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If "light tasks and file management" are all you have, then pretty much your only deciding factor is physical form and layout. Anything out there will be able to do what you're asking. I personally have had two of the Yogas, they don't detach but I like the design, and installed linux on them.
Most brands will be able to put linux on them, even the Surfaces (but they're trickier).
Ahh I forgot about the Yoga, that might be exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks.
I have a 2015 thinkpad yoga and it's been great.
I just got X390 yoga and it's fantastic little machine
Thanks! I ended up going for a Yoga myself. Only ยฃ170 on eBay!
I have L390 Yoga. Pretty nice thing, and the screen was a good punch coming from typical new cheap TN panel laptops.
I got it refurbished for โฌ180.
It can also charge with 5V, but only from a real USB-C. USB-A to C won't work.
If you're open to used or refurbished, take a look at Dell's 5285, 5290, 7200, and 7210 2-in-1 laptops. You might be able to find one in decent condition for around $200 or less. They come with detachable keyboard, touchscreen that supports pen input, Intel 7. thru 10. Gen CPU, and an easily serviceable M.2 2280 SSD and battery.
Avoid lenovo. Their build quality went to crap and they're easily the least repairable laptop on the market these days.
I've had to repair 4 lenovos within the last few years. Cheap parts and the laptops all had their keyboards plastic rivited to the top shell of the chassis, making it impossible to replace without buying a new chassis. One of the laptops had to have two motherboard replacements before it was usable.
Their all-in-one doesn't have a frame around the LCD panel, and they didn't put access doors in the back panel. So if you want to upgrade the ram or ssd you have a 70% chance of breaking the screen.
I need to clarify that you are talking about Lenovo's consumer-grade lines, like the Ideapad. Their enterprise line (Thinkpad) is completely different.
Iโve got a Lenovo IdeaPad being repaired right now. I cannot recommend one of these things id go for something else.
Edit: hey I'm back so update laptop is totaled cracked motherboard. Order a used Thinkpad from eBay it will save you so much trouble
IdeaPad line is a hot mess. Had one with a broken hinge where the threaded inserts meet thin plastic, Enter key stopped working just after the warranty expired, replacement keyboard sagged since I had to break all the plastic rivets, and another with a broken DC barrel jack.
Might not be "relatively cheap", but the Framework 12 fits the other criteria with the bonus of having a touchscreen.
honestly just go on eBay and buy whatever fits your form factor and budget. most modern laptop swill work for you and nonsense paying a premium to get one particular model
My Microsoft surface pro 3 would work perfectly for you :) I would just get a newer model. Iโm running fedora gnome and everything including touch works
The SP3 was particurarly stable with mainline linux (not needing surface-linux), especially regarding standby. Sadly not a repeatable experience with the more recent ones, but I'd love to be proven wrong (:
Wonder what generation it changed? Glad to hear it worked for you too
Pinebook?
I like the Thinkpad X series. The keyboard on one of mine crapped out some years ago so I switched to using a Logitech wireless keyboard (K400) that has a usb dongle and has a built in trackpad. It works well enough that I mostly lost interest in the built in laptop keyboard. At this point I'd be happy with a screen-only Linux computer (plus the ext. keyboard), but that doesn't exist.
You can get a mini computer and mount it to the VESA mounting point on the rear of a compatible monitor. Not quite screen only, but pretty close and has roughly the same footprint aside from a little extra cabling.
Small laptop implies wanting to run on battery power though. Multiple boxes gets clumsy.
Oh, I misunderstood. When you said screen only, I was thinking an all-in-one, but sounds like you were meaning something more like a tablet.