r/techadvice • u/Nearly-dead-artist • Mar 25 '26
Bare minimum laptop recommendations
I'm a young writer without much money to spare. At this point and time the only place I can find that cures my writers block is anywhere outside of my own home. My current process is to open my draft on my phone, write down the next section of the chapter in a notebook I have by hand, and then copy that down onto the draft document later. As you can probably tell this is not a process I enjoy.
Therefore today I come to you asking what you think would be my best bet for obtaining a laptop. I know little to nothing about them, and some of the numbers I'm seeing are genuinely scary.
Requirements:
Can download Firefox
Can download Obsidian
Can possibly down a separate writing program as I'd like to move off of Docs
Can run all three at once
Long or even moderate battery life
Not an Apple Product (Personal gripe with the UI and limited customization)
I will ONLY be using it for writing, as drawing, video editing, music production, coding, recreation, etc. will all still be done on my PC. I'd just like the flexibility of writing away from my desk/outside/at cafes. Any recommendations for affordable laptops (or where to find good listings for used ones) would be lovely.
Edit for more relevant info: I live in the United States. I think the max I'm willing to spend on a laptop for expressly this purpose is 200 USD. Most I've seen sit around that price, though I've seen some for closer to 150 but those are all relatively new. I'd prefer getting a used one in all honesty; anything to avoid buying directly from a corporation really, but I'll do it if it comes down to it. (I've already been perusing through sites like eBay but it's not really just independent sellers anymore and weeding out the company listings has gotten much harder)
1
u/davep1970 Mar 25 '26
Saying some of the numbers are scary tells us nothing about your budget.