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Affordable laptop recommendations: budget £350-£450

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:
Is there anywhere I can get windows for free so that I can boot it up and see if it's all working fine? I only have a mac to download it on though. If I get a new hard drive for £50, it would still be a decent laptop for my daughter to do homework and stuff on.
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I believe you can download it from Microsoft. It will nag you to licence it, but if it's just for testing that doesn't matter.
 
I'm not up to date on spec but the dell outlet currently have one of these available for £385 ex VAT.

Inspiron 15 - 7548
Processor: Intel[emoji768] Core[emoji769] i5-5200U (3M Cache, up to 2.70 GHz)
Windows 10 Home (64bit)
8 GB DDR3 Memory 1600MHz (2 DIMMs)
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
No Optical Device
4 GB DDR3 AMD Radeon R7 M270
Software
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 802.11ac, 1x1, 2.4 & 5GHz + Bluetooth 4.0
LCD Back Cover - Silver (Non-Touch Screen)
43 WHr, 3-Cell Battery (integrated)
15.6 inch HD (1366 x 768) Anti-Glare LED-Backlit Display
Internal Qwerty Backlit Keyboard

They're refurbs were always good quality when I bought in the past and were often cancelled or returned orders.

Haven't bought Dell in a while so can't comment on the quality now but it may be worth checking the outlet store regularly.
 
We're a Mac/Chromebook house and I haven't looked into the windows market for years, but I'm going to have to this weekend.

My 97 year old grandad has been emailing me that his 8 year old HP vista laptop is causing him trouble (no shit! :D) Anyway he's of the make do and mend generation and from Yorkshire and doesn't want to buy a new one so he's trying to roll back to XP :facepalm: and is having trouble with service packs. This is all far too much hassle for a 97 year old, so I'm just going to get him a machine and give the bill to my dad, who has fucked off abroad for retirement.

He was interested in Chromebooks, due to the price, but 'doesn't trust the cloud' and wants a copy of office on the machine.

I can get 25% off at John Lewis and I need the computer in my hands ASAP, as I only have time to get down and give it to him tomorrow. Is this one over'specced for windows 10 lightish use - office stuff, photos, videos, a bit of basic stuff too (although please remember I'm not paying :D)

Buy Lenovo Ideapad 310 Laptop, Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB, 15.6" | John Lewis with the discount it is £400

Going on previous windows experience and wanting a trouble free existence am I right in thinking that i5+8gb should make things nice and smooth? I've not even seen windows 10, let alone used it.
 
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Mapped said:
We're a Mac/Chromebook house and I haven't looked into the windows market for years, but I'm going to have to this weekend.

My 97 year old grandad has been emailing me that his 8 year old HP vista laptop is causing him trouble (no shit! :D) Anyway he's of the make do and mend generation and from Yorkshire and doesn't want to buy a new one so he's trying to roll back to XP :facepalm: and is having trouble with service packs. This is all far too much hassle for a 97 year old, so I'm just going to get him a machine and give the bill to my dad, who has fucked off abroad for retirement.

He was interested in Chromebooks, due to the price, but 'doesn't trust the cloud' and wants a copy of office on the machine.

I can get 25% off at John Lewis and I need the computer in my hands ASAP. Is this one over'specced for windows 10 light use (although please remember I'm not paying :D)

Buy Lenovo Ideapad 310 Laptop, Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB, 15.6" | John Lewis with the discount it is £400

Going on previous windows experience and wanting a trouble free existence am I right in thinking that i5+8gb should make things nice and smooth? I've not even seen windows 10, let alone used it.
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I don't think it's over speced. Sure you could make do with less, but if your not paying for it, then it should certainly deal with everything we'll and allow for a certain amount of crap to be installed without slowing down. Plus if he's tight then it should work as it should for many years.
 
Mapped said:
We're a Mac/Chromebook house and I haven't looked into the windows market for years, but I'm going to have to this weekend.

My 97 year old grandad has been emailing me that his 8 year old HP vista laptop is causing him trouble (no shit! :D) Anyway he's of the make do and mend generation and from Yorkshire and doesn't want to buy a new one so he's trying to roll back to XP :facepalm: and is having trouble with service packs. This is all far too much hassle for a 97 year old, so I'm just going to get him a machine and give the bill to my dad, who has fucked off abroad for retirement.

