Cheap reliable laptop for schoolwork?

truescot

Looking for the cheapest laptop which is reliable enough for a 15 year old to do schoolwork on (Microsoft Teams etc) for the next 2-3 years. Should I stick with a well known brand and go refurbished? If so, any specific brand/specs I should be looking for to ensure it's up scratch? He's currently complaining that our old, low spec laptop is not really cutting it for him as he studies for his exams in April, but we can't really afford to break the bank. What should I be looking to pay (the cheaper the better obvs!) Any suggestions welcome...

J_B

Cheapest would be to up-spec the existing machine.

Tell us the make, model and service tag off the back

getmore4less

As said start with what you have and work out if the issues can be resolved.

There may be V.cheap (software fixes) or cheap(hardware additions) than might work.

Needs a list of use cases that are causing the problems with a bit of detail about the "issues"

Cisco001

What is your existing spec?
You may be able to upgrade to solve the problem.

Se1Lad

If the current laptop has a mechanical drive, changing to a SSD plus a clean install of windows should make a noticeable difference.  Assuming a 2.5” SATA drive is required then 256GB drives are £23 on Amazon or a smaller 128GB drive is £16.

For £4 on eBay you could also buy this so that you can convert the existing drive into an external backup drive - would also make it easy to transfer back any existing files to the laptop onto the new SSD:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-2-0-SATA-2-5-Inch-External-Hard-Drive-Enclosure-HDD-SSD-Case-Caddy-UK-Black-/144060054958?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

as per previous comments if you could post the laptop model to ensure you get the best advice.

grumpycrab

Updating existing laptop may be possible (if you have the time and help).  Buying second-hand may be a good option.  New, there's this after a quick look.  Memory (4GB) and disk (128GB) are bare minimums though...
http://www.ebuyer.com/1262999-asus-x415-core-i3-4gb-128gb-ssd-14-fhd-win10-home-laptop-x415ea-eb196ts