Need a laptop. Can't afford one. Any recommendations?

[msagent]

Can anyone recommend a good low cost laptop? I used to have a really good one but my ex kindly destroyed it when I left him. For the last 10 years I haven't had one. I would like to save for one over the next few months but am not sure which one to buy. I will be using it for writing and my son will use it for learning. He has an old tablet but I would rather he used a laptop for school stuff. Looking for lowest cost possible without compromising on functionality!

I haven't used a laptop (except for work, and I can't do any personal stuff on my work laptop) for over 5 years.

Apart from your son's use (is that for homework?) what sort of things do you need to use it for?

I would suggest going to currys/pc world or an independent shop to get an understanding of the features you need (or wont) and that is available. there are bound to be black friday deals.

I found a company online that does reconditioned ones. I got a Dell and it has office / one drive and it’s fine for day to day tasks: banking, shopping, watching Netflix, writing for my church etc. it was £150.

DH works in IT and for home, he always buys reconditioned from EuroPC. They have a warranty of I think 3 or 5yrs and if there is an issue, they come to the house to fix it.

Normally for my laptop, which doesn't need as high a spec/memory as his, we also buy reconditioned, but from backmarket.

The above suggestion may work for you. It might be worth looking at second hand models which come with a guarantee. If you are going to get one from a shop, look for a tech shop that doesn’t sell vapes and other non associated bits as well.

And shame on your ex.

What is your budget

a chromebook is often the cheapest. but these days, a tablet + keyboard can do many of the things that a laptop can do.

do you need microsoft Word? that is more expensive, but there are free alternatives for writing.

Unless you need specific memory heavy software like photoshop or running your own LLM then I would suggest a chrome book. Cheap as chips, stays fast, does everything 95% of people need.

We had one for 10 years that only just died and I think we paid £150 for it new.

AI recommended EuroPC and I tried to buy a laptop recently with credit card. The credit card company absolutely refused to pay to them as getting word of multiple scams.... strange. We bought from someone else, credit card payment went through no problem. Just flagging incase Op goes with your suggestion and finds similar.

I got a laptop paid for by the OU (up to £250) as they have a student support fund to cover course expenses for people on benefits.
You have to be registered and studying a course with them, that can include an Access course and that can be studied for free if you are on UC. The funding can also cover the cost of a printer, headphones, any set books, internet etc.

have a look on laptops direct, they do reconditioned ones and you can use finance to spread the cost, but considering what you need one for, you don't need an especially high powered one so you might have to just spend up to £200 depending on the brand.

I highly recommend looking at reconditioned. I got a huge discount and honestly couldn’t really tell it wasn’t new

I have a Chromebook and it does most things I need it to.

Get a reconditioned one, they are pretty cheap.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/refurbished-laptops/s?k=refurbished+laptops

DH and I always get a reconditioned one from here

https://jamies.org.uk/

They are brilliant. Great service and prices and they have adults with SEND volunteering and working there and their profits support homelessness in the local community. They have a shop in Southampton and sell on Ebay.

Could you afford an Apple Neo? It’s like an iPad with a keyboard. If you have apple products it pairs with them all and shares passkeys and everything. Super easy to set up and good functionality. Really well reviewed. Decently high powered, long battery life. Lightweight.