That's a very very decent price - and if it's refurbed they might have already replaced the battery? Wouldn't worry about the processor, would you be doing anything particularly CPU bound?
Affordable laptop recommendations: budget £350-£450
- Thread starter psycherelic
- Start date
That's a very very decent price - and if it's refurbed they might have already replaced the battery? Wouldn't worry about the processor, would you be doing anything particularly CPU bound?
Throbbing Angel
this is no longer a place of honour
Nah. Mainly writing and surfing
Lil'Angel might want to play Minecraft or summat. Would it cope with that (the processor)?
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Might struggle a bit, CPU is decent, but the on board graphics aren't great.
Yeah the processor isn't a worry there, games are more GPU bound - it won't be able to play recent graphic intensive games mind (most laptops won't), but Minecraft will be fine even on max settings
Minecraft works fine with integrated GPUs, it looks horrendous so will run on anything! I attempted to play it for about 10 minutes a few years ago to see what the fuss was about, and it ran fine on a 2007 MacBook.
I posted a separate thread to ask about internet too, but might as well cross post this since I'm getting directed here anyway..
Assume I know nothing about any of thisAny advice appreciated; specific product recommendations or just suggesting things I might want to/not've thought to consider...
Laptop
Budget: around £300-400, willing to spend slightly more for something noticeably better
Use: mostly general browsing, emails, typing stuff up etc. I do some very basic design stuff (posters, leaflets etc) for work and would like to learn to do more/use specific programs rather than the free website I use now. Don't really do music/TV/films atm but I want to be able to watch stuff on Netflix/iplayer etc.
Don't need a huge screen but don't want something tiny. Needs to be fairly tough as I'm bound to drop it/drop something on it occasionally. Preferably light enough to carry around in my rucksack, though for work I could store stuff online and use the staff laptop there. Not sure if I'd use those convertible laptop/tablet things. Definitely want something that should last a while. All the numbers and stats mean nothing to me: what should I be looking for?
I'm aware of chromebooks but not sure what differences I need to consider, other than they store stuff mostly online. (Can I use an external hard drive with one and if so do I need a certain type, like some say they'll only work with windows or mac?)
Thanks!
Is this decent, alright price, etc?
Lenovo Yoga 720 (13") | Thin & Light 2-in-1 Laptop | Lenovo UK
Stupid question: if a laptop spec only says 802.11ac wifi, it should still work fine with a mobile broadband router that does 802.11b/g/n wifi but not ac, right? Definitely?
Lenovo Yoga 720 (13") | Thin & Light 2-in-1 Laptop | Lenovo UK
Stupid question: if a laptop spec only says 802.11ac wifi, it should still work fine with a mobile broadband router that does 802.11b/g/n wifi but not ac, right? Definitely?
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Saying its not available and suggesting a very expensive alternative ..
AC is backwards compatible
How about if I'd hypothetically already bought one on the spur of the moment because I'm sick of thinking about this shit?
Would it be an alright buy then?
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
How about if I'd hypothetically already bought one on the spur of the moment because I'm sick of thinking about this shit?
Looks lovely. Nice balance between size and portability, decent processor, nice screen.
Sounds like a good purchase.
Looks lovely. Nice balance between size and portability, decent processor, nice screen.
Sounds like a good purchase.
Tbh 13.3" is about the minimum of what I'd consider usable—between a 14.5" and 15" screen would be perfect for me—but it should be handy for taking to work ("my" clunky old work laptop gets its own chair at meetings atm coz there's no room for it on the table). I did actually like the yoga 720s I looked at in a shop too, and the keyboards felt loads nicer to type on than some others I tried.
Now I just need to get some internet sorted. 3 doesn't think my address exists when I try to buy online and there's no option to enter an address manually, so I've got to go to the shop and get them to order me one because if I buy in-store I can't return it or something
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Watching films is different I accept, but I'd much rather use a slighter smaller high res screen then the murky 720 beloved of cheap Windows laptops for the last decade.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
It's a nice machine, but you do need to decide if you actually want to pay the Yoga tax or if you're never actually going to fold it in half and use the touchscreen.
