A used Thinkpad. (or any other used non-consumer grade laptop) Most companies either rent their laptops or somehow sell them after a couple of years. They are

A used Thinkpad. (or any other used non-consumer grade laptop) Most companies either rent their laptops or somehow sell them after a couple of years. They are usually in good condition and often the reseller gives you 1-2 years of warranty. I've bought a used X250 for <300€ a couple of years ago and I could not be much happier. Of course, the specs could be a bit better, but for most of my tasks (HW + embedded Linux dev) it's sufficient. For everything else i can spin up some beefy server somewhere in a couple of minutes. And since the hardware is on the market for quite some time, driver issues are mostly resolved. Bonus: used Docking stations and spare power supplies are cheap and the battery can be hot-swapped. Bonus2: since it's already slightly beaten down, making another scratch doesn't hurt as much as if it would've been a shiny new macbook. edit: I think the official term is "refurbished". I can't see myself ever buying a new device again.