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[Hulk_Smash]

I am in the midst of buying a laptop for work. This laptop will sit in a conference sound booth and will not leave that booth. It has to be a laptop since space is a big issue and it needs to be locked up after every use.

Anyway, it's solely going to be used for multimedia presentations. All the presentation apps, music and video apps, etc. So, it doesn't have to have a super good sound or video (although 4K would be nice), nor does it have to have all the bells and whistles like touch screen, flip screen, face ID or fingerprint, etc.

My budget is between 400-600 US. The main thing for me is speed in pulling up and switching between apps. It has to be lightening fast for a presenter. So, what should I prioritize? RAM, processor, SSD, or something else? And which brands should I avoid?

Thank you for any help.

 

[haxan7]

400-600 is an economy laptop budget. I’d take the budget up to 1k if at all possible. Gonna have your work cut out for you with that budget. Maybe look into refurbished.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

400-600 is an economy laptop budget. I’d take the budget up to 1k if at all possible. Gonna have your work cut out for you with that budget. Maybe look into refurbished.

Try telling my boss that. Ive gone through 3 budget laptops in 8 years. All of them were different levels of garbage.

 

[Ovek]

Get something like a Lenovo IdeaPad, your budget won't stretch to a ThinkPad.

Something like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lenovo-I...Windows-10-Graphite-Grey-81YM0060US/986492987

Top of your budget but if you have a price range and it's not your money why not spend it all.

 

[DESTROYA]

The above suggestion is solid, I was going to post about getting something with the new AMD 4500u series and above APU’s.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

Get something like a Lenovo IdeaPad, your budget won't stretch to a ThinkPad.

Something like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lenovo-I...Windows-10-Graphite-Grey-81YM0060US/986492987

Top of your budget but if you have a price range and it's not your money why not spend it all.

Hey, thanks for the suggestion. I’m gonna look into this one.

 

[sonomamashine]

AMD no brainer.

 

[mango drank]

At that budget, you could go for a higher-end Chromebook, like the recently released Acer Spin 713. What apps do you need to run? Can you make use of the browser-based versions of the MS Office apps? For video players, looks like VLC is available as a Chrome app. And you could also enable Linux and then just install full-fledged Linux apps. Edit: though the IdeaPad suggestion above is solid. Lenovo's great.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-chromebook-spin-713-2-in-1-13-5-2k-vertiview-32-touch-intel-i5-10210u-8gb-memory-128gb-ssd-steel-gray/6416477.p?skuId=6416477

 

[Happosai]

I am in the midst of buying a laptop for work. This laptop will sit in a conference sound booth and will not leave that booth. It has to be a laptop since space is a big issue and it needs to be locked up after every use.

Anyway, it's solely going to be used for multimedia presentations. All the presentation apps, music and video apps, etc. So, it doesn't have to have a super good sound or video (although 4K would be nice), nor does it have to have all the bells and whistles like touch screen, flip screen, face ID or fingerprint, etc.

My budget is between 400-600 US. The main thing for me is speed in pulling up and switching between apps. It has to be lightening fast for a presenter. So, what should I prioritize? RAM, processor, SSD, or something else? And which brands should I avoid?

Thank you for any help.

Lenovo Thinkpads have always been my go-to work/home computers. They're within your budget and they won't let you down. I've had three since 2004 and my current is on it's 9th-year of productivity.