New laptop recommendations

Aidanmc

My 12+ year old HP pavilion is failing and i'm looking to buy a new laptop.

I was looking for some suggestions.

As for spec i have the following queries

8GB RAM - or is 4GB enough

Windows 11 - i've read windows 11s is restrictive, 

15.6 inch screen - the 14inch ones seem small

Which processor icore or amd ryzen is best or does it really matter

I liked the old HP laptop. 

Forgot to mention, i'm not a gamer, just general web browsing, watching youtube 

debitcardmayhem

At least 8GB ideally 16, Windows 11 is all you can get unless you want Linux or Mac, or a Chromebook. what budget have you in mind, do you mind refurbished?

sausage_time

What about a Chromebook?  Much simpler to look after, and ideal for browsing and YouTube.  All are (still) part of the Google ecosystem and play well together.  Likely to be more cost effective than a Windows box.

Chromebook won't be a good fit if you need to install apps like Microsoft Office or LibraOffice (or any other more niche app).  But the Google office alternatives are rather good.

If you want a traditional Windows laptop I'd go for 8GB memory as an absolute minimum.   For processor I'd aim for one of the "5" range - AMD or Intel.  This is a long article but the table "Picking a Laptop CPU Family: Usage Cases" may prove useful.

https://uk.pcmag.com/processors/132443/how-to-choose-a-laptop-cpu-in-2021

ballyblack

Try to get 16Gb ram & i3 processor and avoid HP, they are cheap & fragile

Aidanmc

debitcardmayhem said:

At least 8GB ideally 16, Windows 11 is all you can get unless you want Linux or Mac, or a Chromebook. what budget have you in mind, do you mind refurbished?

Haven't really thought about a chromebook, could be an option.

My budget would be 400 at most. Not sure about refurb

Cisco001

For the task you are doing, which brand of CPU doesn't really matter.

Try to get something with good screen likely to be high priority.

Example

ASUS Vivobook 15 OLED X1505VA 15.6" Laptop - Intel® Core™ i5, 512 GB SSD, Silver £430

Newcad

I got this one when my old Asus laptop died last February.
It's currently £399 with 1 years subscription to MS Office 365 and McAfee included.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8488617?clickSR=slp:term:lenovo:9:68:1

I got it on sale at a bargain £280, It would be considered a bit minimum spec for some uses but for general use it's good.
At the price I paid I can stand the 8GB soldered in RAM (you can't add more RAM later) as long as it's LPDDR5 and teamed with a good processor, and the 12th gen Intel Core i5 is good.

It will be much. much, faster than your old Pavillion.

Less of the tech - It's a good everyday laptop that I use for general browsing, forums, watching film and TV programmes, and some 'lighter' games such as a golfing game (not multiplayer online games, I'm not into that).

The keyboard is one of the best feeling that I've had on a laptop.

I've tried it on battery only and got 8 hours plus of constant use from a full charge.
Generally though I leave it plugged in using 'Conservation mode' which uses the mains not the battery, and only charges the bettery if it's been off mains and fallen below 70% battery charge in which case it will charge it up to 80% and then revert to running on mains again.

It does have a few quirks, I left a review there on Argos that mentions them, but nothing bad.

PS. I didn't need/want the bundled software, but it's in the sealed retail packaging that Argos sells on it's own so I gave it to the local charity shop to make a few quid on.

PPS. I just re-read the blurb, it mentions 'optional fingerprint-reader' but there isn't one built in to that model.

Frozen_up_north

Another vote for an Asus Vivobook. My OH has one and it’s pretty good. They are often a good price at Argos or Amazon.
Her laptop is an i5 with 16GB RAM, Win 11 Home and 512GB SSD. Unfortunately it has a silver keyboard with white backlit letters… making reading it difficult in most lighting, my Dell with black keys and white backlit letters is far easier to see in any lighting.

Argos have the above Vivobook at £409, not sure if it backlit keys, details a bit vague on their app.

Vitor

8GB RAM is a minimum. This might be worth a look Buy ASUS Vivobook Go 15 E1504FA 15.6" Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5, 512 GB SSD, Silver | Currys

Aidanmc

Thanks for your replies and suggestions.

What would this one be like,

ASUS Vivobook 15.6in i3 8GB 512GB Laptop Bundle

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7552661?clickPR=plp:2:27

Only thing i can see is the processor speed is lowish at 1.2ghz, i dont really know what burst speed is.

This old pavilion i have has 2.2ghz processor, but probably less cores, dont really understand cores either but im sure more is better....thanks

Ore even this one at Currys, https://www.currys.co.uk/products/hp-15fc0514sa-15.6-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-256-gb-black-10250853.html

Which of these 2 would be the better?

benson1980

Not intending to hijack this thread and was going to post my own, but there's such an overlap with what I was going to ask about and the recommendations it seemed best to just post on this one as any replies might assist the OP as well. Thus OP, hope you don't mind....

My parents need a new laptop, mainly used for photo editing. I'd been steering them towards business refurb as being a far better option generally for best VFM and said I'd find something for them when the time comes. They have actually on a slight whim ordered this Asus Vivobook the other day, albeit they can return it:

https://www.johnlewis.com/asus-vivobook-15-laptop-intel-core-i5-processor-16gb-ram-512gb-ssd-15-6-full-hd-silver/p113233234

The one recommended above by Cisco looks like a far better option though esp for photos, with a superior screen for £20 more? Processor wise looks like this one might be better suited for them as well as it won't leave their study and will always plugged in (they are adamant that they want a laptop)

Anyway, I have scoured business refurbs and to be honest I'm struggling to get anything that matches the spec of these vivobooks- mainly the processor speed. The one I settled on (with a little help from chatGBT) was a Dell Latitude 5520 Core i5 1135G7 but struggling to get one on budget with 512SSD which they do need in fairness rather than 256.

I have still advised they go with a refurb as the general build quality and specifically the keyboard would be better but would be interested in any other refurb options around £400 mark.