Elderly relative has asked me to buy a new laptop - help!

stanleyman

Thanks again to everyone for their help, and apologies for causing an argument!

EveryWhere - I don't live near my relative, so upgrading his current laptop (if he even agreed to that) isn't really an option since I'd need to take it away, and he needs it for his charity work. I don't have his model number to hand, I didn't take a note of it.

Your comments have been helpful, I can tell you know your stuff, but this is an elderly man who is very set in his ways. No point in him learning from his mistakes when he's in his 80s, just let him get on with it his way. I'm used to it, he's not going to change.

I've had a look and you're right that the sub-£400 laptops on Argos seem to have very poor specs. I've seen one on Amazon which has good reviews (apart from a couple who mention the graphics, but that won't be an issue in this case), what are your thoughts on it? Unfortunately the forum doesn't allow me to post links but it's Lenovo V145 [81MT0015UK] (searching for the 81MT0015UK bit on Amazon brings it up as the first result, for £312.99)

I mentioned that I might be able to change his mind about buying online if there's a big price difference, and there definitely is when going for a slightly better one.

Farway

EveryWhere wrote: »

The only one that fits most of the criteria is Cisco001's John Lewis choice. but that isn't local either.

May not suit OP, but JL will deliver to a Waitrose, click & collect, so could be considered "local" much the same as Argos etc. plus of course buyer may feel happy with the JL / Waitrose brand behind it

spadoosh

EveryWhere wrote: »

Missing you already. Best you stay away if you don't have a clue.
Some of us still have some integrity and refuse to push people towards crud. You obviously don't care.

Some of us are intelligent enough to understand that belligerent (the OPs elderly relative) people are not really worth arguing with.

Its not integrity. Youre simply pushing what you want the OP to buy and not listening to what theyre asking for. Your 'crud' is my perfectly suitable 7 year old £300 laptop.

I worked in customer service most of my working life. I did what you did of making the recommendation i would choose. Inevitably people picked off their own backs, some where happy with what they got others where unhappy. Eventually i started to listen to what people where actually asking for.

Whats the sayings.... you can lead a horse to water.

Trains

The one Amazon is alot better, and faster too.

Here is the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-81MT0015UK-Processor-Dedicated-Graphics/dp/B07MHMQPR9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=81MT0015UK&qid=1563890324&s=gateway&sr=8-1

I would buy it myself!

EveryWhere

Trains wrote: »

This one: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8791201

No dvd player, but ok specs and SSD.

Only 128GB storage but i bet he doesn't need all that.

4GB Ram.


Lenovo IdeaPad 330S 15.6 Inch AMD A6 4GB 128GB Laptop - Grey

£299



AMD A6 9225 processor.
Dual core processor.
2.6GHz processor speed.
4GB RAM DDR4.
128GB SSD storage.
Microsoft Windows 10 S.

15.6 inch screen.
High definition display.
Resolution 1366 x 768 pixels.
Up to 5 hours battery life.

AMD Radeon R4 .
Shared graphics card.

4-in-1 media card reader.
2 USB 3.1 ports.
1 USB Type-C port.
1 HDMI port.
Bluetooth.
Wi-Fi enabled.

Built-in webcam.
Built-in mic.
HD Audio sound system.

A fairly large downgrade from the AMD Ryzen™ 3 2200U, but at least it has an SSD already fitted.
One would hope for a better screen, but if they are limiting themselves to their local Argos....

dogmaryxx

Online only as far as I can tell but excellent supplier

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/lenovo-v145-amd-a9-9425-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-fhd-windows-10-home-laptop-81mt0015uk/version.asp

peterbaker

I don't mean to hijack the thread but I do have a very similar problem with the exception that I do have the access and ability to upgrade an existing machine. So I have a related question for Everywhere:

I am frequently called to an elderly neighbour to unstick their very slow 10 year old e-Machines G640-P324G50Mn Model No. MS2294 and I can see from an original label was originally loaded with W7 but it is now on W10 from automatic upgrades. It has 4GB RAM.

It has never been abused and has only ever been lightly used for browser based GMail, internet banking, and a little MSWord and occasional printing.

I do have a spare (unused 5 year old Samsung I think) SSD knocking around somewhere. The message I have taken loud and clear from your advice on this thread because you have several times suggested it, is that installing an SSD can make a big difference to an old slow machine. I suppose I must have heard it before as a friend's son is a computing genius now and even when he was more just a gamer, recommended that his mother use an SSD for her boot drive and OS in her underdesk installation. However I have never used one.

Is the above enough info for you to say yes it be worth me hunting out that SSD* for my elderly neighbour, or is that particular old slow machine a hopeless dead duck of a likely candidate host for an SSD?

*found it - it is an MZ-7PC128 (128GB) 830 Series ...

DoaM

For the cost of a new 250GB one I probably wouldn't use an old one. Whilst there's no moving parts they do still have a life span, and for one that is 5 years old you couldn't warrant how long it might last.

Cisco001

stanleyman wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

A couple of things to clarify - I appreciate that his current laptop could be refurbed/upgraded, but to be honest he just wants to buy something off the shelf which will give him what he needs instantly. It might be an interesting project for someone, but not really in this case.

He's all about a quiet life, so would happily spend money to avoid any hassle. I appreciate that's not really in the spirit of this forum, but I was posting for techy help rather than moneysaving help.

The online vs bricks & mortar thing is his personal preference, and isn't necessarily logical. It's partly because he doesn't trust delivery companies not to drop it (even though the Argos driver could have dropped it on his way to the store), partly because he feels his money is not supporting the local economy (too many local stores, including branches of national companies, shutting down because of online shopping) and partly because he's impatient so he doesn't want to wait for delivery (but is happy to wait for a store to get a product from head office - again, not logical). Not necessarily the best way to shop, but he's in his 80s and is not going to change now. I'm just trying to make this as easy as possible for me and him.

Ultimately my question is just what do I need to look out for when comparing laptops. EveryWhere's reply about SSD is great, that's exactly what I needed. If there's anything else I should keep an eye out for (eg processor?) then it'd be appreciated.

Local economy? Seriously?
All the laptop is coming from the other side of the world...
Does it matter where he purchase.

Having said that, you may just buy from John Lewis, at least they treat their staff well, have good customer service and pay tax.

By the way, for £300 range, I don't bother with anything less than AMD Ryzen 3 2200u

Cisco001

Trains wrote: »

This one: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8791201

No dvd player, but ok specs and SSD.

Only 128GB storage but i bet he doesn't need all that.

4GB Ram.


Lenovo IdeaPad 330S 15.6 Inch AMD A6 4GB 128GB Laptop - Grey

£299



AMD A6 9225 processor.
Dual core processor.
2.6GHz processor speed.
4GB RAM DDR4.
128GB SSD storage.
Microsoft Windows 10 S.

15.6 inch screen.
High definition display.
Resolution 1366 x 768 pixels.
Up to 5 hours battery life.

AMD Radeon R4 .
Shared graphics card.

4-in-1 media card reader.
2 USB 3.1 ports.
1 USB Type-C port.
1 HDMI port.
Bluetooth.
Wi-Fi enabled.

Built-in webcam.
Built-in mic.
HD Audio sound system.

Are you kidding?