Affordable laptop recommendations: budget £350-£450

[Crispy]

That's a great price, and the reviews are all very solid. Looks like a winner.
WRT to pre-installed stuff, that can be uninstalled these days. All the HP crap is gone off my laptop, just went into Apps & Features and uninstalled the lot.

 

[8ball]

That's a great price, and the reviews are all very solid. Looks like a winner.
WRT to pre-installed stuff, that can be uninstalled these days. All the HP crap is gone off my laptop, just went into Apps & Features and uninstalled the lot.

I’ve had trouble getting rid of crapware in the past. Is there a company that does “no shit” machines?

 

[Chz]

5500U is the sweet spot, IMO. You get 6 cores, they're not as high powered as Zen 3 or Intel 12th gen, but they're more efficient. It's Zen 2 refined for laptop work. I'd wager it's still more powerful than a lot of peoples' desktops.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I’ve had trouble getting rid of crapware in the past. Is there a company that does “no shit” machines?

It's pretty inoffensive on the Dells we buy for work, but I wouldn't buy one as they are on the pricy side.

You can always just download windows from Microsoft and nuke whatever comes with from orbit, but generally it's far better then it used to be.

 

[Riklet]

What do you guys think of a Thinkpad T480S? I'd heard good things so recommended it to a friend looking for an under £450 laptop as a backup for work conferences.. but which can also handle some lighter gaming and isnt too heavy.

Seen some for good prices online. Thinkpad fanboys seem to like them. Anyone got one?

 

[Throbbing Angel]

2.9lbs isn't light in my book.

Does it have a 7th or 8th gen processor?

2018 model.

I've been very happy with my refurbed ThinkPads. They seem to go forever.

How's the battery? And what are you defining as light gaming?

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Grade A Refurbished - Dell Latitude 7390 - i7-8650U / 16GB RAM / 256GB SSD / Backlit Keyboard / 1080p - £266.34 With Code @ Dell Refurbished | hotukdeals

www.hotukdeals.com

Grade A Refurbished - Dell Latitude 7390 - i7-8650U / 16GB RAM / 256GB SSD / Backlit Keyboard / 1080p - £266.34 With Code @ Dell Refurbished​

Seems like a deal to me
Base specs

• Grade A
• 13.3" FHD (1920 x 1080)
• 1x Intel Core i7-8650U (4-Core, 1.90 GHz)
• 16 GB (1x 16GB)
• 256 GB (1x 256 GB SSD)
• Integrated Graphics
• No Optical
• Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T)
• Wireless 802.11 ac
• Webcam Included
• UK Backlit Keyboard
• 64-bit Windows 10 Pro

 

[Chz]

A bit old, but they're solid. It's what I had before they "upgraded" me to an HP that's 3 generations of CPU newer, and yet I still want my fucking Dell back. Also nice to have an actual ethernet port on it. 8th gen will run Windows 11 FWIW.

Edit: Looks like they sold out fast. I'd totally have considered it if I had needed a laptop. Honestly a great machine if they come up again.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

A bit old, but they're solid. It's what I had before they "upgraded" me to an HP that's 3 generations of CPU newer, and yet I still want my fucking Dell back. Also nice to have an actual ethernet port on it. 8th gen will run Windows 11 FWIW.

Edit: Looks like they sold out fast. I'd totally have considered it if I had needed a laptop. Honestly a great machine if they come up again.

Yeah - worth it to find out about the existence of www.dellrefurbished.co.uk if nowt else.

 

[hash tag]

I've just started looking at a new laptop and came here for recommendations. I see max budget was £450 13 years ago. Is this still realistic or should I be looking at a bit more due to inflation?

 

[savoloysam]

I've just started looking at a new laptop and came here for recommendations. I see max budget was £450 13 years ago. Is this still realistic or should I be looking at a bit more due to inflation?

Depends on what spec you want and what I'll will be used for? For everyday use there's no reason to spend more.

 

[Chz]

I've just started looking at a new laptop and came here for recommendations. I see max budget was £450 13 years ago. Is this still realistic or should I be looking at a bit more due to inflation?

No, the rate of change has slowed a bit but today's £400 laptop is still massively better than 10 years ago's £400 laptop. Not just in terms of (obviously) performance, but things like FHD screens, solid state drives, and backlit keyboards have come down from professional only £1k+ jobs to the rest of us. £450 is even a luxury, you can get pretty damned good stuff for under 400 in sales.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Weird question but where would you sell second hand laptops. I've been gifted two fairly current ones, consumer grade, but decent spec with their boxes and little use. I worry slightly about scammers on eBay for higher value items and Facebook always turns out to be hassle.

