Like someone mentioned, older stock is king. I've found Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14 inch AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS 16GB RAM 512GB SSD drops hard before spring refreshes.

• efficient chips
• insane value

In my experience watching Amazon CA trends for years, the sweet spot for that $1000 budget is always mid-range ultrabooks from the previous cycle. By early 2026, 2025 models like the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 16 inch WUXGA AMD Ryzen 7 7730U 16GB RAM 1TB SSD will likely hit their lowest price points. I've tried many of these units and the Ryzen efficiency is huge for mobility. If you're moving to Vancouver, you'll want a solid display for those dim rainy days, so keep an eye on the Acer Swift Go 14 OLED Intel Core Ultra 5 125H 16GB 512GB. Generally, laptops with 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM and at least 512GB NVMe storage see the most aggressive 25% plus discounts during the post-holiday clearing. Dont even look at 8GB models by then, they wont handle basic multitasking. Stick to the newer Intel Ultra or Ryzen chips for the best longevity.