I use ours that way for watching stuff, but that's about it. I bought the missus a pen for it (it's her laptop), thinking it would be useful for photo editing and whatnot, but I don't think it's ever been used.
I use ours that way for watching stuff, but that's about it. I bought the missus a pen for it (it's her laptop), thinking it would be useful for photo editing and whatnot, but I don't think it's ever been used.
I have been using the touchscreen and I think the tablet mode will be useful for work. It came with a free active pen which I've been playing around with and I think I will use it after some practice — it's useful as a more precise mouse, if nothing else, and trying to make tiny changes to posters etc with my old shitty work mouse was one of the most annoying things about that setup.
I'll report back in a few weeks
Hiiii, there are lots of good options available in the market that suits your pocket. For example, Acer Aspire E 15, HP’s 15-BS020WM, Acer Chromebook R13, Samsung Chromebook Plus etc.
Throbbing Angel
this is no longer a place of honour
I ended up buying a newer Chromebook that can run Android apps (my other chromebook was too old to do that) so I have Word on my Chromebook now along with another (free) office suite and other apps I use on my phone - love that.
ASUS Chromebook C302ca, Intel Core M3, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 12.5" £399.99 2 year guarantee included from John Lewis - loving it
Riklet
procrastinación
The chromebooks with 4gb of ram def look pretty tasty, bet that ASUS runs extremely snappily. How do you find it and the OS compared to the last one?
For those who need Windows, my x230 Thinkpad has been going strong past few months, now using it as my daily driver over my three times more expensive Dell!
For 250 quid you can get one with 8gb ram and an ssd (or cheaper and buy your own Samsung 860) and it should fly doing not-too-demanding stuff.
Throbbing Angel
this is no longer a place of honour
Aye, 4gb or more is the way to go. I made sure if that last time too.
The recent update you mean? Not a fan of what it has done to the look of Chrome tbh. Other than that I haven't noticed any difference. Doesn't matter anyway. I can run other browsers now if it bothered me that much.
Throbbing Angel
this is no longer a place of honour
Speaking of which - this has just landed in my inbox:
Refurbished Lenovo T430 Core i5-3210M 8GB 240GB SSD 14 Inch Windows 10 Professional Laptop with 1 Year Warranty £299.97
Refurbished Lenovo T430 Core i5-3210M 8GB 240GB 14 Inch Windows 10 Professional Laptop with 1 Year Warranty - Laptops Direct
PaoloSanchez
Well-Known Member
A great laptop. I bought 2 on ebay 18 months ago @ £189 each for my kiddos. Very happy with the purchases so far. The only problems that we've had so far is that the battery on one of them is knackered, but that's not a big problem as they are always plugged in anyway.Speaking of which - this has just landed in my inbox:
Refurbished Lenovo T430 Core i5-3210M 8GB 240GB SSD 14 Inch Windows 10 Professional Laptop with 1 Year Warranty £299.97
Refurbished Lenovo T430 Core i5-3210M 8GB 240GB 14 Inch Windows 10 Professional Laptop with 1 Year Warranty - Laptops Direct
miss direct
misfungled
Please help. I had to give back my work laptop after being made redundant and am struggling with an old netbook that gets very hot and is on its last legs. I have a conference presentation to prepare for and need a laptop ASAP.
I’m in Turkey but am wary of buying a laptop here due to everything being in Turkish and Turkish keyboards. Plus online shopping is rubbish here so it would have to involve traipsing round shops.
Thinking of getting a refurbished one from the UK - my mum is coming soon and could bring it for me (hopefully not too heavy). I know almost nothing about computers but I want a good battery life, an hdmi port, don’t need a DVD drive. Something solid and decent that will last a good few years. And not get hot. It’s already hot enough here!
My budget is up to £500 but preferably less, say £400.
I’ve been browsing through amazon and am drawn to hp (my work one was hp) or Lenovo but other than that I don’t know where to begin. There are so many :/
I’m in Turkey but am wary of buying a laptop here due to everything being in Turkish and Turkish keyboards. Plus online shopping is rubbish here so it would have to involve traipsing round shops.