Thought about keeping one, but I've a decent desktop and an unrestricted work laptop and a old Chromebook I can take places I wouldn't want to take the work one.

 

[Chz]

Directly buying/selling on Urban is frowned upon, we're more a Freecycle sort of community. But I have sold a laptop via the forum by mentioning that I had one looking for a new home and getting PMed about it.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Directly buying/selling on Urban is frowned upon, we're more a Freecycle sort of community. But I have sold a laptop via the forum by mentioning that I had one looking for a new home and getting PMed about it.

I know, I wasn't actually trying to sell them here. I sell low value stuff on eBay and have no problems, but remember all problems I had years ago with phones and fake payment details. I hear now if a buyer filed a dispute that most of the time eBay sides with them.

 

[redcogs]

ive a Thinkpad x230 purchased about three years ago refurbished for £100. It is rock solid in every aspect. It has Linux and is Corebooted. it fires up in seconds and is a joy for what i use it for - coming here and places like it, general surfin, writing, youtube etc. i'm sure it must have some deficiencies but im unaware of what they are cos i'm only half literate on computers. It is not full of spyware like many lappo's can be. a geezer on ebay sells em within your budget.

 

[hash tag]

Weird question but where would you sell second hand laptops. I've been gifted two fairly current ones, consumer grade, but decent spec with their boxes and little use. I worry slightly about scammers on eBay for higher value items and Facebook always turns out to be hassle.

Thought about keeping one, but I've a decent desktop and an unrestricted work laptop and a old Chromebook I can take places I wouldn't want to take the work one.

CeX

uk.webuy.com

Buy & Sell Used Phones & Electronics | musicMagpie

Whether you're looking to sell your phone or buy a cheap tablet, musicMagpie has you covered. Check out our prices on phones, tech, games & more now!

www.musicmagpie.co.uk

I think both these places will take them but I guess you will be lucky if you get more than a few pennies.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

CeX

uk.webuy.com

Buy & Sell Used Phones & Electronics | musicMagpie

Whether you're looking to sell your phone or buy a cheap tablet, musicMagpie has you covered. Check out our prices on phones, tech, games & more now!

www.musicmagpie.co.uk

I think both these places will take them but I guess you will be lucky if you get more than a few pennies.

Yeah fuck that. Think I'd rather take my chances. Thank you anyway.

 

[8ball]

No, the rate of change has slowed a bit but today's £400 laptop is still massively better than 10 years ago's £400 laptop. Not just in terms of (obviously) performance, but things like FHD screens, solid state drives, and backlit keyboards have come down from professional only £1k+ jobs to the rest of us. £450 is even a luxury, you can get pretty damned good stuff for under 400 in sales.

Any tips on where to look? I have serious need of a decent general-purpose laptop (ideally with decent connectivity and a backlit keyboard) about now.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Weird question but where would you sell second hand laptops. I've been gifted two fairly current ones, consumer grade, but decent spec with their boxes and little use. I worry slightly about scammers on eBay for higher value items and Facebook always turns out to be hassle.

Thought about keeping one, but I've a decent desktop and an unrestricted work laptop and an old Chromebook I can take places I wouldn't want to take the work one.

I had a bad experience selling a laptop on eBay where the buyer opened a dispute almost immediately which lasted months then closed that and opened another. In the end I just told him to send it back and I’d refund but completely unsurprisingly he didn’t bother. Months of headache for nothing.
That said I’ve sold loads of high value tech on there with no issues at all.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I had a bad experience selling a laptop on eBay where the buyer opened a dispute almost immediately which lasted months then closed that and opened another. In the end I just told him to send it back and I’d refund but completely unsurprisingly he didn’t bother. Months of headache for nothing.
That said I’ve sold loads of high value tech on there with no issues at all.

Yes, that's the concern really. I bought a 3080 from before Xmas as was pretty confident that any problems would show in the first few weeks and the buyer protection is good, it's the sellers that can get stuffed.

I've got some low end GPUs, small PCs, switches which I'll put on without stressing to much, but higher value stuff attracts scammers.

 

[contadino]

ive a Thinkpad x230 purchased about three years ago refurbished for £100. It is rock solid in every aspect. It has Linux and is Corebooted. it fires up in seconds and is a joy for what i use it for - coming here and places like it, general surfin, writing, youtube etc. i'm sure it must have some deficiencies but im unaware of what they are cos i'm only half literate on computers. It is not full of spyware like many lappo's can be. a geezer on ebay sells em within your budget.

