Help picking out a laptop?

[CroMagnon]

I'm not good with computers. At all. I hope what I'm looking for is actually quite simple, but it doesn't sound that way to my own ears. All I'll really use it for is writing and research, listening to music, and occasional photo/video editing, but I want something durable and secure. About 100GB SSD hard drive sounds good, I read those kind don't mess up as easily because they have less moving parts, but I don't need much memory. I'm not really sure if 100GB is "much" or not. At least 2 USB ports, an SD card slot, and a disk drive are a must. So no notebooks.

 

I don't want anything used, it could have the last owner's child porn germs or something, but I don't want something brand new either. No touchscreen, voice-activated whatnot, customer service, or warranty needed. Definitely no touchscreen. Something compatible with Linux Lite 2.6, since I hate Windows but I'm used to it. Actually a blank laptop would be great if they sell those, just install Linux without struggling to delete all the default crap. All under $500 if so possible.

 

Any suggestions?

[Klaynos]

Dell do some laptops with Ubuntu installed. As do hp. I was looking a few months ago and they both had a reasonable one for around £175 I think.

 

How occasionally is there photo or video editing? What kind of editing? Do you need a high res calibrated screen for that?

[CroMagnon]

Dell do some laptops with Ubuntu installed. As do hp. I was looking a few months ago and they both had a reasonable one for around £175 I think.

 

How occasionally is there photo or video editing? What kind of editing? Do you need a high res calibrated screen for that?

 

Very occasionally. I mostly just write, but every now and then I get a bug up my ass to make a dumb little cartoon or something. All I need is the programs, a screen, and working speakers. That's a reason I'm going with Linux Lite, it comes with Gimp. And is that in pounds? So....about $250 or something?