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Affordable laptop recommendations: budget £350-£450

Throbbing Angel said:
Bollocks - I had to return my Chromebook [ASUS C302ca, Intel Core M3, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 12.5"] same as
editor ‘s due to a few dead pixles and the right hand side of the space bar collapsing a bit and making typing (my main use) a right pain in the arse.

John Lewis have just called me saying that they can’t repair it and ‘Do I want a refund or what?’
I paid 399.99 when it was in the sale - a ton off the usual price - about 15 months ago [2 year warranties FTW]

So - what’s the good stuff atm Chromebook-wise?? Haven’t been looking of late as I was expecting to get this one back - instead I have 400 to put towards a new machine.

Suggestatron is go!
Click to expand...

So - I am in the market for a chromebook or laptop again due to ^^^^. Any ideas - I want to write and surf mainly.

how’s the X1 going Proper Tidy
 
Throbbing Angel said:
So - I am in the market for a chromebook or laptop again due to ^^^^. Any ideas - I want to write and surf mainly.

how’s the X1 going Proper Tidy
Click to expand...

Yeah it's been spot on so far, I mean it doesn't look new but it's quick and feels quality compared to every other laptop I've ever owned, doesn't glitch, miles better than the ideapad I had before it despite being a few years older
 
Proper Tidy said:
Yeah it's been spot on so far, I mean it doesn't look new but it's quick and feels quality compared to every other laptop I've ever owned, doesn't glitch, miles better than the ideapad I had before it despite being a few years older
Click to expand...

That’s encouraging (for me). Which model / generation did you go for in the end - the one you saw at Wowcher which you posted up?
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
If some one was feeling brave you can get a laptop with 16gb and a 1tb SSD for £327 from China :D

m.gearbest.com

Lhmzniy A9 14.1-inch Laptop 16GB RAM Intel Celeron 3867U Metal Body Silver Sale, Price & Reviews| Gearbest Mobile

Buy Lhmzniy A9 14.1-inch Laptop 16GB RAM Intel Celeron 3867U Metal Body Silver at cheap price mobile online, with Youtube reviews and FAQs, we generally offer free shipping to Europe, US, Latin America, Russia, etc.
m.gearbest.com m.gearbest.com
Click to expand...
Saw that this morning on some feed or other I follow. Great innit. I’m not that brave :D. The tax, the warranty, returning it, learning how to pronounce Lhmzniy - it all gave me the fear
 
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Right - advice sought - refurbed Thinkpads - I have 2 in my sights...

  1. Thinkpad X1 Carbon - £399 - i7-5600u - 256gb SSD - 8gb RAM - Full HD - Grade B - Win10 Home - 1yr warranty from eBay seller [a refurb IT company] - weighs 2.6lbs
  2. Lenovo ThinkPad X270 Core i5 16GB RAM 180GB SSD Win10 PRO Excel Cond. Lenovo WARRANTY UNTIL JULY 2021 - £314 - weighs 2.9lbs
I have a back issue meaning weight is important - but these both seem OK to me. The Chromebook that I’ve just lost weighed 2.6lbs according to Google and I used to lug that about in a messenger back with no real issues as long as I wasn’t having a bad back day.

The X1 is older, but is thinner and lighter and has an older processor and less RAM as you can see.
I’m writing and surfing mainly - some Social, some youtube but not loads. No iTunes, mixing, video or photo editing etc.
So Chrome and Word (or similar) will be getting hammered - not much else.

Also - hate fans - have had Chromebooks for the last 5 years or so and they’ve been silent and I liked that a lot.

Suggestatron is GO!
 
Quick Question refurbished laptop types....

Is a 120gb SSD in a refurbished Thinkpad with Win10 Pro installed "too small to handle updates properly" as my mate claims.

I know my daughter had many issues with a shitty HP Stream that had Win8 and a 32gb eMMC had this issue - the machine couldn't download and unzip/unpack updates after a while as there was no wiggle room on the hard drive to do this.

Any thoughts on whether 120gb is enough? I reckon it is as long as it isn't completely full. Google reckons a Win10 install is between 25 & 40gb.

Machine is to be used by a different mate to browse and write on after installing summat like Libre Office and Chrome and that'll be pretty much "it"

What say Urban?
editor UnderAnOpenSky Proper Tidy maomao Riklet Chz dervish [recent contributors to thread]



1581546122647.png
 
It's small, but plenty for W10 and just a few apps. Especially as most of us are increasingly not storing huge amounts of data on our machines anymore.

