Get a refurbished enterprise or business grade laptop. Brand doesn’t really matter much, but Amazon has some awesome AMD HPs on their renewed store that run Linux like a dream. Probably around $300 but new they’d be over $1000 and are much more repairable.

Edit: I have this one. Bought it years ago and still works great. It was even still under warranty when I first got it. Probably not anymore: https://www.amazon.com/HP-EliteBook-Business-Processor-2-3-4-2GHz/dp/B0CRVF3GRR

T480 is the standard thinkpad recommendation. It will jump you 5-6 generations of processor forward in time from your x220 and if you avoid the “s” model then both ram slots will be replaceable.

I just looked and the going eBay rate is ~180 for an everything installed/8gb ram example and ~<$100 for no ssd/os. That’s important if you have an ssd in your 220 that’s compatible and can backup and steamroll over it in your new pc. A good set of 2x 16gb 2400 sodimms is about $30.

So you could be up and running on your old ssd with the maximum amount of memory your new system supports for $130 out the door. Pretty cool.

The t480 can also accommodate the google (nee coral) tpu for accelerated onboard machine vision processing and other torch stuff.

Thinkpads after that one generally have one or both ram slots soldered, which isn’t as much of a big deal as people make it out to be.

Other recommendations in the same vein are hp and dell business class laptops, but I don’t know them well enough to point you one direction or another.

Because you’re running Linux already: if you can swing it, consider getting an m1 macbook air. They’re cheap and fast and it’s one more tool in your toolbox.

I don't have any direct experience, but the CHUWI CoreBook X 14 gets pretty good reviews, and they make even cheaper laptops than that with similar memory and processor, but cheaper chassis and 16:9 screens.

I know an informatics guy‌, and he says thinkpads are good. He gets them from the electronics trash at work.

Search used ThinkPads on eBay. I got mine for about $120. It came with Win10, but it’s on Mint now.

Honestly, get a steam deck. Best priced laptop for the specs. Get a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard and you have everything you need for desktop functions

Put debian on it. thats the concretest of advice.

The best new laptop is the one sold by your local ewaste recycler after being checked over and refurbed with a fresh install of Mint! If you don't have one of those shops handy then buy refurbed online. I hear Thinkpads are good though. My shop has never had one when I've needed new gear.

I have a framework laptop that I put together, really repairable so if something explodes the whole thing doesn't become ewaste. But only do this if your use case requires somewhat modern hardware there's a ton of like 10 dollar laptops on sale on ebay that are 10 years old and good for only web browsing or remote desktop and will run fine with an install of fedora atomic or whatever

And yeah just put Linux on your current laptop it'll run like a dream. Personally Ive got like 10 laptops around my place from family that didn't want them and they all run great with fedora atomic. I prefer fedora atomic for these because updates don't break if I don't mess with them for a long time

I just picked up a relatively recent refurbished thinkpad with an ssd for a couple hundred off newegg. They have a few on there as low as $130.

Used think pads on eBay or government auctions

Oh yeah, you said cheap but what’s your actual budget?

I can make better recommendations if I know what you’re working with.

chromebooks are cheap af and they can run linux containers...

Thinkpads in general are good, durable under physical stress and cheap, I have a e495 I got for around 100. If you're willing to gamble and have some technical repair aptitude ebay/goodwilluctions can be a good place to snag cheap laptops along with recycling places or even the curb before trash day if you live in a city. Otherwise, refurbished is just fine and if you watch slickdeals or 's buildapcsales you may be able to find a deal on something newer, also you can always upgrade ram or ssd if you want to do some light gaming. Try for a min of 8 ram, 16 is ideal.