Laptop Purchase Advice Please

james00744

I'm thinking of going for this refurbished Laptop with a low-end ish budget of around £300-350 if possible:

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-lenovo-thinkpad-t480-core-i7-8th-gen-16gb-256gb-14-inch-windows-t1-t480i716gb256gbw10p/version.asp

I will be using it to replace my desktop PC: plugging my monitor and keyboard/mouse in when at home, but having the option to take it away with me.

I use it mainly just for Excel, Word, Email, Skype, and browsing (sometimes lots of tabs open at the same time).

The only downside from what people have said, is that 14" is small, and 15.6" is much better... and also has a low resolution and I should consider a higher one in HD? I won't be watching videos, so as long as it's a clear screen, it's fine.

I've also been recommended this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Carbon-Ultrabook-i5-8350U/dp/B0D2D6P4KP/

Can anybody please help with my quandary. I'm happy to check on other websites and consider any other recommendations.

I just need something quick for what I do, as my current PC has 4GB RAM and keeps freezing and I can tell is on its way out.

Frozen_up_north

An 8th generation i7 is quite old and the 14" screen + low resolution LCD add up to poor value to me. I don't know if that particular model will officially support Windows 11 Pro, it looks to have been supplied around 5 years ago and originally came with Win 10 Pro. As you may be aware, laptops can be a problem with regard to drivers and updates to the operating system. Lenovo do officially support Win 11 on some older laptops, but I would try to ascertain for certain that this particular model really is supported.

For £76 more you can buy an Asus Vivobook from Amazon, it will probably be less on "Prime day" between 16h and 17th July. You won't get a business grade laptop, nor an i7, but you do get a brand new laptop with Windows 11. We have a couple of Vivobooks and they are pretty good, although one is now 4 years old with a broken keyboard... sadly not worth repairing.

Keyboards and batteries are the downside to laptops

james00744

Frozen_up_north said:

For £76 more you can buy an Asus Vivobook from Amazon, it will probably be less on "Prime day" between 16h and 17th July.

Hi, do you have a link to one on Amazon you mean? The one I found only has 8GB RAM. I can tell this won't be enough.

Also, I'll use it most of the time at home with my PC monitor, so won't be using the laptop monitor.

Frozen_up_north

Search Amazon for Vivobook 15 and you will see several. I guess you are expecting more than the standard office/student laptop which typically has 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD, in which case you either have to spend a lot more, or buy a 5 year old ex business laptop.

What do you want the laptop for? I run everything from CAD, electronic circuit simulation (Spice modelling), plus the usual standard Word/Excel stuff. I have no resource issues with 8/256 GB.

james00744

Frozen_up_north said:

Search Amazon for Vivobook 15 and you will see several. I guess you are expecting more than the standard office/student laptop which typically has 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD, in which case you either have to spend a lot more, or buy a 5 year old ex business laptop.

What do you want the laptop for? I run everything from CAD, electronic circuit simulation (Spice modelling), plus the usual standard Word/Excel stuff. I have no resource issues with 8/256 GB.

I use a lot of browser tabs/windows at the same time which I've seen eats up memory. I also connect to VPSs and each one of those takes up memory. Plus Excel, email. 4GB goes almost immediately, just with the browsers alone.

Frozen_up_north

You can add ram to many laptops if you really need more than 8 GB. See Crucial for ram guaranteed to work in your laptop (if you use their scanner program).
https://uk.crucial.com/

I have not had a problem using a screenful of tabs in Firefox with an 8 GB ram laptop.

Note that some laptops have a spare ram slot, some don’t, and some have the ram soldered in… so are not upgradable. Check before spending your money.

james00744

I've found this on Amazon:

 ASUS Laptop Vivobook 15 E1504GA 15.6" Full HD Laptop (Intel i3 8-Core Processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, Windows 11)

Not sure if that's the one you're referring to. £349.

The extra makes it £567. Quite a jump for having 8GB more RAM.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-Vivobook-X1505ZA-i5-12500H-Brightness/dp/B0CWRVYN1M/ref=asc_df_B09TKKNQHV/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696386561251&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1914855282312689919&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046685&hvtargid=pla-2303297797429&mcid=a1290cde1fe13fe39b0d855cff836d7a&th=1&gad_source=1

Voyager2002

Just saying... if you are able to buy today, there is a ten per cent discount on Ebay (from most but not all suppliers). I bought a laptop there earlier today, and I think the code SHINE10 will be valid until midnight.

Check carefully whether or not your chosen machine is covered by a decent warranty (and I don't call three months return-to-base cover 'decent').

Bonhomie

james00744 said:

I'm thinking of going for this refurbished Laptop with a low-end ish budget of around £300-350 if possible:

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-lenovo-thinkpad-t480-core-i7-8th-gen-16gb-256gb-14-inch-windows-t1-t480i716gb256gbw10p/version.asp

I will be using it to replace my desktop PC: plugging my monitor and keyboard/mouse in when at home, but having the option to take it away with me.

I use it mainly just for Excel, Word, Email, Skype, and browsing (sometimes lots of tabs open at the same time).

The only downside from what people have said, is that 14" is small, and 15.6" is much better... and also has a low resolution and I should consider a higher one in HD? I won't be watching videos, so as long as it's a clear screen, it's fine.

I've also been recommended this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Carbon-Ultrabook-i5-8350U/dp/B0D2D6P4KP/

Can anybody please help with my quandary. I'm happy to check on other websites and consider any other recommendations.

I just need something quick for what I do, as my current PC has 4GB RAM and keeps freezing and I can tell is on its way out.

Have you considered adding RAM and an SSD to your current PC? £40 to £50. should cover that. Far cheaper and equally effective, with still enough left over to get a laptop with a long battery life for outdoors.

Frozen_up_north

Argos have several Asus laptops, prices seem similar to everywhere else and you can often pick up the item without waiting for delivery.

A tip with Amazon is to put the item in your basket and wait a day or two to see if the price drops… an even better idea is to wait for the Prime sale on 16th/17th July. 2 years ago one of our Vivobook laptops was discounted by roughly £100 in the sale.

Cisco001

Lenovo E14 Gen 2/i5-1135G7/8GB Ram/256GB SSD/14"/W11/B CEX £200