the other hand is much more useable.
    - Tapori on 17/12/2020 - 20:27
      
      Thanks very much for the detailed comparison. It will definitely help taking the right decision. Appreciate it!

Any Recommendations for Day-to-Day Laptops/Chromebooks under $600?

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