Recommend a laptop please, no clue!

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My DD (16) is starting dance college in September and needs a new laptop. Her current one is so slow it's painful to use.

Budget is around £400, she will only use it for college work and playing The Sims. It needs to be fast starting up, and loading programmes.

I'm happy to go to a shop, but worry I'll end up with something rubbish, or I'll be given poor advice.

Samsung galaxy book2 15" £450 at currys.

Lenovo Thinkbook 13s £429 at laptopoutlet Thinkbook 13s

I'd go for a minimum of i5 or Ryzen5 processor, absolute minimum of 8Gb RAM, ideally 16, and 256/512Gb of storage.

There's a big jump up in specs between £400 and £450, which is why I've posted these two, of the two, I'd go for the thinkpad as the smaller screen is more portable, higher resolution and a 'square' format which is generally better for office work, which suits my use better, your daughter may want the larger screen for playing games, but you could also plug it into any TV.

Out of interest, what is her 'old' laptop?

The reason I ask is the requirements to run windows well haven't changed for years, so it may just be being slowed down due to malware, being full (of data or dust) or may benefit massively from a faster SSD if it has a mechanical harddisk.

Hi, it's an Asus. During lockdown it went to a computer guy who upgraded and 'cleaned' it up. He said it was as good as it was going to get as it was low spec, it's been OK for schoolwork but she needs something must faster.

Fair enough, sounds like it's reaching the end of its usefulness...

Always worth wiping clean, setting up your wifi etc and keeping as a spare / just for checking emails etc on.

Given the old laptop is going to be ditched, you could try installing Linux. It has much lower system requirements than MS Windows and your requirements seem fairly low - i.e. office applications and SIMS.

Linux Mint is very user friendly and supports automatic updates. You'd probably want to download the Cinnamon version:

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

There is a Linux version of Steam (a game content and delivery system) which can be used to install SIMS.

In terms of office apps, Linux Mint includes Libra Office, but it is also possible to install MS Office.

Just a thought and it might save £400 on a new laptop.