Laptop Recommendations
My last laptop model was a custom HP Pavilion 17t, but the exact model is no longer made. Most people probably do not need what I want though. My recommendations for others would be as follows:
- Basic Laptop
- Acer Aspire 5 Slim w/ Ryzen 5 3500U
- This is a solid laptop with good performance for the price. It also has a very nice screen. The only downside might be that it's a bit heavy.
- Specs:
- Screen size: 15.6" IPS (1920×1080)
- CPU Passmark score: 7549
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- Weight: 5.7 lb
- Buy at:
- Acer Aspire 5 Slim w/ Core i5-8265u
- This is a decent laptop. It's very similar to the last one, but it has a bit weaker of a processor. This kind of makes it a worse value, but it does let it be lighter and should improve battery life.
- Specs:
- Screen size: 15.6" IPS (1920×1080)
- CPU Passmark score: 6656
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- Weight: 4 lb
- Buy at:
- Acer Aspire 5 w/ Ryzen 3 3350U
- This is a quite a bit cheaper option. The performance will be passable, although the RAM is quite worrisome. I recommend upgrading the memory with this option, which is admittedly easy to do. It's still pretty cheap even buying extra RAM though and does have a nice screen.
- Specs:
- Screen size: 15.6" IPS (1920×1080)
- CPU Passmark score: 5864
- RAM: 4GB
- Storage: 128GB SSD
- Weight: 4 lb
- Buy at:
- Buy extra RAM at:
- Repairable Laptop
- Most modern electronics are designed to break in a few years, at which point you're supposed to throw the whole thing away in a landfill and buy a new one. This harmful cycle wastes your money and pollutes the environment. Buying a laptop made to be repaired and upgraded is a great way to save money and reduce the increasing amount of e-waste we generate.
- The Framework Laptop
- Buy at: