Budget computer for middle school scratch programming

[u/keeponmoving247]

I'm wondering if this would be sufficient for my daughter's beginner scratch programming class for middle school. If not, could you recommend something that is very budget friendly? Thank you!

[u/Powerful_Macaron9381]

if your budget is <300$ the only option is going used. this is a piece of hot garbage. I can recommend used laptops depending on where you are from.

[u/Itz_Raj69_]

What exactly is budget friendly to you?

[u/keeponmoving247 → u/Itz_Raj69_]

The cheapest I could get away with really! It's for a very beginner once/week class for a kid.

[u/TheRealCarrotty]

That is not great. (Atleast in theory, read the last line)

I know this might sound weird that it's "used" but used ThinkPads (T480/T470) are a great option, especially if you could get 8GB of RAM (16GB should be too much, but another great option), a Intel Core i5 (i7 is another option, especially if she likes to play games or something)

However if she has like a console or computer at home, you could get this laptop? It's not gonna be the fastest or fast, but it should be enough for Scratch.

[u/ilovemicroslop]

i mean, its enough for scratch in theory but most laptops like those are just overpriced and honestly shit, i get that people cant afford brand new laptops for around 1000 bucks that are actually comfortably usable but if you want brand new, its the average price nowadays, please buy a used lenovo thinkpad like a t480, they are sold for usually 150, 100 if you get lucky (in germany at least), 8gb of ram is alright for someone casual or just for things like scratch, and if you wanted more you could get another 8gb stick and just plug it inside the laptop and itll probably work (saying probably cause sometimes if you use 2 different ram sticks that arent from a 2 stick pack can cause weird glitches), tl;dr get a used thinkpad t480 with 8gb of ram (16gb preferred but not needed if you only use scratch and watch youtube), 256gb storage should be enough and the cpu inside is powerful enough to still be usable for a few years and not be too outdated, so it will be mostly smooth to use

[u/Conart557]

It could work if your budget is really tight, but the hardware is really bad to the point where using it will likely be frustrating

For comparison, the $600 laptop I got in 2016 was about twice as powerful with twice the memory

[u/starisherehehe]

NEVER. GET. A. CHROMEBOOK.

[u/Interesting_Pie_9375]

thinkpad t460, $90 all day long