I am looking for a new laptop for my sister. Her budget is 650€. What laptop is the best overall? Macbooks are excluded, as she doesn’t like them. The OS is not important, I can install the OS myself. It shouldn’t be a gaming laptop and it also should have a long battery life. No ARM or RISC-V laptops please. Build quality should be decent.

Thanks in advance.

edit: specific requirements

  • Display size: 13 to 15 inches
  • Display resolution: +1920x1080px
  • Aspect ratio: 16:9
  • Thickness: Slim
  • Screen color accuracy is not important
  • Screen should be anti glare
  • RAM: +8GB SODIMM DDR5
  • Storage: +512GB SSD
  • Touchscreen: preferred
  • Foldable screen: preferred
  • Upgradeability: RAM and the SSD should be upgradeable
  • Keyboard: QWERTZ, DE-AT
  • GPU performance does not matter, would be only useful for video hardware acceleration
  • CPU performance does matter
  • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websiteEnglish
    21·
    6 hours ago

    Are you married to a new one?

    I pretty much exclusively buy used ~3 year old Thinkpads which meet all of your specs and then some. My last two were X1 carbons (7th gen and now a 9th gen). Each cost me about $450.

    • marlowe221@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      4 hours ago

      This was going to be my answer. I only buy used business-grade laptops. Thinkpads are the obvious choice, but I’ve also had good experiences with HP Probook and Elitebook models too.

    • asudox@lemmy.asudox.devOPM
      3·
      6 hours ago

      She does want a brand new one, yes. Obviously used ones could get her a better one but she just doesn’t want them.

      • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websiteEnglish
        8·
        6 hours ago

        Ah, well, that limits things a bit then.

        I have refined tastes when it comes to laptops, but I’m also cheap, so lightly used high end models are right up my alley. Unfortunately, I can’t think of any [brand new ones] I would stand behind that are in that price range other than maybe a Macbook Neo, but you specifically ruled out ARM (they’re also not supported by Ashai Linux yet, either).

        Sorry.

  • Zak@lemmy.world
    10·
    6 hours ago

    “Best overall” is nonsensical in this context. Here are some things people care about:

    • Size class - a 17" laptop isn’t better or worse than a 12" laptop. They’re for different use cases.
    • Thickness class - thicker tends to make it better at computer stuff and battery life, thinner is thinner
    • Screen color quality and accuracy - important to some, not to others
    • Touchscreen - yes, no, indifferent?
    • Screen aspect ratio - most are 16:9, some are taller
    • Screen resolution - most are at least FHD, but you can probably find something worse. Do you want better?
    • Upgradeability - can you get to the SSD? Can you put a DIMM in it after you win the lottery?
    • Keyboard feel and layout - some of us are more picky than others
    • Power supply - does it need to run from USB-PD?
    • “OS is not important”, but you probably have one in mind and may need to consider compatibility
    • Does GPU performance matter? It’s 2026 and GPUs aren’t just for gaming anymore
    • Does CPU performance matter?
    • How much RAM and storage is required?

    I like my Thinkpad P14s III 6850u, but being a good fit for my needs doesn’t mean it’s the “best” or that it would be suitable for your sister.