New Home laptop needed

[mikeprice]

Hi all

 

Mrs mikeprice has a 5 year old Lenovo which has been giving some problems recently

firstly the USB seems to keep "going wrong" - I suspect the voltage keeps dropping so the mouse gets jittery

 

done all the drivers and all that - doesn;t help

Now she has a wireless mouse - but she can;t charge it from the USB (hence suspicion that the power is dodgy)

 

Also - she has "somehow" managed to crack the case around where the lid hinges

plastic totally cracked so can;t be fixed

CLEARLY she has never picked it up by the lid or anything - just one of those things!!!

 

 

Anyway - I think she needs a replacement but I'm a bit out of date with current specs

clearly SSD and reasonable memory but nothing massive needed

 

mostly only used to basic web browsing - news sites and the like

and simple games - nothing with any graphics to speak of or role playing - basically things like Majong and the like

 

also some spreadsheet and possibly Access - but nothing big - we have a license for Office so that is all sorted!

 

any ideas??

refurbished would be OK if the battery is good!

 

thanks

[3s-gtech]

Does it need to run Windows Mike? Can a Chromebook do it? Mahjong surely comes in a browser version somewhere.

[mikeprice]

Does it need to run Windows Mike? Can a Chromebook do it? Mahjong surely comes in a browser version somewhere.

 

Thanks - should have said - must be Windows - she doesn;t like change!!

 

Apple is out as well for same reasons - as well as others!

[3s-gtech]

How about refurbs? Only that a refurbed business grade laptop (Thinkpad/Probook etc) tends to be better made than consumer stuff - certainly in my experience - and you’ll get something plenty fast enough and Windows 11 ready for the price of a budget home machine.

 

When I have the option, it’s Thinkpads all the way for me - the only thing that’s got worse is USB-C charging is pants. Some still have proper charging ports.

[jmak]

Agree with above that business machines are better value if you can stretch. If you go refurb, make sure it's at least 8th gen intel with a TPM chip otherwise it will expire with Windows 10 end of life in October 25.

 

I still like the Dell business outlet store.

 

Edit: tried to post a direct link, but the Dell website didn't like it.

 

They've got Latitude 5000 series with 12th gen (last year's) i5 processor starting at £500 including vat and delivery. I bought one in the summer and paid an extra £100 for the 3 year next day onsite warranty. We buy them with a 5 year warranty at work. If they last 5 years in our environment, they should easily manage that at home - and they're pretty repairable.

Edited October 2, 2023 by jmak

[Ditto]

I'd agree refurb/2nd hand business spec can get you great value. 9 years ago I bought a Lenovo x220 - it is an i7 with SSD 'RapidDrive Enhanced Experience 2.0' and it's what I'm using now - and most days! It's on the latest Win 10, and it's been trouble free , rock solid and great for taking away due to it's compact size. And it still boot pretty quick. I bought one from a supplier in Belgium and replaced the keyboard. Apart from being unable to find a decent genuine new battery at reasonable cost, it's left me with a very positive view on Lenovo. Actually, I have had to renew the charger. If Lenovo have kept the quality up, I'd be interested to know what 3 years old equivalent is and it would tick the 'not too much change' box as I'm thinking I might upgrade on the 10 year anniversary!

[Norphy]

There are Dell Latitude 7320 laptops on eBay going for less than £300 from refurb sellers. That’s a lot of laptop for the money.

[RKing]

These might give you an idea for refurbished laptops.

https://www.misco.co.uk/product_list/Computers/Laptops?A00035=Core+i5&A00140=14%7E&A11969=8589934592%7E17179869184&inStock=1&manufacturer=T1A&page=1&sortBy=1

[Dos_Box]

Another vote for the Dell Outlet for me. I always take a look there first when people ask me for advice on an affordable new laptop.

[elsiegee40]

I have bought over the years from the Dell outlet. I have also bought one from @ICTDirect_Dave

[Fazza]

Unless I've missed it @mikeprice you've not said what your budget is?

[Ditto]

Unless I've missed it @mikeprice you've not said what your budget is?

 

Shouldn't be an issue - he has 'shed loads' or is it a 'load of sheds'?

[mikeprice]

Unless I've missed it @mikeprice you've not said what your budget is?

 

No - didn;t say

 

Basically I want to concentrate on what we NEED and then I can look for something that will work for the lowest price

 

no point in getting something with 4Gb memory because it is cheap if Windows 11 with Office 2019 needs 16 Gb

 

or whatever

 

I have also asked you lot because you deal with laptops that teachers use and "some people" have similar habits in terms of things like gentleness with the screen closing and resitance to change

 

BTW - I didn;t say that - it was caused by a random keyboard glitch - like semi-colons

[BKGarry]

I have an older version of this https://store.acer.com/en-gb/acer-swift-3-pro-ultra-thin-laptop-sf314-511-blue-nx-acxek-002

 

It's actually be rock solid and is really light too

[stevewill6]

Refurb HP Elitebooks i recommend to anyone that asks me. Make sure its Intel 8th Gen or Ryzen 8GB ram 256SSD.

 

Laptops direct. Used them to get my dad a refurb.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Message me mike! I'm sure I'll have something absolutely marvellous for you