Need recommendations for a new laptop to run small home based business

WouldLoveToWin

Hi, my old laptop has finally given up the ghost so I'm looking to buy a new one to run my small home based business from. I need MS Word and Excel, social media, and internet - nothing flashy. My budget is anything up to £400 (ideally around the £250-300 mark) I've always gone for something with a Pentium processor in the past but wondered if the other processors (which seem to make the laptop cheaper) will be enough for what I want my laptop to do and if anyone could recommend a decent cheap(ish) machine. TIA

macman

Absolutely any modern laptop will carry out those basic tasks with ease.
However a Pentium is very bottom end, and you'd do better to look at maybe an i3 processor and pay something nearer the top end of your budget (since it's a business expense).

HereAgain_2

Don't waste your money needlessly. If you had a Pentium before, a new Celeron would outperform it.

Take a look at this Toshiba Satellite C850-1C0 for starters at £196.94. Will be as new with a full warranty and will do the job.
You also have the usual evaluation period that you get with buying a machine online, so if it doesn't perform in the way that you want, you can send it back for a full refund.
The real problem with these consumer machines, is that they bundle them with a lot of unnecessary software, which affects the performance. The spec itself is fine.

Olduserpasswordforgot

HereAgain wrote: »

Don't waste your money needlessly. If you had a Pentium before, a new Celeron would outperform it.

Take a look at this for starters at £196.94. Will be as new with a full warranty and will do the job.
You also have the usual evaluation period that you get with buying a machine online, so if it doesn't perform in the way that you want, you can send it back for a full refund.
The real problem with these consumer machines, is that they bundle them with a lot of unnecessary software, which affects the performance. The spec itself is fine.

The Celery Processor is definitely not new and has been around since 2005.

the new Intel Processors are Icore range which contain the dual core power required in most Laptops to run the CPU speeds at adequate levels and as teh OP is planning on running a business and its main use will be Business related i would recommend most laptops that run the I3 or I5 range of processors (the latter being the more expensive range)

personal windows choice would be Toshiba Satellite Pro C850 1H8 Core i5 Windows 8 Laptop in Black

HereAgain_2

Olduserpasswordforgot wrote: »

The Celery Processor is definitely not new and has been around since 2005.

the new Intel Processors are Icore range which contain the dual core power required in most Laptops to run the CPU speeds at adequate levels and as teh OP is planning on running a business and its main use will be Business related i would recommend most laptops that run the I3 or I5 range of processors (the latter being the more expensive range)

personal windows choice would be Toshiba Satellite Pro C850 1H8 Core i5 Windows 8 Laptop in Black

I know that you are a Newbie, but...rein it in.

Intel® Celeron® Processor B830
(2M Cache, 1.80 GHz) Launch Date Q3'12 So less than a year old.

Compared to the old Pentium, it will outperform them.

No need to work yourself into a frenzy over needing an i5 to run a business. Not all businesses are the same. They aren't likely to be crunching millions of numbers or using it as a Server. Of course the Celeron is a Dual Core processor. No need to try to blind the OP with words.

Simple illustration:

Pentium from three years ago: Pentium Dual-Core T4500 @ 2.30GHz has a CPU Benchmark of 1345, compared to last year's Celeron above of 1605.

OP doesn't need to spend money to impress. This is about saving money, not spending as much as possible.

HereAgain_2

What is more interesting is why the OP thinks that the old laptop has "given up the ghost".
Let us hear some more details.

onzey

HereAgain wrote: »

You also have the usual evaluation period that you get with buying a machine online, so if it doesn't perform in the way that you want, you can send it back for a full refund.

What's the usual evaluation period that allows you to see how it performs?

From Argos eBay shop:

Returning an item

Returned items must be in their original and unused condition, complete with all parts, accessories, original packaging and the original invoice.

Olduserpasswordforgot

HereAgain wrote: »

I know that you are a Newbie, but...rein it in.

Intel® Celeron® Processor B830
(2M Cache, 1.80 GHz) Launch Date Q3'12 So less than a year old.

Compared to the old Pentium, it will outperform them.

No need to work yourself into a frenzy over needing an i5 to run a business. Not all businesses are the same. They aren't likely to be crunching millions of numbers or using it as a Server. Of course the Celeron is a Dual Core processor. No need to try to blind the OP with words.

Simple illustration:

Pentium from three years ago: Pentium Dual-Core T4500 @ 2.30GHz has a CPU Benchmark of 1345, compared to last year's Celeron above of 1605.

OP doesn't need to spend money to impress. This is about saving money, not spending as much as possible.

Not Really a newbie, but forgot my old Password, so started from scratch.

whilst i understand the Philosophy behind the MSE stance, realistically if you running a business you need the performance and as the OP has a budget of £400 you are able to get the I5 processor laptop at the budget.

secondly the celery processor as been around since 2005, and the processor you mention wasn't the one i was talking about but if your talking about performance.

heres is side by side comparison between i3 and Celeron.

Performance
Benchmark performance using all cores
Core i3 2310M: 6.2

Celeron B830: 5.7

Passmark
Single-Core Performance
Individual core benchmark performance
Core i3 2310M: 7.4

Celeron B830:7.0
Passmark (Single Core)
Power Consumption
How much power does the processor require?
Core i3 2310M: 5.3
Celeron B830: 5.3

TDP
Features
How does CPUBoss rank the features of each product?
Core i3 2310M: 5.6
Celeron B830: 4.5

Features and specifications that differ between products
CPUBoss Score
Performance, Single-core Performance, Power Consumption and Features
Core i3 2310M: 6.4
Celeron B830: 6.0

Winner
Intel Core i3 2310M

CPUBoss recommends the Intel Core i3 2310M based on its performance, single-core performance and features.

Now imagine the I5.

Jamie_Carter

HereAgain wrote: »

I know that you are a Newbie, but...rein it in.

Intel® Celeron® Processor B830
(2M Cache, 1.80 GHz) Launch Date Q3'12 So less than a year old.

Compared to the old Pentium, it will outperform them.

No need to work yourself into a frenzy over needing an i5 to run a business. Not all businesses are the same. They aren't likely to be crunching millions of numbers or using it as a Server. Of course the Celeron is a Dual Core processor. No need to try to blind the OP with words.

Simple illustration:

Pentium from three years ago: Pentium Dual-Core T4500 @ 2.30GHz has a CPU Benchmark of 1345, compared to last year's Celeron above of 1605.

OP doesn't need to spend money to impress. This is about saving money, not spending as much as possible.

After my experience with Celeron processors, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

When running a small business through one laptop it is often necessary to run multiple programs at once. So I would recommend a minimum of i3, but preferably i5.

http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/laptops?ref=SBHP_C1R01_Laptops

Jamie_Carter

onzey wrote: »

What's the usual evaluation period that allows you to see how it performs?

From Argos eBay shop:

Returning an item

Returned items must be in their original and unused condition, complete with all parts, accessories, original packaging and the original invoice.

As well as the fact that items that store data are exempt from distance selling regulations.

HereAgain_2

onzey wrote: »

What's the usual evaluation period that allows you to see how it performs?

From Argos eBay shop:

Returning an item

Returned items must be in their original and unused condition, complete with all parts, accessories, original packaging and the original invoice.

Seven working days from the day of delivery. You can take it out and try it. If it doesn't suit for any reason, leave it as you found it and organise the sending back for a full refund.

They write unused condition, not unused. You emphasized the wrong word. Shame on you.

After that period, you can just return it if it's faulty. Same conditions as when buying new from a reputable retailer.