Laptop recommendations for >=$300?

Main purpose is edit word docs, emails, shopping, etc.

Follow up: how shit is Windows 10 in S Mode or whatever the hell it's called?

Well some people say that windows is kind of the limited, worse version of linux...

Now imagine the limited version of windows...

You can for example only download Apps from the windows store.

The S stands for shitty

I’m keeping my eye on the Pinebook Pro line for my wife. It has Linux and decent build at a low price. Maybe it is of interest?

@irene I'm not giving a nix laptop to some 60+ year old relatives.

They already know how to use Windows, not gonna force something else onto them.

@Mleeds Ya know you can say the same thing without sucking linux's dick but hey thanks for the input lmao.

@Stuxnet You don’t think it was worth a mention that the computer wasn’t for you? This is the first we are hearing of the 60 year old relatives.

@Stuxnet Isn't there more options with tablets + keyboard?
I don't know how the US market is, but you would have trouble finding something correct at that budget here. By that I mean, one needs a minimum to run W10, and cheap hardware usually sucks.

@Jilano The $300 price point is about where US laptops become usable for basic tasks these days. (There are occasionally sale prices below that.)

As far as I know, there's a free upgrade to home edition available in the Windows store for devices sold with S mode, so you can make the system more normal after purchase.

@irene I just kinda assumed ppl would realize I'm not going to buy a $300 laptop that's barely usable for anything I'd need.

@Jilano like @powerfulparadox said, $300 is on the threshold of usability from what I can tell. But I have no personal experience with this end of the market, so I'm not too sure.

Idk where you live but there's this: https://amazon.com/Lenovo-Ideapad-P...

If they're that old they can probably cope with Windows 10 S.

@Stuxnet I have bought cheap laptops for travel in the past. I use them as thin client and office use. I have a little ASUS laptop that I bought for $200CAD. I throw it in my bag for emergency work. It runs Bohdi Linux, has a good build quality, amazing battery, and decent ansii keyboard. It came with Windows 10 and that was unusably slow.

@irene yea that's an option too I suppose

Personally as a student I have no need for another piece of shit laptop. The 1 I have is enough lmao

S mode is limited to only apps that can be installed via MS store, you can not side load or directly install .exe/.msi files and only use Edge.

Think of it as the first chrome books.
But if that's Ok, then meh, it's just windows locked down to older chrome book usability.

Surface Go is a really good deal. Alternatively, an older generation of Surface Pro can be purchased pretty cheap and it's great

@gudishvibes my dad bought a $200 laptop running Windows 10 S. To this day, he has no idea it is running in S mode. He's had no complaints. All his apps are in the store (he's not a big tech person). And I personally have the knowledge that he's safe from potentially dangerous downloads or malware from internet websites.

If you're on a website like dev rant wondering what's the purpose of Windows 10 S, you're probably not the target audience.

@gudishvibes MS probably saw the market for Chromebooks in classrooms sky rocket and wanted some if the juicy profits lmfao