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Good second hand/ refurb laptop ? around £300 budget

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  • Samsonite1
    Samsonite1 Posts: 572 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Fortyfoot wrote: »
    I have read the post on here and found them interesting. I have just returned the following, it was very poor.

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331706805205

    I am now looking at the following which seems better having read the previous posts. Any good or bad comments please.

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hewlett-Packard-15-AB088NA-15-6-Inch-AMD-2-2GHz-8GB-1TB-Pavilion-Laptop-Purple-/331692937291

    Thanks,

    Fortyfoot

    The first one is only a dual-core - I would always go for a quad minimum. The HP has twice as much memory and a better processor, so should be an improvement.
    To err is human, but it is against company policy.
  • Fortyfoot
    Fortyfoot Posts: 1,961 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Thank you Samsonite1, it looks like I am improving. A friend has suggested the following -

    http://www.ebuyer.com/727180-lenovo-essential-b50-80-laptop-80ew03dbuk

    A friend of mine has just messaged me -

    "i'd get one with an ssd drive will start up way faster. win 10 takes say 25gig and maybe 25gig for progs alot of people won't use much more than that"

    My problem is that I do not keep up with new developments and only look into these matters when I need to upgrade.

    I have seen good and bad reviews about both of these laptops.

    Fortyfoot
  • Samsonite1
    Samsonite1 Posts: 572 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Fortyfoot wrote: »
    Thank you Samsonite1, it looks like I am improving. A friend has suggested the following -

    http://www.ebuyer.com/727180-lenovo-essential-b50-80-laptop-80ew03dbuk

    A friend of mine has just messaged me -

    "i'd get one with an ssd drive will start up way faster. win 10 takes say 25gig and maybe 25gig for progs alot of people won't use much more than that"

    My problem is that I do not keep up with new developments and only look into these matters when I need to upgrade.

    I have seen good and bad reviews about both of these laptops.

    Fortyfoot

    Lenovo are decent too, but that machine has half the memory of the HP and a lesser CPU. A 120GB SSD bought on its own only costs about £35, but I expect doubling the memory and CPU would cost a lot more...
    To err is human, but it is against company policy.
  • Fortyfoot
    Fortyfoot Posts: 1,961 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Is windows 10 as bad as some make out? Is it worth getting it.
    What, if any, are the problems with 10?

    Thanks,

    Fortyfoot
  • Samsonite1
    Samsonite1 Posts: 572 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Windows 10 works just fine, especially on a new/clean install. Upgrading from an older version can be problematic, but the same goes for any upgrade.

    The biggest issue with Windows 10 is around privacy. The default settings are to share all sorts of data with Microsoft and other parties. Make sure you look up how to lock down privacy settings as most people will probably be oblivious to this.

    I use Linux now although have a Windows 10 machine for testing. Ironically, I find Linux more straightforward these days.
    To err is human, but it is against company policy.
  • kobracai
    kobracai Posts: 258 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Samsonite1 wrote: »
    When it comes to sellers, just go for a reputable company and perhaps you will find one of the preferred laptops at a better price at a particular store. I personally tend to use Amazon (massive choice) or Ebuyer (long time customer and good prices generally).

    I have had my hands on many a laptop over the past 15 years through work and also various personal ones and the brands that have stood out for various reasons have been:
    • Toshiba - particularly the Satellite series - had 3 since 2002 and they have all been good performers and well-built. I have a 2009 model still (as a spare) and it still works and cost £299 in 2009! I took this one to Italy when I lived there and brought it back, so it travelled well.
    • HP - Usually you get a good spec and HP make pretty decent machines.
    • Lenovo - Always loved the IBM laptops which Lenovo took over. They still seem decent although I have only had one of these.
    • Asus - some pretty good laptop from these guys. My current work laptop (1 year old) is an Asus and it is really well made, looks nice and has some decent features like Bang & Olufsen sound.

