Needing New Laptop

TheBunting

Hi folks,

I am in desperate need of a new laptop and I must admit, I have no idea what I'm looking for. I don't want to spend too much, probably £500 at the very max. Now the things, I will be using it for. I won't be using it for any heavy gaming. I will need it mostly for websites, emails, typing up the odd word document/spreadsheet, and using some trading. I might play the odd game on it, but nothing that has very high demand performance wise. Could anyone recommend something or a couple options please? Memory isn't majorly important either, as I could just get an external hard drive. Any help greatly appreciated

AndyPix

Morning
There are loads of threads nearly identical to this one ..


Have a look at those to save everyone repeating themselves again and come back with any specific questions

WaywardDriver

How portable does it need to be? Mainly 1 fixed or several locations at home or transported daily between home and work?

Doshwaster

WaywardDriver wrote: »

How portable does it need to be? Mainly 1 fixed or several locations at home or transported daily between home and work?

This is probably the most important factor when choosing a new laptop.

If it's going to spend most of its life plugged into the mains on a desk at home then weight and battery life aren't very important. If you work on the move then they are critical.

TheBunting

WaywardDriver wrote: »

How portable does it need to be? Mainly 1 fixed or several locations at home or transported daily between home and work?

Doshwaster wrote: »

This is probably the most important factor when choosing a new laptop.

If it's going to spend most of its life plugged into the mains on a desk at home then weight and battery life aren't very important. If you work on the move then they are critical.

Hi guys!

Sorry I forgot to add this aspect in my original post. It will 90% of the time be in the house and will have access to mains, so battery life is not important at all. I never knew the battery would have such an impact on the spec of a laptop, sorry.

WaywardDriver

Suggest look at Currys (or similar) website and filter to 15in laptops between £4-500 to get an idea of what's available. In that price range seems get either SSD or large hard drive but not both.
If store near you try out laptops paying particular attention to quality of keyboard and display.
From personal experience I'd be looking at HP and Dell but other makes and stores available.
Alternative is refurbished business machine such as Dell Vostro @ say £300 with external monitor @ say £100. This was my choice.

Doshwaster

TheBunting wrote: »

Hi guys!

Sorry I forgot to add this aspect in my original post. It will 90% of the time be in the house and will have access to mains, so battery life is not important at all. I never knew the battery would have such an impact on the spec of a laptop, sorry.

It has a massive impact and one of the biggest differences between a £500 and £1500 laptop.

These ultra-thin 12-13" laptops you seen with 10-12 hour life need really expensive battery technologies as there is no space in the case the put a big battery. For a 15" which is going to be plugged in most of the time then manufacturers can use cheap batteries which have been around a long time to keep the cost down.

grumpycrab

A couple of (new) suggestions

1. £329 https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/medion-s3409-laptop-133-1080p-ips-screen-256gb-ssd-4gb-ram-and-i3-7100u-cpu-32999-laptops-outlet-3124761
screen too small? 8GB memory would be better

2. like long warranties? 3 year John Lewis warranty; small SSD
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lenovo-ideapad-330s-laptop-intelr-coretm-i3-8gb-128gb-ssd-14-full-hd-grey-inc-3-year-guarantee-37995-john-lewis-partners-3123062

3. £399
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lenovo-v330-14arr-ryzen-5-laptop-39998-ebuyer-3107004

toshi

TheBunting wrote: »

Thinking about starting the Save 12k in 2019 challenge next year.

Don't think for the next year, take action now. We love to assist you to make an initial deposit of £250-350 now for saving in 2019

TheBunting wrote: »

Hi folks,
probably £500 at the very max.

Then probably £150, £250 at the very max.

Just Reference only: (no rush! others would give you better deals!)
https://www.encore-pc.co.uk/laptops/windows-laptops?screen_size=167

AndyPix wrote: »

There are loads of threads nearly identical to this one ..
Have a look at those to save everyone repeating themselves again and come back with any specific questions

Seriously read through this forum, this tech forum is far far than other IT tech enthusiast site, people here have actual working knowledge with a great cost/performance conscious, indispensably valuable:cool:. Check it out and come back here to make any question to save your initial deposit for 2019 now.

Happy computing & saving :A

TheBunting

Should I be going for an i5 instead of i3 processor? Does that make a big difference. Also the memory doesnt really matter either, I will be using an external hard drive as I will have a lot of important documents etc I dont want to have saved onto the laptop I can store the EHD in a safe.

Thanks for your suggestions so far.

that

I'm of the opinion you have missed the boat. This is the season where many have to buy, the desperate get out their wallets in panic the last few weeks before Xmas. Businesses know this and often cream the market. Think the week around black friday and cyber monday are the end of cheapness. till next year. having checked the last two weeks from the last few years, they generally went up, but the dross got put on the market under the bargain banner, which they weren't, just to separate fools from their money.

You could do much worse than this one which is a grade 2 machine. Check beforehand it had no marks on the screen, like blemishes, bubbles or dud pixels or other screen issues. £139.99 was $1795 four years ago.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Latitude-E7240-Core-i5-4300U-1-90GHz-4GB-Ram-128GB-SSD-Webcam-HDMI-Laptop/323560465412?

depending on the age of the i3, it may outperform an i7. compare apples with apples, and not slugs with race horses

If you must have new, personally would buy next year... if you can wait.?