You're welcome. Your plan may be doable, but fixer-upper laptops aren't really a thing IMO. Adding RAM is sometimes a reasonable option and swapping a bad HDD or a good one or a regular HDD for an SSD is a thing, but beyond that there's not a lot of "fixing" to do inside a tight budget. That is to say, in an online auction you would not be the only bidder on a laptop which simply needs a $20 keyboard. If my budget was $400 and I wanted to gamble I suppose that I'd look for a used unit running a 6th gen i5 or i7. A 6th gen i3 might also suffice. Actually it seems that I'll have to reevaluate my position on precisely what can be purchased for $200-400 USD... It appears that a used unit of under $300 might suit your needs just fine. Certainly under $400. Check this eBay search: http://www.ebay.com/... Keep a close eye on condition, but it seems that there are many good configurations available in this price range (used). There are multiple non-functioning units mixed into those results randomly. There are units which do not have a 6th gen processor mixed into the results, as well as units which may not have as much RAM as the search specifies (8GB)! :-( Models with the i5-6200u or i7-6500u should both actually be able to play BeamNG at fairly low settings but playable framerates. I wouldn't recommend purchasing a used laptop which isn't advertised as fully tested. I also wouldn't recommend purchasing something that you aren't able to comprehensively test immediately (such as ordering a laptop with no HDD when you do not own a compatible HDD to test it with immediately upon receipt).
The laptop i have uses an I7-6500U with integrated Intel graphics 520, its not bad but definitely get something with a graphics cards as it will take a heap of load off of the CPU and you will be able to have both more cars and better graphics rather than just 1 of those.
Lenovo IdeaPad110 15.6-Inch HD Laptop Intel Celeron N3060 Dual-Core Processor 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD Windows 10 --- Post updated --- These are around $200, have a look the models http://pc4u.org/best-laptop-under-200-dollars/
Try this site. Where I got my laptop. runs Beam amazingly well on high. http://www.nocompromisegaming.com/?...&utm_content=no-compromise-gaming&utm_term=no
Simple. Get a PC, duct tape the monitor and keyboard to the tower, and attach it to a car battery, and you MIGHT have a chance of playing beam on the go for that price point.
Your best bet would be a used Dell Vostro 3700 with an i5 430m 4GB 1333MHZ ram and a GT 330 Gpu, I have one and it can run games at decent FPS aslong as you put the settings on medium at 1024x1024 just don't expect Beamng to run.
After all of this, I have gotten the dell latitude e6400. It has the intel core 2 duo which is interchangeable. And it has integrated graphics. But there is the nvidia version of this laptop that has the nvidia 370m chipset. Which i might decided to replace the motherboard later on. As this laptop is very capable. Its very easy to work on too. And considering I have gotten this laptop for free from a friend, its pretty good for what it is. I can run css and gmod at 50-60fps. But not other games such as csgo and beamng as this is a 32 bit system. But I can run beamng on here. Just not the newest version. I can run it at 5-10fps which isn't playable.. But at least the game started haha. For a nearly 10 year old laptop, this is good for what i need it for. Thanks for all the help. It's very appreciated. Later on when this dies, i might get one of the laptops you guys suggested as they'll be cheaper then.
