Cheap but good GCSE laptop

Quagga

My son will start on his GCSE's in September. It would help if we could get him a laptop. We have VERY limited money. BUT, obviously, GCSE's are a big deal. So we want to help.
Therefore we would like to buy him a new laptop, with all its warranties and guarantees. One that we can afford ... so, as cheap as possible. BUT, it has to be good enough as well. No point in cheap but won't be able to handle the work.

Any help or suggestions welcome.

Thank you.

Oh, I have a poor credit score so can't get HP

cattie

You could consider buying what is termed a refurbished laptop to get the best value possible. Most of the so called refurbished laptops sold by large reputable manufacturers/retailers are actually brand new & just superseded models.

My last 2 laptops have been purchased as refurbished & came with full warranty. My current laptop (Toshiba) is now over 3yrs old & worked out at roughly 50% the cost of one with similar specs.

This company has been going for years & is where my sister bought her replacement (refurbished) laptop from earlier this year. https://www.europc.co.uk/

agrinnall

I'd agree that looking at refurbs is a good option, but in reality any laptop that works will be good enough for GCSE use, and probably for A-level too.

motorguy

I'd be looking for a refurb business machine, rather than a budget consumer quality one.

You want to aim for :-

• at least an i5 processor
• 8GB RAM
• at least a 200GB SSD drive
• Windows 10

I would put a search in ebay for something like "i5 8GB SSD laptop" and that should pull up results. Search then by cheapest including postage and packing and UK sellers only.

This one works out at £229 with a warranty with a 240GB SSD.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-X220-Laptop-i5-4GB-8GB-128GB-320GB-500GB-1TB-HDD-SSD-WIN-10/253322694859?hash=item3afb3590cb:m:mZrAR9yjVd4GQ27w_y4MRdg

motorguy

Just for reference, you can go lower on price.

I bought a laptop with a 240GB SSD, i3, 8GB RAM, Win 10, HP laptop with a new battery recently fitted for £124.00 off a private seller on ebay, delivered.

He'd owned it from new and came in its original box.

The i3 processor is fine for my usage, however i'd aim for an i5 if its within budget.

Another advantage is a business quality machine is that parts are easily bought and fitted - replacement batteries, new power supplies, RAM, hard disks, cases, screens and keyboards are all usually easily swapped out.

Hoogle

Without knowing personal financial details, most schools offer a personal computer scheme whilst GCSEs/Alevel studying I have heard of 2 schemes 1 is a totally free very basic laptop/notebook enough to just do what is needed and there is a finance option where you pay 1-£10 a week and you can get nice high end machines interest free. SO ask the school if they do any schemes similar to it.

toshi

I also suggest a refurbish one but also you should get a business grade notebook, which is far far better quality and durability than consumer notebook.

Business Models: HP Elitebook, Dell Latitude, Lenovo Thinkpad, Toshiba Tecra/Portage

I would suggest if 14inch screen is OK.. (The above Thinkpad is a great if you are ok with 12.5 inch)

Dell Latitude E6430 - i5-3340M 2.70GHz

(YOU MUST UPGRADE THE BELOW - DON'T SAVE HERE)
Upgrade Your Hard Drive 120GB SSD £35
Memory Upgrade 4GB £20
Operating System Windows 10 Home - Installed as stand
1 Year RTB Warranty £25 (option but recommend)

Total: £245.00 (You may want to use Micro$oft Office, then find a way to get a good deal, academic license ?)

You may want to find other models ? but you should get 4GB and 120GB SSD upgrade!!
https://www.encore-pc.co.uk/laptops/windows-laptops

This may be over-spec for a student work :cool:, but can be upgraded in the future, (bigger capacity of SSD etc ) Happy computing

P.S. Please please avoid a disposable grade cheap notebook - Non upgradable 32GB eMMC ( not an SSD)

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5762934