My favorite laptop is an Acer I bought new in early 2009 for maybe $400. The only hardware change I made was to upgrade the RAM from 2 GB to max it out at 4 GB.

My favorite laptop is an Acer I bought new in early 2009 for maybe $400. The only hardware change I made was to upgrade the RAM from 2 GB to max it out at 4 GB. There are a couple of advantages. First, it's a joy to type on something with a good keyboard. Part of it is that older laptops have more bulk to them, and that makes for a better typing experience for me. Second, modern displays are the wrong shape. It's hard to find a nearly-square screen these days. Performance is not an issue. It's the most responsive computer I own. I'm running AntiX, a distro that shows how to do lightweight right. Having said all of the above, one thing limits my usage. It has a 32-bit CPU. Among other things, that means no Electron apps, and one in particular is critical to my workflow.