So I am a light gamer, who mostly uses a laptop for picture and music storage. Is it necessary to have more than 4g Ram? Does anyone have any recommendations for what to buy? I have only owned an Asus and a couple of HPs. (HPs were rather disappointing quality and durability wise) I need something sturdy.My personal recommendation is to go for 8 GB RAM on a Windows computer. Windows generally uses about 2 GB just for the operating system. That means the difference between 4 GB and 8 GB total RAM, is 2 or 6 GB for your applications, which is a drastic difference. An additional 4 GB RAM is usually not that EXPENSIVE, relative to other types of upgrade.

As for light gaming - gaming on a laptop is rough, unless you buy an expensive one designed specifically for gaming, like an Alienware. However, even a mid-range i5 or i7 should be able to handle low-requirement games with its mobile GPU/APU. Plan to run the games on lowest settings, however.

And, in my experience, gaming drastically decreases the longevity of a laptop. You're really burning the candle at both ends when you play a game on a mobile GPU/APU. The chip might be designed to *be able* to do it, but it's not designed for that type of use, and its lifespan will shorten.

If money is tight, go ahead and buy a laptop that comes with 4GB of RAM but ensure that it can be upgraded to 8GB.  That way you can see if 4GB works for you and, if not, you can choose to upgrade the RAM at a later date when funds are AVAILABLE.  However, the cost difference between 4 and 8 GB of RAM isn't that great so you won't really save that much money buying 4GB.

IMO, 4GB is plenty of RAM for the majority of users.  Adding more RAM does not magically make a system faster.  It all depends on what apps you use and how much RAM those apps need.Hi

4GB of memory when running Windows 10 is a good STARTING point. Memory size is only a small consideration when 4 GB is now the normal.

A couple of things in your post. A sub $400 laptop which is sturdy is unlikely unless you buy refurbished.

"(HPs were rather disappointing quality and durability wise)": Hp makes 100's of different MODELS at any time, for different price points and users. Perhaps you are buying the cheap models designed to last a few years and not designed for how you want use the laptop.

If Refurbished is an option please post where you would like to buy from and I would be happy to make a suggestion.
 

 For most normal use, 4 GB is very good.