Ideas for a cheapish small laptop

bouicca21

I currently have a desktop and a laptop, both running Windows 10. The desktop is on my desk (natch) and I use the laptop for working in the garden or in another room.



The laptop is too big to carry comfortably but I need something for using away from home. It would mainly be for collecting information, so mostly Word and Excel but maybe Access, and maybe for storing photos until I get home. It needs to be light and small but still comfortable for typing.

Any suggestions? Is the PCWorld trade in offer on old laptops worth it? (I have an ancient Dell netbook one sitting around catching dust, still works but incredibly slow.) I don't want to spend a fortune.

Cisco001

How big is your existing laptop?
What is your exact budget?

slinga

Dell XPS works for me.
Ain't cheap though.

agrinnall

I'd say your options are either to buy pre-owned (either second hand or a refurb from someone like Dell) or a Chromebook, which won't have much power or storage but might be good enough for your needs, e.g.



https://www.johnlewis.com/asus-chromebook-flip-c101pa-4gb-ram-16gb-emmc-flash-10-1-inch-touch-screen-silver/p3311501

bouicca21

Existing laptop is 38cm x 10 cm or 15" by 10" in old money. I need something smaller and lighter to carry around, especially on public transport.



Budget - I am out of date on how much laptops cost. I had mentally set £300-£500 but most in this price bracket seem to have only 4GB RAM, which seems rather low - I don't want to go so cheap that the processing power will rapidly become inadequate.

Cisco001

Is 13.3" small enough?

This is the best spec I can find within your budget.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MEDION-Akoya-S3409-13-3-Inch-Notebook/dp/B01M32WRQ2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&th=1

System

I'd go for a refurbished laptop. Lenovo Thinkpad X220 or X240 from Ebay. Corporate grade small 12.1" screen bomb proof sub-portables that cost over £1000 new.

Neil49

Another 13.3 inch laptops for you to consider.

https://www.box.co.uk/NX.GK4EK.011-Acer-Spin-5-SP513-51-311K_2140671.html

£329.97

Only 4gb ram but easily upgradeable.

Touch screen, backlit keyboard 128 gb sad, lightweight, flip screen.

Not the worlds most powerful processor but it's good for the money.

Frozen_up_north

My OH had a Thinkpad from her organisation, it was very lightweight had 9 to 10 hours running time on a charge and was very fast. The battery was a clip on job, surprising for a lightweight.

There were a couple of irritating problems, the track pad was awkward to use, she often used the touchscreen instead... and there was a lack of LED status indicators (caps lock, etc). There are some secondhand ones of these around, as suggested by Tarambor.

Cisco001

If you want 12.5" thinkpad, this is the cheapest I manage to find.
CPU wise, it is slightly faster than i3-6006u, but slower than i3-7100u

https://www.laptopoutlet.co.uk/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-20gg003yuk-12-inch-laptop-tablet-intel-core-m5-6y54-8gb-ram-256gb-ssd-windows-10-pro.html

Forgot to say, I highly recommend you go for full HD screen. It is a pain to use 1366 x 768 screen for excel

Murmansk

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/19/what-is-the-best-laptop-for-300-pounds