I don't follow Chromebooks that intently but I believe they now come with dual boot Linux support. You save on the OS license costs in that way. However, it is difficult to get 8 GB out of the box at this price, so check for one with an additional RAM slot.
Probably you can get the Celeron based ones in your budget or else get a second hand one which of course is likely to have poor battery life if that is important for you.