Honest_Man#1 Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 I’ve had my current laptop for 10+ years and it’s starting to show. Painfully slow when trying to do basically everything now, so going to go for a new one. I’ve got a separate work laptop so all I will be using it for is general surfing, streaming (so decent picture quality) and basic office type apps. Looking to spend as little as possible, but am fairly clueless when it comes to what processors are good etc, does anyone have recommendations/advice? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Thompson Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 If you already use Google Doc apps then its worth looking at a Chromebook. Whats your rough budget? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 9 hours ago, Mr X said: If you already use Google Doc apps then its worth looking at a Chromebook. Whats your rough budget? I would 2nd this but have a look at what you use on the windows machine and see if it is available for the Chromebook. Have a look at the Acer Aspire 5 if you are looking for a good value all round laptop that gets pretty good reviews. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boostin' Kev Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 Would recommend one of these. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173591573801 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guts Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 16 hours ago, Honest_Man#1 said: I’ve had my current laptop for 10+ years and it’s starting to show. Painfully slow when trying to do basically everything now, so going to go for a new one. I’ve got a separate work laptop so all I will be using it for is general surfing, streaming (so decent picture quality) and basic office type apps. Looking to spend as little as possible, but am fairly clueless when it comes to what processors are good etc, does anyone have recommendations/advice? HotUKdeals is an excellent site that is for deal sharing. Here's a link to the laptop bit https://www.hotukdeals.com/tag/laptop Each deal has a heat rating system and a comments section under it with usually plenty of opinions on them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honest_Man#1 Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 On 07/06/2020 at 22:39, Mr X said: If you already use Google Doc apps then its worth looking at a Chromebook. Whats your rough budget? Thanks everyone, looking myself it’s a bit of a minefield. Budget would be £500 max but realistically I’m looking for as cheap as possible as I don’t really use a personal laptop too much. Just needs to be decent speed (current one is chronic even loading up a webpage now) and good quality screen for streaming sport/TV. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludo*1 Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 https://business.currys.co.uk/buy-rent/N265287W?cidp=Froogle&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsJvt47H56QIVQe7tCh3UhQRiEAYYCCABEgLU0fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds That's what I have. Does the job. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wilkos Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 Would second the Chromebook recommendation. I've had mine for about five years and it seems to be as fast as the day I got it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 I got a wee Chinese number off Amazon that arrived today, early impression is good. £275 after applying the voucher. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089N4VMV2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-1ldFbGY3X74Y 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd_is_God Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 On 13/07/2020 at 21:01, itzdrk said: I got a wee Chinese number off Amazon that arrived today, early impression is good. £275 after applying the voucher. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089N4VMV2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-1ldFbGY3X74Y How you getting on with this? I'm going back to my old job next month so the laptop I currently have (which is ridiculously over spec for what I need it for) is going back to the IT dep. Anything particularly positive / negative? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted October 23, 2020 Share Posted October 23, 2020 Plus: the screen is class, expandable storage, light, does what you expect a Windows laptop to do, fast enough. Handles FM 20 fine. Minus: American keyboard, mini HDMI instead of regular, doesn't like sky go (fine otherwise with video), small storage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wilkos Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Not sure if it's budget or not - £599 - but I was fortunate enough to get a really good bonus from work so I've treated myself to the Acer 713 Spin Chromebook. Arrives on Monday and I am already wet. 3:2 screen, Gen 10 i5 processor, works as a tablet and 128gb SSD. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonS Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Main thing I've learned over the years is to go expensive or go very cheap; the stuff in the middle is generally poor value for money. Over the past 20 years my missus, two kids and I have gone through about 10 budget laptops between us. None of them were worth it, they start slowing down pretty quickly and all were brutal within 4 years. The hard drive crashed on one and we lost stuff. Now we have a couple of Macbooks which are 5 years old and working even faster than the day they came out the box (which is great because I have no patience) and a Chromebook that we got second hand for £50 and is absolutely fine for streaming, social media, internet, Word and Excel. The runt has a cheap laptop that I don't expect to last more than another couple of years and when it goes he'll probably get a decent gaming laptop or PC. We usually buy from Laptops Direct or Music Magpie, and you can get lucky on Facebook or Gumtree. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boostin' Kev Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 Any recommendations for a tablet/chromebook for around £300 and can I use a 1TB external hard drive with them? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kincardine Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 On 08/05/2021 at 17:29, Boostin' Kev said: Any recommendations for a tablet/chromebook for around £300 and can I use a 1TB external hard drive with them? When my Dell laptop - which cost about £800 five years ago - went tits up in February I replaced it with this for £370: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-Chromebook-i3-10110U-Integrated-82B80006UX/dp/B086383HC7 Obviously not for gamers but for me, who uses it for email, documents and browsing it is brilliant. Light, quite sleek and with good battery life. So much so that I've since bought two more for my daughters. Google docs takes a wee bit of time as it's a bit clunkier than Word and the absence of Home, End and PgDn keys and no 'right click' means learning shortcuts and gestures but worth it. You can plug your drive in to the USB slot as I have done with a USB stick. You can also fold the screen back and use it as a large tablet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdinburghPar1975 Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 General help needed for me as well. My home laptop is getting slower and i need a new one that i can also use for work. I don't tend to do much more than surf and work on it as my work stuff is on a virtual desktop but having Office apps is really useful. Being a pain i'd like to try and have a dvd/ blu-ray drive as i tend to do bits of photo editing and take tihngs from old discs. Seen a few Acers etc and had a look on the Dell website but unless i'm willing to spend 700+ then i'm struggling to see something that ticks all the boxes...any ideas? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorongil Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 The best value for money is a MacBook. I’m using my early 2014 MacBook right now and it’s almost as good as it was the day I opened the box. I don’t get the full 12 hours of battery anymore but apart form that it’s perfect. I would have been through 3 or 4 Windows laptops in that time. The current MacBook Air is an unbelievably machine that will easily last 10 years. You can get them in interest free credit at Apple. £41 per month for 2 years. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Thompson Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 General help needed for me as well. My home laptop is getting slower and i need a new one that i can also use for work. I don't tend to do much more than surf and work on it as my work stuff is on a virtual desktop but having Office apps is really useful. Being a pain i'd like to try and have a dvd/ blu-ray drive as i tend to do bits of photo editing and take tihngs from old discs. Seen a few Acers etc and had a look on the Dell website but unless i'm willing to spend 700+ then i'm struggling to see something that ticks all the boxes...any ideas?Ignore the mac!Try ebuyer, and look for amd R5 or 7 processors. I wouldn't worry too much about a dvd drive, you can pick up a USB one for under £50. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorongil Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, Mr X said: Ignore the mac! Try ebuyer, and look for amd R5 or 7 processors. I wouldn't worry too much about a dvd drive, you can pick up a USB one for under £50. Unless you are a PC/Laptop gamer, why wouldn’t you buy a MacBook Air? They are far superior machines and far better value than any mid range Windows laptop. They now have 18 hours of charge, exceptional retina displays, Touch ID and they have the M1 chip in which is greased lightning. Their SSDs are phenomenal and they wake instantly, every time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Thompson Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Unless you are a PC/Laptop gamer, why wouldn’t you buy a MacBook Air? They are far superior machines and far better value than any mid range Windows laptop. They now have 18 hours of charge, exceptional retina displays, Touch ID and they have the M1 chip in which is greased lightning. Their SSDs are phenomenal and they wake instantly, every time.And a mac OS 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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