He was interested in Chromebooks, due to the price, but 'doesn't trust the cloud' and wants a copy of office on the machine.

I can get 25% off at John Lewis and I need the computer in my hands ASAP, as I only have time to get down and give it to him tomorrow. Is this one over'specced for windows 10 lightish use - office stuff, photos, videos, a bit of basic stuff too (although please remember I'm not paying :D)

Buy Lenovo Ideapad 310 Laptop, Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB, 15.6" | John Lewis with the discount it is £400

Going on previous windows experience and wanting a trouble free existence am I right in thinking that i5+8gb should make things nice and smooth? I've not even seen windows 10, let alone used it.
Click to expand...

I recently bought a 2nd-hand Thinkpad T420 (*Win 7, 8gb RAM, 2nd-gen i5 processor) to replace my 6 month-old Dell Win 10 "built to a low price" laptop, which while it works, stresses over anything remotely hard like ripping a DVD. The T420 is a breath of fresh air in comparison, and the processor/RAM combo makes mincemeat out of any hard work like rendering or ripping.

*I'll declare my bias and state here that I dislike Win 10, and prefer Win 7, given the option.
 
ViolentPanda said:
I recently bought a 2nd-hand Thinkpad T420 (*Win 7, 8gb RAM, 2nd-gen i5 processor) to replace my 6 month-old Dell Win 10 "built to a low price" laptop, which while it works, stresses over anything remotely hard like ripping a DVD. The T420 is a breath of fresh air in comparison, and the processor/RAM combo makes mincemeat out of any hard work like rendering or ripping.

*I'll declare my bias and state here that I dislike Win 10, and prefer Win 7, given the option.
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I do like my old thinkpad for how sturdy it feels, although it's a fair bit older then yours. However I'm curious... What kind of spec did the Dell have. Was it similar on paper, but other things let it down or was it just out classed by the Lenovo?
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
I do like my old thinkpad for how sturdy it feels, although it's a fair bit older then yours. However I'm curious... What kind of spec did the Dell have. Was it similar on paper, but other things let it down or was it just out classed by the Lenovo?
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Spec was a bit lower - 4gb RAM and i3 processor - but also it feels so bloody fragile with it's creaky plastic frame that I'm worried about carrying it around anywhere in case it gets twatted. The Thinkpad on the other hand, is built like a tank, and doesn't creak whenever you handle the casing!
 
I thought mine was indestructible till the cat knocked it off the table. It still works though, just the bezel round the screen is somewhat damaged!
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
I thought mine was indestructible till the cat knocked it off the table. It still works though, just the bezel round the screen is somewhat damaged!
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The T420 is the fourth Thinkpad I've had in 12 years. The other three all still work, but are too low-spec for everyday use. And yeah, they've all got dings in them, from drops, accidental kicks etc. :D
 
ATOMIC SUPLEX said:
So super good then? Do you think it could do music and video editing?
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Probably the best you'll get for the price. I'd rather like one myself, but can't justify anymore tech for a few months.

Main downside is they aren't light, but if you aren't carrying it much, that shouldn't be an issue.

Obviously 500gb isn't a big drive if editing video, but assume you'll be using an external.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
Probably the best you'll get for the price. I'd rather like one myself, but can't justify anymore tech for a few months.

Main downside is they aren't light, but if you aren't carrying it much, that shouldn't be an issue.

Obviously 500gb isn't a big drive if editing video, but assume you'll be using an external.
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I've only got 500 on my Mac I use external LaCie drives for everything. I assume it will have the fast ports?
Weight is not an issue, I wouldn't be using on the go either, just going from place to place.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
Probably the best you'll get for the price. I'd rather like one myself, but can't justify anymore tech for a few months.

Main downside is they aren't light, but if you aren't carrying it much, that shouldn't be an issue.

