Durable and cheap recommendation?

[kolta]

Hey everyone,

So I'm hunting for a new laptop, I know my specs decently, but money is tight (college kid) and I don't want to make a mistake.

Anyways, my current laptop is breaking because it wasn't very sturdy, the paneling started to chip and now the entire thing is falling apart (wear and tear from just carrying it around on my back constantly. I'm looking for some combination of this

 -Some light gaming abilities. I'm not looking for much, but just to run some really easy games when I can (things like Panzer Corp or FTL) the regular Integrated Graphics card is fine. Not the biggest priority, but would like something I can do on the bus etc

-Durable, like I said, my current one is breaking apart at the seems and I haven't done too much to it (not to say I couldn't have treated it more gently, but I haven't dropped it or anything)

-Price range. I don't have a concrete one, but cheaper the better. Like I said, college kid who makes a little above minimum wage.

-decent battery and not being huge would be a plus. But isn't critical.

I know these are all the big points that get repeated. So in short I'm looking for a good utilitarian laptop that runs all the generic college applications. Thanks!

[camerongray]

For me it would have to be a Lenovo ThinkPad.  They are pretty expensive new but you can get a refurbished/used model that's still pretty decent for very little money.  They are built like tanks and are very serviceable in the event of any issues.  I, along with many others used them throughout my degree and they did the job brilliantly.

[Geek-9pm]

You are seeking cheap plus four virtues that are seldom found together.
My recommendation is to forget low cost and work from there. 
Consider a Dell Alienware refurbished laptop.
About $1400 more or less. Comes with warranty.
https://outlet.us.dell.com/

[kolta]

Alternatively, you can refer to the gaming laptop described in this article and tell me which one is the best. I am really confused. https://pc4u.org/best-gaming-laptop-under-600-dollars/

[camerongray]

Not sure how an Alienware fits into the "cheap, durable with decent battery life" category.  You've said that any games you would be planning on playing would be happy on integrated graphics so I would personally forget about "gaming laptops" as they are generally not particularly durable, nor have great battery life.

As I mentioned previously, in a situation like yours I would always go for a machine aimed towards business use such as Lenovo's ThinkPads (my preference) or Dell's higher end Latitudes (7000 series).  They are expensive to buy new but don't hold their value well so you can pick up a model from a couple of years ago refurbished for a fraction of the price.  With gaming laptops (and most consumer laptops for that matter) it's often a case of cramming the most impressive specs into a machine for the lowest price, the first things that end up getting axed to save cost is usually the build quality and battery life.  On the other hand, the business class machines put a much greater focus on the build quality and reliability over the raw power.  You'll generally get much more solid casing reinforced with metal and carbon fibre and where plastic is used, it's generally strong rather than the cheap brittle stuff many laptops are made from.  The more modest specs also allow for better battery life - it's pretty easy to get 7+ hours of battery on those machines.  There's also things you would generally never think of such as the business laptops often using higher end WiFi cards and keyboards that are nicer to type on.

When I was in university I saw many people start off with large gaming/consumer laptops and over the years people started replacing them with smaller, business oriented laptops - There's nothing worse than trying to fit a giant gaming laptop onto a small table in a lecture theatre while having to find a socket because your tiny battery has run out again!  My previous laptop (which I only just replaced) was a Lenovo ThinkPad T440s that I used for a couple of years of my degree - It was carried around in my bag on a daily basis, used incredibly heavily, bashed around when my bag, regularly ended up in piles of other bags at events, it got dropped a couple of times and even survived a water spill.  Needless to say, it generally went through quite a lot of abuse yet despite that it is still completely solid with only minor scratches/shiny patches on the outer casing.

[Term_ite]

I give a thumbs up to CameronGray's post. I bought the laptop in my specs from Newegg for $369 CAD in Jan of this year. It was refurbished and came with a docking station. It looked like it was just pulled new off the shelf. This may be the best road to go down for a college kid.

[metalcat3]

Hey everyone,

So I'm hunting for a new laptop, I know my specs decently, but money is tight (college kid) and I don't want to make a mistake.

Anyways, my current laptop is breaking because it wasn't very sturdy, the paneling started to chip and now the entire thing is falling apart (wear and tear from just carrying it around on my back constantly. I'm looking for some combination of this

 -Some light gaming abilities. I'm not looking for much, but just to run some really easy games when I can (things like Panzer Corp or FTL) the regular Integrated Graphics card is fine. Not the biggest priority, but would like something I can do on the bus etc

-Durable, like I said, my current one is breaking apart at the seems and I haven't done too much to it (not to say I couldn't have treated it more gently, but I haven't dropped it or anything)

-Price range. I don't have a concrete one, but cheaper the better. Like I said, college kid who makes a little above minimum wage.

-decent battery and not being huge would be a plus. But isn't critical.

I know these are all the big points that get repeated. So in short I'm looking for a good utilitarian laptop that runs all the generic college applications. Thanks!

If indeed iGPU is enough, I would consider the following:

1. Get a good Latitude E7470/80/90 laptop with 1080p IPS and 256GB SSD. Not the most lightweight nor thin, but durable with good warranty. Should be able to get them for $600 refurbished from eBay seller or Dell business outlet
2. The thin&lightweight XPS 9560 - again, refurbished

(1) would be a warm recommendation!

[joeymakesmusic]

Not sure how an Alienware fits into the "cheap, durable with decent battery life" category.  You've said that any games you would be planning on playing would be happy on integrated graphics so I would personally forget about "gaming laptops" as they are generally not particularly durable, nor have great battery life.

As I mentioned previously, in a situation like yours I would always go for a machine aimed towards business use such as Lenovo's ThinkPads (my preference) or Dell's higher end Latitudes (7000 series).  They are expensive to buy new but don't hold their value well so you can pick up a model from a couple of years ago refurbished for a fraction of the price.  With gaming laptops (and most consumer laptops for that matter) it's often a case of cramming the most impressive specs into a machine for the lowest price, the first things that end up getting axed to save cost is usually the build quality and battery life.  On the other hand, the business class machines put a much greater focus on the build quality and reliability over the raw power.  You'll generally get much more solid casing reinforced with metal and carbon fibre and where plastic is used, it's generally strong rather than the cheap brittle stuff many laptops are made from.  The more modest specs also allow for better battery life - it's pretty easy to get 7+ hours of battery on those machines.  There's also things you would generally never think of such as the business laptops often using higher end WiFi cards and keyboards that are nicer to type on.

When I was in university I saw many people start off with large gaming/consumer laptops and over the years people started replacing them with smaller, business oriented laptops - There's nothing worse than trying to fit a giant gaming laptop onto a small table in a lecture theatre while having to find a socket because your tiny battery has run out again!  My previous laptop (which I only just replaced) was a Lenovo ThinkPad T440s that I used for a couple of years of my degree - It was carried around in my bag on a daily basis, used incredibly heavily, bashed around when my bag, regularly ended up in piles of other bags at events, it got dropped a couple of times and even survived a water spill.  Needless to say, it generally went through quite a lot of abuse yet despite that it is still completely solid with only minor scratches/shiny patches on the outer casing.

I will repeat this advice x10. I made the stupid decision to buy a "gaming" focused laptop that had impressive specs (16GB RAM, i7, GeForce 960MX card), but everything started falling apart after about 1 year of use. The keyboard had problems, the hard drive makes more noise than my car, and the general Windows experience is horrible.

I switched to a ThinkPad with average specs (i5, 8GB RAM) but the experience is SO much better. The computer actually works instead of just spending half its time struggling with drivers and crappy parts.