Thinking of getting a refurbished one from the UK - my mum is coming soon and could bring it for me (hopefully not too heavy). I know almost nothing about computers but I want a good battery life, an hdmi port, don’t need a DVD drive. Something solid and decent that will last a good few years. And not get hot. It’s already hot enough here!
My budget is up to £500 but preferably less, say £400.
I’ve been browsing through amazon and am drawn to hp (my work one was hp) or Lenovo but other than that I don’t know where to begin. There are so many :/
cybershot
Well-Known Member
Currys have just knocked £200 off this, haven;t done any research on what else is available, but looks a good buy.
HP 14" Intel® Core™ i5 Laptop - 128 GB SSD, Silver
HP 14" Intel® Core™ i5 Laptop - 128 GB SSD, Silver
PaoloSanchez
Well-Known Member
Grate minds and all that...I was just about to post the very same link (gold is also available for the same price...if you like bling)
HP 14" Intel® Core™ i5 Laptop - 128 GB SSD, Gold
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
I would personally go for the HP's specs, but if you need to save money I've found this one to be perfectly usable. My wife uses the Yoga version of it (same specs, but with the 360 degree hinge and touchscreen) and thinks it's marvellous.
LENOVO IdeaPad 330S 14" Intel® Pentium® Gold Laptop - 128 GB SSD, Blue
Edit: I take it back. The IdeaPad version doesn't get a Full HD screen. Pity. The i3, Full HD IdeaPad used to be that price and it threw me off. The HP's the best for the money at Curry's right now, unless you want to go Chromebook. Whatever has a decent combination of Full HD screen, SSD storage, and Pentium Gold or better CPU that's on sale is going to be best really.
LENOVO IdeaPad 330S 14" Intel® Pentium® Gold Laptop - 128 GB SSD, Blue
Edit: I take it back. The IdeaPad version doesn't get a Full HD screen. Pity. The i3, Full HD IdeaPad used to be that price and it threw me off. The HP's the best for the money at Curry's right now, unless you want to go Chromebook. Whatever has a decent combination of Full HD screen, SSD storage, and Pentium Gold or better CPU that's on sale is going to be best really.
miss direct
misfungled
I like it! Can’t seem to find much info or reviews though?
PaoloSanchez
Well-Known Member
For all round general purpose reasonably "future proofed" computing needs I tend to recommend a minimum Core I5 (if you can afford it). That's what I put in the PC World laptop selection criteria and the HP was the only one within the budget. Pentiums are a bit bargain basement, but as you say are usable for very light use. I bought a HP Stream Pentium for my wife nearly 3 years ago and she's quite happy with it, although it does slow down dramatically when she overindulges with upteen youtube tabs open in chrome.
Speaking of chrome, Chromebooks would also fit comfortably in the budget and although I'm not a fan of them myself there are quite a few folks in here who like them and it might be a suitable alternative.
miss direct
misfungled
I'm going for the HP. Is it worth buying office too?
PaoloSanchez
Well-Known Member
I think that's a reasonable choice at that price. It should last you a reasonable amount of time if you look after it. The build quality at this price point is lower and a bit more "plasticy" than an £800 - £1000 laptop however as long as you're not chucking it around and dropping it, that shouldn't matter too much.
Getting Office yes or no. It really depends on if you need it and what you're using your laptop for. If you'll only be using it very occasionally then there are free alternatives. If you are used to Office and use it regularly then yes it will be worth it. I have an annual Office365 subscription which allows it to be installed on 5 laptops, which suits our family.
TruXta
tired
Only if you really need it, otherwise there's a wealth of free software that will serve you well.
miss direct
misfungled
Gah. Tried to pay over and over again with different cards - finally to be told that because I'm abroad, it won't let me. Never had that before! Any suggestions as to how I can make it look like my laptop is in the UK (without buying or downloading anything?)
TruXta
tired
You'll need to go via vpn I think, which costs.
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