Recommend a laptop

[Dr Nowt]

Bought my last laptop in 2010 when I had a decent job and plenty of spare cash, so went for a Macbook.  It's close to emitting it's death rattle as I type this so, once I've worked out how to transfer all the various files on my external hard drive into formats Windows will accept, I'll shortly need to buy a new one, and enjoy neither of the above circumstances nowadays.

 

If anyone has any recommendations for decent, reliable budget laptops which can comfortably handle the like of web surfing, some torrents/Kodi, playing music (Spotify mostly) and video and a bit of word processing, I would be much obliged.

[Lee909]

I bought a Asus about 5-6 years back. Its only just starting to slowly die now. Only cost about £400 then and has been a great buy. Asus are well worth a look for value/money

[redheart]

Mine if you're a tasty lass

[Dr Nowt]

I'm a bearded homophobe so no dice I'm afraid.

 

Thanks Flash.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

You should get a laptop.

 

There. Done.

[russ1979]

just an idea 

 

i recently bought a toshiba chroombook for 200£ and its ace 10 hour battery life, fast etc but you cant put software on there everything is web based but you could get a firestick and a tv for the money you've saved. 

[Dr Nowt]

Cheers for the reply russ, already got the telly and firestick angles covered and defo need software.

[Dr Nowt]

ROTOQ, much appreciate you taking time out from the sewing machine and making your skinsuit out of that lass to reply mate.

[setreal]

The crux is: how important is mobilty? Will it be in one place basically or are you going to use the battery a lot and need it to be compact?

[Dr Nowt]

Won't be in one fixed spot all the time but 99% of use will still be at home. So while a decent battery would be a nice to have, it can pretty much be plugged in wherever I'd need to use it and doesn't need to be anywhere near top of the class in that department.

[Duncan Clench]

They're all shit, but Asus are probably best value for money.

 

What's up with the MacBook? Might you be better off buying a solid state hard drive and installing it? Easier than you'd think, and would add a few years of use.

[Russ Atmosphere]

Might be useful mate...

 

http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/laptops/best-laptops-1304361

[setreal]

Won't be in one fixed spot all the time but 99% of use will still be at home. So while a decent battery would be a nice to have, it can pretty much be plugged in wherever I'd need to use it and doesn't need to be anywhere near top of the class in that department.

 

Asus do have best value for money and they usually have a selection of matte displays, which is always important for me as I hate the glossy glare stuff. A Zenbook might be a good choice.

[markcd]

Does it have to be new? I have used a seller on eBay, and they buy ex business machines and clean them up and flog them on. I bought a Lenovo one, and it just looked like it hadn't been used at all. 

 

The eBay shop is here: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Best-Laptop-Deals-on-the-Net?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

[Allan]

What's the budget?

 

All laptops in the £300-£500 range are much of a muchness. They all use the same components, pretty much. The difference is usually just the aesthetics and what bloatware is pre-installed.

 

Standard specs for budget machines are Intel i3 processors (or AMD equivalent), 4Gb RAM & 1Tb HDD. All newer models will come with Windows 10, though you will find Windows 8 machines if you dig around a little. Some machines may come with a dedicated 1Gb GPU, but the majority will be integrated Intel HD graphics.

 

I've had a refurbed Acer Aspire 5750 for years and it's still going strong. (i5 & just 6Gb RAM).

 

If you're looking higher end machines, then that's where some additional research is required, unless you already know your stuff. Though by the sounds of things, you'll not be using the machine for gaming, graphic design/rendering or other high end processing.

 

Like Russ, I'd give a shout out to Chromebooks - very good if you're after something for on the go. Lack a bit of oomph if you want to use the laptop as more of a desktop replacement, but what they lack in power, they make up for in speed and ease of use.

[Paul]

Can you plug an external DVD drive into a chrome book to watch DVDs? Mrs Paul needs a cheap laptop for work that function is a prerequisite.

[Allan]

Can you plug an external DVD drive into a chrome book to watch DVDs? Mrs Paul needs a cheap laptop for work that function is a prerequisite.

 

You can use an external DVD drive for read only data files, but not for the playback of video files on DVDs.

 

If you're after a Chromebook like laptop with Windows functionality, then there are plenty of options available.

 

I have an Acer Chromebook & an 11.6" Acer laptop for when I need Windows compatibility.

 

Acer CB3-111

 

Acer ES1-111M

[Raymond Duck]

I bought the boy a reconditioned Lenovo x220, i5, 4gb RAM, 256 SSD for GBP166 off eBay.

 

It has 12 month guarantee and runs Office 2013 with no issues.

 

Just checked, 163.33. The seller was newandusedlaptops4u.

[markcd]

I bought the boy a reconditioned Lenovo x220, i5, 4gb RAM, 256 SSD for GBP166 off eBay. It has 12 month guarantee and runs Office 2013 with no issues. Just checked, 163.33. The seller was newandusedlaptops4u.

 

 

that is almost exactly the same as I purchased from the same seller. With a DVI to HDMI cable for about £6, it does everything I need: porn, footy, porn, word processing, porn and torrenting porn. 

[setreal]

"Torrenting porn" sounds like a gross new Japanese subgenre.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

"Torrenting porn" sounds like a gross new Japanese subgenre.

 

"I wanna put my seed in my peers"

[Dr Nowt]

Some good pointers on here, thanks very much one and all for the advice so far.

[cloggypop]

My last Asus lasted 7 or 8 years. It was generally left on on all the time. Most laptops are decent enough build quality these days though. It's fairly normal over here for a shop to give a 3 year guarantee as standard on all laptops they sell.

 

[Allan]

The best piece of advice would be not to just buy a machine blindly off the net. Get yourself into a store to have a proper look and a feel for the build quality. Then once you've had a good touchy, feely session in store, get online and bag yourself the best deal possible.

 

Little things like how the keyboard and trackpad/buttons feel are things that I always like to do first hand before committing. Of course, if for the majority of time you're going to use external peripherals that you may already own, then this shouldn't be a requirement. 

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

Make sure to ask the guy in the shop to specify EXACTLY how much porn the laptop can take before seizing up. Ask now so you won't feel silly later (source: personal experience).