I was in the same boat last month and honestly, Im super satisfied with the Acer Aspire 5 A515-57-53T2 Intel Core i5 8GB 512GB. It works well because you can actually upgrade the memory yourself. Popping the back off to add another stick only took minutes... way easier than I expected for a cheap machine. Pro tip: always double check for that extra SODIMM slot before buying budget gear.

Buddy's soldered RAM died last term, total nightmare. Check Back Market for these. The HP is better built than the Lenovo:

• HP EliteBook 840 G8 Intel Core i5 16GB 256GB
• Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 1 AMD Ryzen 5 16GB 512GB

Basically, if you want upgradeable memory under five hundred, stop looking at consumer stuff and check out business-grade machines or the lower-end enterprise lines. I usually look at the Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 3 AMD Ryzen 5 16GB 512GB when friends are on a tight budget. Most L-series still have two SODIMM slots, unlike the T-series which went partially soldered lately. Check these out if you can find them on sale or open-box:

• HP 255 G10 AMD Ryzen 5 7530U 8GB 256GB
• Feels a bit plastic but has two slots for RAM.
• ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 AMD Ryzen 5 7530U 8GB 512GB
• Usually has one slot soldered and one open, so you can hit 16GB or 24GB easily.
• Dell Latitude 5420 Intel Core i5 16GB 512GB
• Solid choice if you go the refurb route. I always use sites like the Lenovo PSREF or the Crucial Advisor tool to verify the motherboard layout before buying. eBay Refurbished is a decent option right now because you get a two-year warranty on stuff like a used ThinkPad or Latitude. You could snag that Latitude for three hundred and spend the rest on a nice monitor. Honestly, its usually better to buy a higher-end used machine than a bottom-tier new one for dev work.