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Laptop advice
savagelyric
Posts: 135 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
Hello
I am looking to buy a laptop which will mainly be used by my daughter who is starting secondary school in September. Aside from school work, it would probably only be used for internet browsing and MS Office applications. What technical specifications do I need to look out for please? I would ideally like something which will last a few years. Budget is up to £300 and I am happy to buy refurbished or new - whichever gets me the better laptop!
(We currently have an ASUS Transformer Book T100 but this will be too small for kiddo to work on for any length of time plus we have pretty much run out of storage on it!)
Any advice welcomed.
I am looking to buy a laptop which will mainly be used by my daughter who is starting secondary school in September. Aside from school work, it would probably only be used for internet browsing and MS Office applications. What technical specifications do I need to look out for please? I would ideally like something which will last a few years. Budget is up to £300 and I am happy to buy refurbished or new - whichever gets me the better laptop!
(We currently have an ASUS Transformer Book T100 but this will be too small for kiddo to work on for any length of time plus we have pretty much run out of storage on it!)
Any advice welcomed.
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Comments
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You don't need a very high spec processor.
I suggest getting a SSD rather than a hard disk.
The screen makes a lot of difference. Get one that is 1080p.
Check that you're happy with the keyboard. Buy an external mouse and use that rather than the trackpad.
4gb of RAM is adequate but 8 is better.
I'd expect you can get what you need for £300-400.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?0 -
Something like this but just sold out. Its the IPS screen that made this good value, despite a refurb.
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/hp-pavilion-14-fhd-ips-intel-core-i5-8250u-8gb-ram-256gb-ssd-laptop-refurb-32499-at-laptop-outlet-ebay-with-code-32519550 -
Not as new as the device above and with a TN screen, but with a backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader and Windows 10 Pro, as opposed to the crippled 10 Home; https://mcscom.co.uk/product/dell-latitude-15-3580-i5-6200u-2-30ghz-8gb-256gb-ssd-r5-m430-15-6-fhd-win-10-pro-1yr-rtb-wty-mll579/0
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Thanks for the advice,
I have narrowed it down to these which seem (to my untrained eye) to be much the same, except for the larger screen with the tier1online one. The drawback being I haven't heard of this company but found the link from a guardian article about refurbed laptops so should be OK.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XDPF1CY/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A1P4WV8ZGK5JG9&psc=1
https://www.ebuyer.com/882049-refurbished-hp-elitebook-9470m-laptop-cb-lap-hp-9470m-i5-8-180ssd-w10pro
https://www.tier1online.com/1-1r09aw-b/refurbished-hp-elitebook-850-i5-4200u-15-6-webcam-grade-b
I have an HP elite book for work and a home office set up with monitor, keyboard and mouse so thinking this will be an easy swap for using the space.0 -
savagelyric wrote: »Thanks for the advice,
I have narrowed it down to these which seem (to my untrained eye) to be much the same, except for the larger screen with the tier1online one. The drawback being I haven't heard of this company but found the link from a guardian article about refurbed laptops so should be OK.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XDPF1CY/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A1P4WV8ZGK5JG9&psc=1
https://www.ebuyer.com/882049-refurbished-hp-elitebook-9470m-laptop-cb-lap-hp-9470m-i5-8-180ssd-w10pro
https://www.tier1online.com/1-1r09aw-b/refurbished-hp-elitebook-850-i5-4200u-15-6-webcam-grade-b
I have an HP elite book for work and a home office set up with monitor, keyboard and mouse so thinking this will be an easy swap for using the space.
Don't bother. Those laptop are too old. Probably 5 years old.
I would probably get this instead
https://www.johnlewis.com/lenovo-ideapad-330s-81fb00dcuk-laptop-amd-ryzen-r3-processor-4gb-ram-128gb-ssd-15-6-platinum-grey/p4005388?sku=237977121&s_kwcid=2dx92700042468421723&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhrmLiZy-4wIVAbDtCh0Qyg13EAQYASABEgKr1fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://www.ebuyer.com/875170-hp-255-g7-amd-ryzen-3-laptop-6bn15ea-abu?mkwid=s_dc&pcrid=51467863979&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhrmLiZy-4wIVAbDtCh0Qyg13EAQYBSABEgJp0PD_BwE0 -
Thank you Cisco001.
Other advice I have had includes:
* The processor speed - you need to see processor names like i3, i5, i7 whereas the suggestions you have posted don't have these?
*Choose for SSD over HDD?
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https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/
AMD Ryzen is an competitor CPU to Intel. The link above will let you compare performance. For the stated use then I'd surmise that a Ryzen 3 would be fine.0 -
Also have a look here for refurb machines, I've set the filter to display ones with SSD'S
https://www.europc.co.uk/laptops/all?g_hard_drive_type=231650 -
savagelyric wrote: »Thanks for the advice,
I have narrowed it down to these which seem (to my untrained eye) to be much the same, except for the larger screen with the tier1online one. The drawback being I haven't heard of this company but found the link from a guardian article about refurbed laptops so should be OK.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XDPF1CY/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A1P4WV8ZGK5JG9&psc=1
https://www.ebuyer.com/882049-refurbished-hp-elitebook-9470m-laptop-cb-lap-hp-9470m-i5-8-180ssd-w10pro
https://www.tier1online.com/1-1r09aw-b/refurbished-hp-elitebook-850-i5-4200u-15-6-webcam-grade-b
I have an HP elite book for work and a home office set up with monitor, keyboard and mouse so thinking this will be an easy swap for using the space.
So you totally ignored the advice for which you asked then came up with your own list? Impressive.0 -
Don't bother. Those laptop are too old. Probably 5 years old.
I would probably get this instead
https://www.johnlewis.com/lenovo-ideapad-330s-81fb00dcuk-laptop-amd-ryzen-r3-processor-4gb-ram-128gb-ssd-15-6-platinum-grey/p4005388?sku=237977121&s_kwcid=2dx92700042468421723&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhrmLiZy-4wIVAbDtCh0Qyg13EAQYASABEgKr1fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://www.ebuyer.com/875170-hp-255-g7-amd-ryzen-3-laptop-6bn15ea-abu?mkwid=s_dc&pcrid=51467863979&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhrmLiZy-4wIVAbDtCh0Qyg13EAQYBSABEgJp0PD_BwE
Both of those appear to have HD, as opposed to Full HD screens, on first appearance.
Would double check before attempting purchase,0
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