I got 150€ as a birthday gift and thought that combined with the small amount of money I have, I might just have enough to get an old used laptop. The thing is, I’m not tech savvy and don’t know what kind would be a good choice.
I’d want something old enough to have a DVD slot. Other requirements are having space and battery life, though I don’t think I can have very high standards on my budget. I’d want something that lasts a long time, not some planned obsolence bs.
Are Thinkpads any good? I have been using one for school and think that a Thinkpad might be okay if it just didn’t run Windows. I have been thinking about getting an older Thinkpad and downloading Linux on it, but from what I have heard, Linux seems to be complicated for someone who is not that good with tech. Any thoughts?
One thing to consider is the availability of batteries (and their cost) when buying a second hand laptop. If you want to use the laptop for a while, if is probably worth investing in a battery replacement. Laptops with DVD drive will be 7-8 years old, so the batteries are almost certainly likely to busted.
As other have mentioned, you want an SSD with at least 256 GB of space.
I would also say 8GB RAM is minimum these days.
You also want a screen with at least 1920 x 1080 resolution.
You should be able to get something like that for €200-€250 euro, but the battery replacement might end up being another €75 on top, maybe more.