To ask advice on buying a basic laptop?

[Summersun200]

I’ve survived until the lockdown just using data on my phone, but now I really need to get a laptop and WiFi as will be doing some self employed work at home.
Only need a basic model, nothing fancy. Can folks recommend a basic laptop definitely under £400, hopefully nearer £300? Thanks

I'd suggest you try cex, it's a second hand store but the warranties are really good (24 months and I've had excellent service from them before).

Something like this for 80 quid would be totally adequate link

www.argos.co.uk/browse/technology/laptops-and-pcs/laptops-and-netbooks/c:30049/screen-size-range-(in):14-%252D-15.9in/storage-type:ssd/opt/sort:price/

All the machines here at £299 are virtually identical and serviceable.

You want an SSD for fast boot times, but these don't have a lot of storage capacity.

If you could say a bit more about exactly what it is you'll be using it for, i.e. do you need storage/want to watch HD video/use photoshop, then I'd be able to be more specific. More RAM and disk space will put the price up though.

Spend half that on wine then buy a Chromebook. Unless you specifically need something a Chromebook won't do.

Thanks so far... so it would just be for basic emailing, video chats in zoom etc and for using eg Microsoft office and teams.

Look at Lenovo.

I would suggest a chromebook but I’m not sure how well Microsoft office works with that. We bought one for homeschooling for about £220 and I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised with it. The battery life is great the response time is very quick but they are much more cloud-based and traditional laptops. Perhaps have a look at the whether that would meet your needs.

I've got a chromebook and it's amazing. I'll never go back to Windows. I built a business entirely on it. I can access office 365 on it, Google can also do everything Windows can do in terms of documents/spreadsheets etc. You open the lid and it's ready to go. No faffing about with constant updates before you can even think of getting started. It was half the price of the equivalent laptop.

Lenovo is and always will be the best option here.

Is office 365 a good experience on Chromebooks? I guess it would be just the same as Windows laptops but don't know.

Lenovo is and always will be the best option here.

Lenovo Chromebook is the best option

I went for a chromebook recently as well. I am NEVER going back to anything windows based.

I’m thinking the same. Can someone explain to me what all the different terms mean? I find it overwhelming what it all means in reality. I need something with Office on it for making brochures/documents and spreadsheets. And with Office, do you have to keep rebuying it each year? Seems to be a subscription service now.

Get a chrome book it's basically a tablet with a keyboard and you can use google docs rather that Microsoft office

My son wants a laptop for his birthday that would support the pixar animation software. Could anyone please help me with this. I believe you need windows 10 I really haven't got a clue about any computers

@XDownwiththissortofthingX what's SSD?

I got a HP Chromebook from John Lewis for about £200

Long battery
Light
Good for browsing internet
Good for watching Netflix
Also has a built in camera for skyping and zooming

Super happy - my mum bought one after seeing mine and loves hers too

We bought a Lenovo recently. I'd never heard of them but we needed a second laptop for home schooling. We've been pleased with it.

Hi OP @Summersun200
You may have already thought about it, but please consider the cost of an antivirus and MS Office licence.

PPs have covered some good ones. I would also recommend a second hand provider. You still get the guarantee for a more affordable price, usually from office refurbishments

Don't get a Chromebook if you might use Zoom as some bits of functionality don't work.

Also, I’ve found that google docs doesn’t format word docs properly once you try to edit them. So you seem to need Microsoft office. Which would mean no to a chrome book I think.

Chromebook for your requirements start at £200 in Argos

I use Google docs and zoom all the time on my chromebook and haven't had any issues at all. It's all app and web based so if it's online or there's an app for it then it'll be fine.

With a chromebook do you have to be connected to the Internet all the time?

Chromebooks relie on cloud storage, although you can get some with bigger memory so you can download stuff. So if you don't have internet access then you'd struggle with it.

They are fine for home use, but if you intend to go anywhere you wouldn't easily have internet access then not a great option.

Hence the reason just bought a Windows laptop and not a Chromebook. They are cheaper as you aren't paying for the memory storage in them. Memory always puts the price up.

uk.pcmag.com/laptops/8334/the-best-budget-laptops

I find PCMAG 'best ofs' and their general reviews helpful when I'm buying anything IT related - even if I don't go with the recommendations, they explain what to look for and why then you can prioritise your own needs

If you're on a budget, it may be looking online for MS office downloadable version (and a laptop you can download it on to) rather than a monthly subscription that can work out quite expensive.- £20 outright, rather than around £80 annually.
Don't forget anti-virus - and be careful of renewable subscriptions; you can buy McAfee for around £8 for the first year, but they tried to charge me £80 to renew .