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Comment by drKarl | Hacker News Reader

I saw the Yoga, but I wanted to spend around $250 or less on this. I have 2 laptops and a desktop which are great for programming, but I wouldn't want to risk bringing an expensive laptop to this trip, I want something portable and cheap in case I get robbed or something, with the convenience of a tablet when I just need to read an ebook or browse some webs, and the ability to do more advanced stuff with a keyboard as a desktop, even programming.

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Maybe a Chromebook with Linux? Mine lasts around 9 hours, has a tablet mode, and was about $250-$300. Chromebooks really are the best bang for your buck for a Linux laptop IMO.

What about a second-hand Yoga 2 Pro? This should be in that price range now, roughly.

I've been using this for a couple of years now and was quite happy. It's a good trade-off between performance, weight and size in my opinion. Except some minor inconveniences[1], my Linux/Windows dualboot setup works quite well.

Heads-up: If you consider it's successor, the Yoga 900, make sure you don't get one of the series not supporting Linux (Google is your friend).

[1]: The biggest issue I've faced is inaccuracy of yellow colors on the display; they're dark and pale. Lenovo published a BIOS fix for Windows, but this doesn't work for Linux. However, if you don't plan to do any visual work like photo editing or designing color palettes, you should be fine.

I still use a yoga 2 pro. It's a decent machine, with 8gb ram. If you can find it at a low price definitely go for it.

I see. Perhaps a tablet (can't recommend any, I've never owned one) with a bluetooth keyboard is a solution?

Myabe you can also find a used Yoga or use two devices; a cheap laptop and a cheap tablet?

I feel like a hybrid laptop/tablet is a bit cumbersome as just an e-reader anyway? Not sure...

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