Hey Dave,

Boy have laptops changed over the years.

A big thing with CPUs in laptops is that they don't give an accurate read on the power unless you know what to look for.

For example, take a i7-8550U, this PHENOMENAL CPU only has a clock speed of 1.8 GHZ, until you see the turbo of 4.0 GHZ. Keep an eye out for any machines running this CPU specifically, as it is a pretty new unit that is in higher end laptops that you can find around your price point.

Graphics, do you play PC games? If not, not a concern, the HD graphics in the Intel chips will be more then enough. At home I am still running a i7-4770, I can run modern games (On Low) straight off my CPU internal graphics, I can't imagine what a few years of improvements have done.

When looking at Hard Drives, do not dump all your money into a SSD. At this point, for music production, you do not need it. What I recommend, which you will commonly find, is a Laptop with a small SSD (120GB) for your OS, whit a larger HDD for your other programs and content. Also, Hybrid Drives are a really good middle ground. There are defenders of that treat the SSD like miracle workers, but like any piece of hardware, they have their applications, but may not be justified in price. It was 2016 before I moved to SSD, and I STILL only run a 128GB.

Take a look around the refurbished models as well.

Here is something I think fit's what you are looking for, or at least similar:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834235052&Description=8550u&cm_re=8550u-_-34-235-052-_-Product

C-sharp when you cross the street… or you’re going to B-flat.

Mikke - PG Music