Pick up a Thinkpad X220 or X230 on EBay. We’re talking about $150-250 bucks for a computer that’s virtually indestructible if it has an SSD. And easily repairable. Need a new SSD? One screw, open a cap, pull out the old, slide new one in. Same with RAM. Keyboard is a few screws, and they have the “nipple” that’s IMHO better than a touchpad once you get used to it.
Same goes for an X201 (typing this on one). Long in the tooth, but solid laptops, which can be had in the $100 range.
I’ve dropped it down flights of stairs and off a train onto a low platform before. It basically just bounced.
