New laptop and antivirus

CaptainWales

Hi. I'm looking to buy a new laptop for general occasional use eg storing photos, some word docs and excel spreadsheets, internet browsing like when booking a holiday. Occasional iplayer watching.
 Nothing too demanding really. Budget around £400.

Seen the HP pavilion 14 on offer at currys for £429 - looks a good deal but no idea if it is. Anybody any thoughts?

Also would I need an antivirus and are there any free out there? Had Norton in the past but not keen as it broken my last laptop.

Any thoughts much appreciated. 

shiraz99

There are numerous threads on here regarding AV and the general consensus is you don't need anything other than the the one that already comes as part of the Windows OS, eg, Windows Defender. In fact you may find your new laptop installed with a trial version of Norton or other AV but's it's best just to uninstall these.

As far as the laptop is concerned, I personally wouldn't buy anything from Currys and I don't think that particular model is really that good value. Have a look on the Dell outlet page to see if anything takes your fancy, you could probably get something with an intel i5 or AMD Rysen 5 chip for that money.

https://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=7&c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh&dgc=IR&cid=296386&lid=5667687

CaptainWales

Ah, right. How come I should avoid currys?

Also seen this https://www.very.co.uk/asus-x415ja-ek006t-laptop-14in-fhdnbspintel-core-i5nbsp8gb-ramnbsp256gb-ssdnbspnorton-360-antivirus-optional-microsoftnbsp365-family-15-months-silver/1600567692.prd 

But again not sure - stumbling around in the dark if I'm honest!

shiraz99

CaptainWales said:

Ah, right. How come I should avoid currys?

Also seen this https://www.very.co.uk/asus-x415ja-ek006t-laptop-14in-fhdnbspintel-core-i5nbsp8gb-ramnbsp256gb-ssdnbspnorton-360-antivirus-optional-microsoftnbsp365-family-15-months-silver/1600567692.prd 

But again not sure - stumbling around in the dark if I'm honest!

Curry's don't have the best of reputations when it comes to customer service or technical knowledge if or when things go wrong, neither does Very for that matter, but that's just my opinion.

Didn't you see anything on that link I gave you. There's a nice Dell Inspiron 15 3000 that would suit your needs, with an i5-1035G1 processor, 8GB ram and 256GB SSD for £359, there's also the Rysen 5 equivalent for £379. Both are "Certified Refurbished" which simply means they are just customer change of mind returns and will be as good as new.

grumpycrab

The Curry's HP is just ok (does that have a touchscreen? - great if you need it!).  Similarly the Very/Asus.  The Dells would be better value and here's another one
(1) 14" Laptop, Honor Magicbook X14 Intel Core I5 8GB RAM 512GB SSD - £399.97 @ Box.co.uk | hotukdeals

Do NOT pay for any extra anti-virus. Windows 10/11 is pretty good.  (Norton is free if you use BT.)

Word/Excel.  What software do you intend to use?

CaptainWales

Thanks both.

Shiraz99 - no, didn't really look though as I thought they were all second hand whereas I'm after a brand new one. Will though.  

[Deleted User]

CaptainWales said:

Also would I need an antivirus and are there any free out there? Had Norton in the past but not keen as it broken my last laptop.

Hi,

how did this happen, and what was broken, might be an easy fix?

CaptainWales

It was years ago, so that computer is long gone.

In terms of using word and excel was going to buy microsoft office home 365 - wowcher has this for about £25 I think.

flaneurs_lobster

I've just bought a new Windows laptop (I'd recommend it but it was a Costco special and sold out inside a day) and was going to get proper MS Office but decided to try the free online versions of Word and Excel. They've done the (simple) tasks I've needed to do with existing documents/spreadsheets created with full-fat MS Office programs well.

Worth a look before you spend on the proper stuff. 

GDB2222

I would have a look here for inspiration.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/tag/laptop

In particular this HP seems to be a very good buy, and it’s well within your budget. There’s a 10% off voucher code that seems to run out today.


https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/hp-245-g8-amd-ryzen-5-5500u-8gb-ram-512gb-pcie-nvme-ssd-14-full-hd-windows-10-pro-ps33162-using-code-at-ebuyer-ebay-3971042

mobileron

Dont touch Currys was in MK store a few days ago and the Sales guy didnt know what he was talking about, buy from Amazon or John Lewis will give u free 2b years warranty