And unlike the machine you had before, it's really not hard to swap it out for something bigger.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
It's small, but plenty for W10 and just a few apps. Especially as most of us are increasingly not storing huge amounts of data on our machines anymore.

And unlike the machine you had before, it's really not hard to swap it out for something bigger.
Click to expand...

Cheers - that's what I thought - this guy has most stuff in Dropbox (docs) rather than on the machine.
 
Throbbing Angel said:
Cheers - that's what I thought - this guy has most stuff in Dropbox (docs) rather than on the machine.
Click to expand...

Plus things like these make it super easy to add extra storage if needed. I've got one on my Chromebook in case I want to watch films...

 
I would contact the seller and see if you can get a 256 or 512 and pay a bit more. But if not it's still fine, 128 is plenty nowadays with online apps and storage. Even after a windows 10 install you should have like 50gb.

I just like to have the option to put 30gb of music and 50gb of movies and series on my hard disc and download some stuff on netflix, install a few games etc.

If no upgrade possible an x1 with 128gb will still be great.
 
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What do folks think of this one that's made to run Linux? I have no clue about specs, but the price is not too bad, and I'm still wanting to ditch the Mac, but not go to a PC running the usual virus/crash prone stuff.

starlabs.systems

Star Lite Mk III - 11-inch Mini Linux Laptop

The Star Lite Mk III has been forged to continue it's legacy, whilst improving on usability with an Arc display, a matte display that has both a 21% Haze and a hard coat which boasts both durability and glare-free viewing.
starlabs.systems starlabs.systems
 
Isn't a bit of a faff to hijack a Chromebook to run Linux? At least more so then a Windows laptop. It certainly caused me enough ball ache I filed it in "Can't be bothered"
 
LynnDoyleCooper said:
What do folks think of this one that's made to run Linux? I have no clue about specs, but the price is not too bad, and I'm still wanting to ditch the Mac, but not go to a PC running the usual virus/crash prone stuff.

starlabs.systems

Star Lite Mk III - 11-inch Mini Linux Laptop

The Star Lite Mk III has been forged to continue it's legacy, whilst improving on usability with an Arc display, a matte display that has both a 21% Haze and a hard coat which boasts both durability and glare-free viewing.
starlabs.systems starlabs.systems
Click to expand...
Looks mightily unimpressive for the price to me.
 
While part of me would like to support companies producing machines specifically for Linux, I'm not convinced it's often such a good deal. Slimbook however is worth checking out, there was a KDE one that was good value. German company called Tuxedo Computers looks good too.

Not to be boring but get a Thinkpad and wipe windows if you really don't want it - most Linux distros will work great straight out of the box as so many IT professionals use Linux. Or you could ring Dell and see what they have with Ubuntu new/refurbished.

I like dualbooting but you do have to be prepared to get your hands messy - windows update recently corrupted my boot partition meaning I could only boot to a grub error blackscreen and had to do some googling and commands specifically for UEFI to get it all back.
 
Finally got me a Thinkpad after much faffing and prevarication.
Local refurbishing company so I can walk it back in if needed. Which is nice and comforting somehow.

Lenovo ThinkPad L460 i5-6200u laptop 240GB SSD 4GB Ram 14″ FHD Win 10
Near mint as far as I am concerned. Ex-corporate machines - they had at least 12 of them on the shelf awaiting refurb.
Was on ebay and their website for £290 so I offered £225 on ebay and mentioned I could collect rather than them having to post it out.
So - £225 it was - 1 yr warranty - near mint condition -luvverly keyboard - battery life is great - I've had it on a while now and it reckons 60% = 5h 30 min.

As soon as I get used to the Fn key being on the bottom left corner of the keyboard rather than the CTRL I'll be 100%.

Happy to recommend the company/post the site up if anyone wants a look.

clicky
1581812870741.png


e2a - battery life is great - assuming the reporting is correct, of course
1581891725918.png
 
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Not for me, but a friend who has asked me what kind of budget laptop she should buy to watch movies on etc during the apocalypse... any ideas?
 
Petcha said:
Not for me, but a friend who has asked me what kind of budget laptop she should buy to watch movies on etc during the apocalypse... any ideas?
Click to expand...

Anything sold today will be able to do this, so just pick the one with screen size you/they like.
 
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