Need a laptop

[ppfd]

Looking for a cheap laptop $500.00 is the max I want to spend

Plan is ham radio programs and fore scan manly.

Would likes: Replaceable ram and hard drive but not necessary, touch screen and maybe 2 in 1

Likes 8 g ram and 500g hard drive. Really want something no bigger than 14" screen.

I'm fine with refurbished stuff
This interests me, 4g ram though
https://www.amazon.com/Anti-Glare-E...fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0&th=1

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[WV_Ranger]

Dell Latitude 5300 2-in-1 Touch Intel Core i5-8265U 1.6GHz 8GB RAM 256GB SSD Windows 10 Pro https://www.walmart.com/ip/1638002163

You might like this. It has more ram but less HD.

 

[MountainGoat]

Old ThinkPads are nice if you run Linux. I have a T430 and T580. Both were very cheap, used off ebay.

 

[Scott_Anderson_]

I'm more comfortable on a Mac, so I can't recommend anything specific, but for the price I would highly recommend buying new. The cost for PC laptops has come down so much.

 

[ppfd]

My plain is to get a desk top in the next year.
My MB air is getting long in the tooth and I can't run fore scan or most the ham programs I want to

 

[AzScorpion]

If you have a Costco membership take a look there. I'm always seeing good cheaper (-$500) ones for sale on their site. Plus you get an extra years warranty through Costco when buying through them.

 

[Jhbryaniv]

Also check with your employer - many have deals based on what brand of computer they use.

I have a lenovo thinkpad I have had for ~ 8 years, it is getting long in the tooth too, I am planning on replacing it with an ipad pro or windows surface pro in the next few months. The gf's lenovo yoga will get replaced with a standard laptop - probably one of HP's business line laptops...

 

[ControlNode]

My plain is to get a desk top in the next year.
My MB air is getting long in the tooth and I can't run fore scan or most the ham programs I want to

What version MBA do you have? I recently (a couple months ago) bought my first MacBook, I went with the new M2 15" air. I've been playing around with various software in a Windows 11 ARM virtual machine. The hardest part for I've found so far is getting the device drivers for the USB-Serial adaptors working, but if you find the right device and drivers, you should be able to get it running. I've not directly tested the drivers and EX-Link to the car or truck yet, but the software does start up just fine after setting the compatibility to strict under the ARM settings. The OBD2 link device does show up in Windows though, so it should work. I've got other USB-serial devices working fine for timing races on the Mac.

 

[ppfd]

2015 MacBook Air 13”
Finally got around to install Monterey os, it’s the last major os update this machine will get.
Some reason it been running hot after the instal.
Im just ready for something new.
Im leaning to one of the think pads mentioned above for my ham needs.

 

[ControlNode]

If I remember right that old MBA was still the Intel processor. If so, you may be able to use Boot Camp on it and boot directly into Windows on that hardware, that should work for your radio programming and ForScan needs with little to no cost. I'm cheap, so I would try that first before spending too much money on a newer system. Neither of the task you mentioned should be beyond the hardware of that Mac, just need the right OS on it.

As far as heat, was that right after the update, the system may still be processing background indexing (or similar) updates so it can run hot for a while until that is done.

Also, if you decided to try this route, perhaps look into building a custom minimal install ISO with every unneeded feature stripped out of it. If you only have 4GB of ram that would be useful in not using too many resources for junk you don't need.

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