Laptop recomendation

[markb]

Hi.Looking to replace my old one.Only use for accessing t,Internet/email/word files.Any suggestions?

[Squidgyness]

Assuming you aren't tech savvy here, as I can't do specific suggestions but as a guide preferably you want:

Processor: i3 or i5 models from Intel, or a Ryzen model from AMD. Avoid an i7 (overkill), pentium/celeron/A-whatever number models will do the job for a short while then be too slow.

Memory: 4gb minimum. 8gb would be preferred but don't worry if it's only for basic work and email usage.

Hard drive: Do you store lots of things? Big music/picture albums etc, videos? Or just word docs and a few other things? If the second one, look for SSD (preferably 256gb or higher) storage. It's more reliable (less moving parts) and a LOT faster but also smaller, hence if you have lots of music or pictures might be worth going with a 1tb HDD.

Graphics are irrelevant. Don't worry about them.

Screen: Look in the specs for the screen and see what the numbers are. 1920 x 1080 = good, anything LOWER = bad.

Brand recommendations are always hard to give as everyone has had good and bad experiences but I'd say DELL, HP in the mid range (avoid the lowest end here though), Lenovo are the big competitors. Pop into a currys (work there myself) and just say you are browsing and want to give the computers a try. Resist the hard sell.

Look at the £400-600 range - especially the dell inspiron 15 5000 series on Dells website. Some good models there. More would get you a faster laptop but for what you need its not worth spending much more than that. Less will mean you spending another £300-400 in a year or two. I know this from personal experience watching relatives and customers get lower spec machines and then replace them the next year. 1 £500 machine will last just as long if not longer than 2 £300 machines will.

[Mexy02]

Lenovo ideapad is really good

[pav438]

Another on for Lenovo. Best value out there imo and there internals are the same ones as the premium companies use 👍

[novocastrian]

^^ all laptops by & large use the same components

im on a lenovo now its about 3 years old but is still sport on running windows10 for general faffin about on the internet

i's always stick with the big names as you can get a better service if anything goes wrong

personally i'd go direct to dell/hp and see what they have on offer/end of line

[400ixl]

No need to spend anywhere near 400-600 pounds for what you need. You can do everything you want on a Chromebook or a 2-300 Windows laptop and it will last you 5 years plus.

[Squidgyness]

Originally Posted by 400ixl

No need to spend anywhere near 400-600 pounds for what you need. You can do everything you want on a Chromebook or a 2-300 Windows laptop and it will last you 5 years plus.

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A chromebook certainly would allow you to do basic internet browsing and is basically bulletproof true. That's certainly an option, though beware of the small storage on most models, not that most basic tasks use much. You also won't have access to the full desktop operating system version of windows, just the app version however I imagine you could get everything you'd need to done regardless, so definitely worth a look.

However I still strongly caution against getting a £200-300 laptop. For £370 you can get a lenovo 330s with i3/4gb ram/fast SSD storage and a fulll HD screen. For £300 max you'll get a pentium with a 720p screen. It's worth the money to get the slightly higher model.

In computing there is a sweet spot where you get value for money, and a £300 laptop is not in that spot. It will do I suppose if you want the bare minimum, but I always like to build in a bit of room for slow down as the average user doesn't clear internet files, downloads, run Malwarebytes, or otherwise keep a sterile computer.

EDIT: Also remembered, have a look on ebay for IBM/Lenovo thinkpads. Made for business use and as such more reliable than consumer laptops. You can get some good deals on refurbished models.

[400ixl]

Laptop screen for browsing the web watching YouTube etc is more than sufficient at 720p.

Worth spending extra if it's going to do more. If it just a medium use machine then don't pay more than you need to.

Most people just use tablets these days and are more than happy. Don't spend more than you need to.

If you want to use it for a business type app then yes, to browse the web and use Word which is now web hosted for Office 365 anyway then just get something suitable for the purpose you need

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Squidgyness

However I still strongly caution against getting a £200-300 laptop. For £370 you can get a lenovo 330s with i3/4gb ram/fast SSD storage and a fulll HD screen. For £300 max you'll get a pentium with a 720p screen. It's worth the money to get the slightly higher model.

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I was going to split the difference and suggest the OP goes for a £300 to £400 laptop. The £370 lenovo you suggest sounds about right.

It certainly doesn't sound like they need a £600 laptop just for general internet use. And £200 is maybe a little cheap.

About 5 years ago I bought a £350 (approx) Acer laptop and it's fine for just browsing the web and writing the occasional short document. Admittedly, it's slow at accessing the HDD now.

[Squidgyness]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

I was going to split the difference and suggest the OP goes for a £300 to £400 laptop. The £370 lenovo you suggest sounds about right.

It certainly doesn't sound like they need a £600 laptop just for general internet use. And £200 is maybe a little cheap.

About 5 years ago I bought a £350 (approx) Acer laptop and it's fine for just browsing the web and writing the occasional short document. Admittedly, it's slow at accessing the HDD now.

See more...

You could look into replacing the hdd with an ssd though compatibility might be an issue.

Fastest way to rejuvenate an old laptop and can be done for cheap. 240gb ssd goes for about £30 these days. We did that upgrade on a relative's machine and it's almost like a new laptop now. Boots a lot faster.

For reference my machine at home with an nvme ssd boots to windows in less than 10 seconds. Normal ssd not much more than that.