Lightweight, Portable Laptop (Linux Compatible, but not required)
LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE Country: USA Budget: $1k (but preferably less) Are you open to refurbs/used options?: Yes (very!) Screen size: Up to 14" (15" could be ok if light) Weight limit: 2-3lb (as light as possible) Purpose: Writing, web browsing, light…
LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE Country: USA Budget: $1k (but preferably less) Are you open to refurbs/used options?: Yes (very!) Screen size: Up to 14" (15" could be ok if light) Weight limit: 2-3lb (as light as possible) Purpose: Writing, web browsing, light development (I manage a raspberry pi as a media and nextcloud server and keep toying with the idea of learning how to do more). Form factor: Open (standard, 2-in-1, or tablet) Intended usage: Scrivener (writing application), Chromium web browser, VPN, Open Source Office Suite (dealer's choice, but currently NextCloud Office online and LibreOffice on machine), can run iTunes so I can sync my iPhone/iPad Desired battery life: Minimum 6 hours Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life: Weight Size Battery Life Performance Info/Requirements: linux compatible with minimal headaches, preferably not HP or Intel (unless refurbished), small and light Extra Context For the past five years, my setup has been an iPad Air (4th Gen) with a keyboard case for outside the house and a gaming laptop (MSI Stealth) that's got a big screen inside the house. I've stopped gaming so I have very little need for a bulky, loud laptop with shitty audio. I love how light my iPad is but hate that everything is a "mobile" version even though I functionally use it as a small laptop and that the iPad Case isn't easy on my lap. My iPad case broke and is out of warranty, so I'm now at a crossroads. I could keep everything as is or use this as an opportunity to change my setup and reduce down to one device for in and out of home use. I previously had a Macbook Air and loved how small it was and that it could take an absolute beating. Replacing the iPad Case (keeping all my devices as is at a $250 cost) Buying a smaller laptop that can run linux to get me away from all the Windows Bloatware and AI Bullshit on Windows or Mac (downside is linux not compatible with my writing software of choice OOTB, so I either have to mess around with it or change software) Buying a Macbook Neo or Macbook Air (and then maybe dual botting with linux) *Reposting because I messed up the title
Collected discussion
Thank you! I’ve been looking at the flips and 2-in-1’s and just can’t believe they are as light or easy. This confirms my suspicions. I feel like a MacBook Air refurbed may give me what I want, I was just hoping to go a little cheaper 🤞
Windows laptops are in a strange place right now, I have had four (Inspiron 5378, Inspiron 7391, Yoga Slim 7i Pro, Omnibook X Flip 14) and all four had much worse battery life than was advertised. 2in1s also feels noteably more fragile and just...did not cut it for me.
Dell Latitude 5440, 5450, 7440, 7450. 5440s often start at about $250 and 7440s start at about $300. 7440 is slimmer and lighter but the ram is soldered so get what you need up front. There's also 13-inch versions and these (especially 7340 and 7350) are sometimes a little cheaper. Couple dings, but cheap: https://www.ebay.com/itm/278210810800 - should easily hit 6 hours of battery time based on the shown battery health (which might improve if you do a full cycle or two) and will happily run windows 11 (most of the on-device AI stuff will not be present on a machine this age or older) or linux. At least some of the software you mentioned is Windows-only. I have a 7440 and 11 runs excellently on it with minimal additional work. Only thing I really use is use Rufus to make an installer with a local account rather than use a Microsoft account. I uninstall or hide some of the extra stuff that comes installed. You could continue using your existing gaming computer with iTunes for iTunes. I don't know off hand of an exact scrivener replacement for Linux. I've been using Obsidian for some of my writing (although, on Windows) and so that might be worth checking into. There are compatibility layers but I have never used them so I can't speak to how well they work.
I was looking into obsidian and a few open source alternatives to scrivener. There’s also a way to lose it on Lutris with Linux, but it seems pretty unstable.
I was choosing between a 1000 euro on-display Windows unit (so about 30% cheaper than new) and a Macbook Air M4 (new). The Windows machine was quite nice, HP Omnibook X Flip 14, but it was the epitome of the "jack of all trades, master of none", it wasn't too light, the keyboard wasn't that amazing (thank Dell for the stupid no-spaces layout), and the selling point - battery life (allegedly Lunar Lake processors can get UP to 18 hours of battery life) was quite crap, only managed to get 7 hours of out of that thing in my office, 10 hours streaming 1080p at the lowest possible brightness, so I decided to return it as this was not going to cut it. Got a Macbook Air, at least the battery life is excellent even though getting used to MacOS can take a while. Also, Windows AI bullshit is very, very real, and I have no damn clue why the NPU should even be a selling point given all most people will do with it is, sigh, blur the background.
Since you prefer lightweight laptop, I would recommend this deal Acer Aspire Go** because it comes with : Specs: Screen: 14" WUXGA CPU : Core Ultra 7 Ram : 16GB LPDDR4X Storage : 1TB SSD And I have recommended this because of Long battery life . Powerful CPU for General use. Great value for money. Lightweight like you want. Please note I'm using affiliate links which means I'll receive a small percent of the purchase if you use this link at no extra cost to you
For general use in this price range I would advise you to check this laptop laptop name Acer Aspire CPU Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor Screen " 14"" Full HD IPS" Ram 16 GB SSD 1 TB HDD 0 Weight 3.88 Lbs. Battery life 9.5 Hrs. Pros Great battery life. Pros The CPU is very good. Pros Has 16GB of ram. Please note I'm using affiliate links which means I'll receive a small percent of the purchase if you use this link at no extra cost to you