After a cheap laptop for some work, and I keep getting really distracted by specs. Even the cheapest possible offering seems to have half a dozen variants with better RAM, GPU, etc, and I keep on exploring options, instead of settling on something reasonable. Looking for something small, light, with excellent battery life, that’s big enough for me to work on comfortably all day if necessary. Does it need a mega graphics card, no, but I keep going for 16/32GB RAM with the future in mind, and that leads me on to models that are £1,000+ instead of £100+. The more storage the better. Not a Chromebook, I want to actually have control of my device.
With the caveat that I have absolutely no experience with these computers, have you looked at Framework laptops?
Saw them mentioned in a discussion between game devs about reasonably priced development laptops (I want to say Terry Cavanagh said he’s got one), so I looked them up. Might fit what you’re looking for. Might.
I usually pick up used laptops on ebay from reputable sellers. They’re cheaper than new, they come with the OS installed (like a new one), and you can usually find a good combo of specs for notably cheaper than new. 16gb is not unreasonable by any means. I personally like Lenovos for work–they’re well-made, not heavy, and usually have touch screen, which I find useful. It just takes a little web research on the front end of determine which model you might prefer.
I might have to try this next time. I normally buy new and then sell my existing one - and get surprisingly a lot of money for the old one.
Might just be my family of origin or something, but I rarely buy used - cars / laptops / houses……
My laptops are used, my house was built the same year I was, and both our cars were used. Aside from the immediate loss you take as soon as a new car leaves the lot or a new laptop comes out of the box, it also is its own kind of recycling.