Looking for a Laptop for $300

[Anoraki]

1. What is your budget?

$350

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

No Preference

3. What screen resolution do you want?

At least 720p; higher preferred

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Portable

5. How much battery life do you need?

Doesn't matter; at least a few hours

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

Nothing demanding, maybe some 2D games, flash games, or retro emulations

I'd like to be able to run StepMania 5 smoothly on an external 1080p monitor

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

Programming and Code Compiling, Microsoft Office, Watching Videos

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

Considering I won't be getting anything demanding or large games or software, 500GB or less is good

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

Nope, but at least a site with a good rep

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

Several Years, Hopefully 3-5

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

DVD

Edit: Not needed

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

I don't have problems with brands, but I do with types. Chromebooks and Windows S laptops aren't preferred as I'd have to get another copy of Windows or end up using Linux, which I suppose I might do either way.

13. What country do you live in?

United States

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I don't need anything beefy for extreme gaming --- I have a high-end desktop for that. I'm mostly focused on the CPU above most other things. I wanna be able to run whatever OS I use smoothly. I'm considering using Linux as it's more lightweight and suits my needs well.

 

[velocityg4]

Is a DVD drive mandatory? It really kills your options. You could get one of these beauts and use a cheap external DVD on the occasions you might need one.
https/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA77G7D12479
https/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7RB6ME7089

 

[Anoraki]

Nope, don't need it at all. I just thought I would need it to install Windows 8.1 but I can use a flash drive or I might just use Linux.

 

[10tacle]

1) You will not find higher than 720p (1024x768) resolution in your price range so you can rule that out. In a new laptop anyway.

2) Your budget means a budget processor and 4GB memory, so do not expect any performance out of compiling code which means hyperthreading and taking advantage of more memory. The good news is that you should be able to upgrade to 16GB memory down the road when budget allows.

3) You are borderline in Chromebook pricing, but Dell has a 15.6" i3 CPU variant for $289. https/www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i3552-4042BLK-Laptop-Celeron/dp/B019TTJ5QM

^^Regarding that Dell laptop, it's rare to find a sub $400 laptop with an optical drive.

 

[ikaz]

You can try on dell's website as well

http/deals.dell.com/productdetail/12oa

You should also look at refurished dell website as well for deals

 

[velocityg4]

Nope, don't need it at all. I just thought I would need it to install Windows 8.1 but I can use a flash drive or I might just use Linux.

In that case I'd look at the refurbished HP I linked.
- 1920x1080 display
- 8GB RAM
- Core i7-4600u
- Windows 10 Pro
- 180GB SSD
- DisplayPort (for monitor)
- 3.3 Lbs

Although the specs aren't as impressive. The Lenovo is also quite good. Plus you'll have money left over for a larger SSD if you want more storage space.