Low-end Laptop Advice for Non-Profit Office

I’ve heard good things about this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N0XRC1S/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1W1BZMO9MJ07O&colid=32IF6M36L1PX8

[quote=“stusser, post:20, topic:130099, full:true”]
No such thing as a “microsoft authorized refurbisher” for HP laptops. Microsoft can only authorize refurbs for their own hardware. Probably a scam, or at least not completely legit.[/quote]
They’ve got a pretty good seller rating on Amazon, and I did check that there’s a Microsoft refurbisher program. NewEgg has similar products, so I don’t think it’s a scam. Probably better to just buy from NewEgg, if I go that route.

Yeah, I think it’s because of the touchscreen. You’re right, it’s weird, probably wouldn’t work well.

The laptop that @Brad_Grenz linked runs off MMC for memory and drive, which is the issue with their current system - not enough space, not upgradeable. I’d hate to repeat the same mistake.

The one I linked does have an unused M2 SATA slot you can use to upgrade storage.

We ended up going with this refurbished HP that I found on Amazon. We got six of them, five of which worked fine right away. The sixth had some kind of power issue so it stopped working after a few hours, but the return-and-replace process was very simple and now all six are working great.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XYXVSZN?tag=qt3-20

Also on a related note, I spent $75 on a toy for myself, an HP 6560b ProBook (i5-2520M, 8 GB RAM, 280 GB drive). Bought that one from The Geek Group here in Grand Rapids. No SSD at that price, and the battery life is terrible, but I could replace either of those if I start using it heavily enough to be worth the effort. Put ElementaryOS Linux on it (always fun to play with variant distributions) and will use it on occasions when I need something more friendly to iffy-Internet-connectivity areas than my Chromebook.

New question! For this same small office, I’m looking to upgrade their WiFi. Right now they just use the wireless on the AT&T router, and it’s pretty weak. If I plug into the router with Ethernet I can get around 50 Mbps download, but on wifi the best is around 7, and it often drops out entirely with several people doing things simultaneously. So, I’m looking for a better solution. Any recommendations? The office is only 5 rooms, about the size of a medium house, so I don’t think I’ll need to go with a mesh network or anything like that. Just something more powerful than what AT&T gave us.

Do you have a Walmart nearby? Not too long ago they were clearancing out a lot of router and modem, and not the two dollars off usual Walmart clearance, but large discounts.

Wirecutter updated budget pick is this model, on sale for 79.99.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J8NCVX4

Probably more than adequate.

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