    Here are some example laptops from these brands:

    ASUS X555LA
    £289 Amazon
    (Intel Core i3-4005U 1.7 GHz Processor, 4 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, Windows 10)

    Lenovo Essential B50-80 Laptop
    £259 Ebuyer - has an SSD drive, so should feel pretty quick.
    (Intel Core i3-5005U 2GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Windows 10 Home)

    HP 350 G2 Laptop
    £330 (£300 after cashback) Ebuyer
    (Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2 GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Windows 8.1 + Free upgrade to Windows 10)

    HP Pavillion 15-p264na Laptop
    £309 Ebuyer - this is my pick with a good CPU and 8GB RAM, should last a while
    (AMD Quad-Core A10-4655M APU 2GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, AMD Radeon HD 7620G, Windows 8.1 - Free upgrade to Windows 10)

    HP 455 Quad Core Laptop
    £300 Ebuyer - does not come with Windows if that is what you want.
    (AMD A10 7300 Quad core Accelerated Processor, with AMD Radeon™ Graphics. 8GB RAM , 1TB HDD, Ubuntu 12.04)

    Toshiba Satellite C55-C-11G
    £300 Amazon
    (Intel Core i3-4005U, 4 GB RAM, 750 GB HDD, Intel HD Graphics 4400)

    thanks for this breakdown, it'll be useful for me in the future. This morning I bought this one:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toshiba-Satellite-15-6-Inch-2-16-GHz-Dual-Core-4GB-1TB-Laptop-Black-/331706805205?hash=item4d3b442bd5:g:s3wAAOSwGotWtU8K

    I bought it 2 hours ago before looking at this thread :( in the later replies you mentioned this is a Dual Core and therefore quite poor... I don't think it matters because I can't afford to shell out more than £200 at the moment anyway (£300 was only if I could have paid by installments)
  • kobracai
    kobracai Posts: 258 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    still, I'll have this thread bookmarked and ready for when I can upgrade to a more expensive laptop. Thanks everyone for the advice :)
  • grumpycrab
    grumpycrab Posts: 5,026 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Bake Off Boss!
    Samsonite1 wrote: »
    ...

    Lenovo Essential B50-80 Laptop
    £259 Ebuyer - has an SSD drive, so should feel pretty quick.
    (Intel Core i3-5005U 2GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Windows 10 Home)

    Same as this? http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lenovo-i3-5005u-laptop-4gb-ram-128gb-ssd-1368x768-resolution-247-18-delivered-saversstore-2393832
    (£240)
    If you need more space (may have already been said) replace the CD/DVD drive with another hard drive. Easy change.
    If you put your general location in your Profile, somebody here may be able to come and help you.
  • Samsonite1
    Samsonite1 Posts: 572 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    kobracai wrote: »
    thanks for this breakdown, it'll be useful for me in the future. This morning I bought this one:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toshiba-Satellite-15-6-Inch-2-16-GHz-Dual-Core-4GB-1TB-Laptop-Black-/331706805205?hash=item4d3b442bd5:g:s3wAAOSwGotWtU8K

    I bought it 2 hours ago before looking at this thread :( in the later replies you mentioned this is a Dual Core and therefore quite poor... I don't think it matters because I can't afford to shell out more than £200 at the moment anyway (£300 was only if I could have paid by installments)

    Well, I guess you cannot undo what is done. Dual core is not a problem in most cases, but I would consider a brand new quad core for £300 is going to be a better investment. Having said that, I am not a fan of buying things on credit so it is sensible to only buy what you can afford or save up to afford something better.
    To err is human, but it is against company policy.
  • grumpycrab
    grumpycrab Posts: 5,026 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Bake Off Boss!
    kobracai wrote: »
    This morning I bought this one:..
    I'm sure it'll be fine but...the Lenovo for £240 is 3x faster (ish). Can you return a (ebay) lappy to any Argos for free? (or do you have to pay to ship it back).
    If you put your general location in your Profile, somebody here may be able to come and help you.
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