I just bought a ThinkPad x1 carbon 5th generation for £250. I'm quite geeky and I'm running Linux on it but it's a great machine. Fast, light, loads of things like backlit keys, touch screen, etc. Other than bumping the memory I'm not sure what could be done to improve it.

I've been using Lenovo kit for the last 20 years because it doesn't seem to break. I've still got a ThinkPad from 2001 that works fine.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Yes, that's the concern really. I bought a 3080 from before Xmas as was pretty confident that any problems would show in the first few weeks and the buyer protection is good, it's the sellers that can get stuffed.

I've got some low end GPUs, small PCs, switches which I'll put on without stressing to much, but higher value stuff attracts scammers.

A lot of the pricey tech stuff I’ve sold is pretty niche meaning you attract less scammers but it then becomes a buyer’s market because not many folk are searching at the same time. Swings and roundabouts. Still probably worked out better than going to Cex or Crack Converters.

 

[newme]

I have stopped giving out recommendations after the last two people ignored everything I said, "I need internet and have no phone line" recommended a 4g router with full signal in there area and a 1 month contract. They got a dongle thing that required a laptop and had bad signal on a year contract. They then ignored the laptop recommendations and bought one that was £400 and barely windows capable, as in it would not install anything without a lot of settings fucking around. Also another one who wanted a new comp, they wanted something that would do email and solitaire, ignored what I said, spent 3x as much and bought an apple tablet? Then proceeded to complain at her daughter (my SO) as they did not know what they were supposed to do with an ipad, it had cost a lot of money and why was everything different. We specifically said don't buy apple and we don't use or support it. They called regardless.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

An iPad is probably the simplest thing to use. Just leave them to work it out. It isn’t rocket science.

 

[Chz]

Any tips on where to look? I have serious need of a decent general-purpose laptop (ideally with decent connectivity and a backlit keyboard) about now.

I'd ask what's most important to you. Speed? Size and weight? Upgradability? Or just the best general purpose thing for the money? In which case, what's the budget?

Eg, for thin and light this one is great but it's not necessarily the quickest and you can't upgrade the RAM.

Costco

www.costco.co.uk

 

[newme]

.

 

[8ball]

I'd ask what's most important to you. Speed? Size and weight? Upgradability? Or just the best general purpose thing for the money? In which case, what's the budget?

Eg, for thin and light this one is great but it's not necessarily the quickest and you can't upgrade the RAM.

Costco

www.costco.co.uk

Weight not so much an issue, though that does look nice. Last time I bought a laptop it was probably a shade overpowered for my needs (though it did last a decade).

Do you need some kind of membership with Costco?

 

[Chz]

Weight not so much an issue, though that does look nice. Last time I bought a laptop it was probably a shade overpowered for my needs (though it did last a decade).

Do you need some kind of membership with Costco?

Yes, but online only is £15/year and the discount on that is worth it. Or I imagine you could probably arrange with someone who is a member on here to buy it for you.

There aren't a lot of sales right now like there usually would be in the new year due to the ongoing inflation, so it's hard to make a good alternative recommendation right now. If you want more powerful than the Zenbook at the price of being a bit fatter and heavier, there's this:

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/acer-aspire-5-14-laptop-intel-core-i3-256-gb-ssd-grey-10239492.html

(Note the 12th gen Core i3 is quite a bit better than the 11th gen Core i5 in the Zenbook)
Or you can save monies and get something as powerful as the Zenbook, but fatter and cheaper...

Or so I thought. Looks like in the new year the decent but under £400 market has been wiped right out. I'm struggling to get anything not a bit shit for less than £399. Even on the refurb market, the best I came up with was this:

Refurbished Cheap Laptops and 2-in-1 PCs: Dell Outlet | Dell UK

outlet.euro.dell.com

(that's a return/refurb, with full warranty. not a used one.)

So yeah. Even a couple months ago the options sub-£400 were still pretty decent, but those seem to have gone the way of the dodo and you're faffing about with dual cores or 4GB RAM or 128GB disks at that point. None of which I would recommend unless you absolutely can't afford better.

 

[electroplated]

About 6 months ago I bought a refurb Thinkpad and it seemed like an amazing deal for £210

It was listed on ebay as "Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 3rd Gen 8GB 256GB SSD QXD Touch Backlit Fingerprint"

Was that a good deal or not because I want to get another one for my other kid but thought I'd ask on here if maybe there's something better in that price range?

(I"m a Mac user so really don't know all the ins and outs of the different laptop variations)