Obviously 500gb isn't a big drive if editing video, but assume you'll be using an external.
Click to expand...
It's only got 8gigs of ram, I've got a feeling thats what I had on my Mac and I had to buy a load more to make it do the things I wanted properly. I would be doing the same stuff on this hopefully.
 
Let me throw this in

On paper, this shouldn’t be a fair fight. My Surface Book has 16GB of RAM, a Core i7 processor and a discrete graphics card, plus a fancy QHD screen that can detach and be separately used as a tablet with an included stylus.

The Acer Chromebook has a 1080p screen, a pathetic-looking 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a MediaTek processor that no-one has ever heard of. In theory, the two laptops aren’t even in the same league.

But a strange thing happens when you start using the Chromebook. My normal work use involves Chrome with 10-20 tabs open, Spotify, and Slack. With the Chromebook and its 4GB of RAM, I expected that to slow the computer to a halt in seconds. I kept waiting for the crash, but it keeps chugging along quite happily. In some cases, I’d even say it’s faster than the Surface Book, which is the last thing you’d expect.
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Why your next laptop should be a Chromebook
 
ATOMIC SUPLEX said:
It's only got 8gigs of ram, I've got a feeling thats what I had on my Mac and I had to buy a load more to make it do the things I wanted properly. I would be doing the same stuff on this hopefully.
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On the plus side it should be far easier and cheaper to upgrade then a Mac.
 
editor said:
Let me throw this in




Why your next laptop should be a Chromebook
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You see I'm quite torn. I have a powerful desktop and use my phone a lot. Have a tablet for occasional use. The laptop really doesn't get used that much.

Part me thinks my next machine should be a full fat machine like I'm suggesting for ATOMIC SUPLEX with loads of horse power and just works the way I expect. The other part of me wonders if actually I could make do with something small and light. It's certainly a tough call, although having to replace my phone this month unexpectedly has sadly delayed me making this choice.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
You see I'm quite torn. I have a powerful desktop and use my phone a lot. Have a tablet for occasional use. The laptop really doesn't get used that much.

Part me thinks my next machine should be a full fat machine like I'm suggesting for ATOMIC SUPLEX with loads of horse power and just works the way I expect. The other part of me wonders if actually I could make do with something small and light. It's certainly a tough call, although having to replace my phone this month unexpectedly has sadly delayed me making this choice.
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I have a tablet and I have a beefy laptop. Neither has been touched since I bought the Acer Flip.
 
ATOMIC SUPLEX said:
A Chromebook is not going to run decent music software is it.
Oh actually wait! I always use logic on the Mac, that's not going to be compatible. Balls.
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Chromebooks aren't for those people anyone looking to run niche, specialist software, but they're just fine for the vast amount of 'regular' users.
If you're getting a Windows machine, there are very capable alternatives to Logic
Logic Pro Alternatives for Windows - AlternativeTo.net
Logic Pro for Windows - Logic Pro for PC users, alternative professional music software - Garageband for Windows
 
editor said:
Chromebooks aren't for those people anyone looking to run niche, specialist software, but they're just fine for the vast amount of 'regular' users.
If you're getting a Windows machine, there are very capable alternatives to Logic
Logic Pro Alternatives for Windows - AlternativeTo.net
Logic Pro for Windows - Logic Pro for PC users, alternative professional music software - Garageband for Windows
Click to expand...
I've used a few of those but mostly Pro tools and cubase. I found logic to be easier for me to use fro my mixing style, (though have done albums and pro work just fine on the other two and various other platforms). All the work I have done in the last four years has been logic, it would be a shame if I couldn't transport projects from laptop to desktop. Bit of a bummer. I don't really want a macbook.
 
I would be grateful for a laptop recommendation.

What I am looking for:

- runs on Windows
- it needs to be lightweight
- has decent memory
- it needs to be fast
- it needs to have a built in mic

Thank you!
 
little_legs said:
I would be grateful for a laptop recommendation.

What I am looking for:

- runs on Windows
- it needs to be lightweight
- has decent memory
- it needs to be fast
- it needs to have a built in mic

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Just to add: the laptop doesn't have to run on Windows as long as it can let me install Microsoft office & Adobe as I still frequently use Word, Excel and Adobe.
Ta.
 
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