New Laptop

[EatingAllTheCrumpets]

Sorry if this isn't the right place!

I have £500 to buy a laptop, but I have no idea what I'm looking at

I need it for general internet browsing but I'm also doing a distance learning course so I need a Microsoft package on there with Word etc.

People are telling me I need to spend at least £1200 to get something even half decent but I really don't have that money spare at the moment . Please tell me I can get something decent for £500?

Any help would be much appreciated

Something around £300 from Tesco or any other retailer will be fine. Look into how much Microsoft Office will cost, if you must use that.

I personally love dell laptops. My current one cost £650 BUT that's one with an i7 processor and nVidia graphics card so it can play the latest games on nearly full quality. For your needs, you could easily get one for £500. Inspiron is their "low end" brand, mine is one. www.dell.com/uk/p/laptops?s=dhs&~ck=mn I've never had any problems with a dell laptop, other than things that were my own fault or the laptop getting old. You get 1 year collect & return warrenty, but I do recommend upgrading it to the "on site" one so you can keep an eye on what they're doing with it!

As to getting a copy of Microsoft Office, you're a student so should be able to get their student discount if they're doing it at the moment. www.microsoft.com/uk/education/schools/software-licensing/buying-for-students.aspx

£1200 is having a laugh this HP or this Asus would be more than adequate. After adding on the student licence for MS Office you'll probably have paid around £400.

Alternatively LibreOffice is free in both senses of the word and 95% compatible with MS Office. There may be Office Macros and exotic bits that it can't cope with, but the worst case is that you try it and it doesn't work for you then you haven't lost anything except a little time.

I've just bought an Acer from PC World for £425, but had to pay extra for MS Office (I think that's standard) and was mis-sold Norton Anti Virus when there was anti virus on there already, so check about that. the pc is fine for my purposes, which sound like your's. The only thing to watch out for is that it'll probably come pre-loaded with Windows 8, which has given me (and a lot of people) grief. You might want to consider one that has an earlier version on Windows, if you can find one.

As CruelanUnusual says, use LibreOffice. It will be more than sufficient for your needs. Its a free download.

Don't get roped into buying Norton Anything, as Norton is Bloatware that is overpriced. Just download Avast or AVG which are both free and better.

I personally use eBuyer for anything I get and any of their sub £400 laptops will be more than sufficient for your needs (www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Laptops?price=0+TO+400)

Thank you! I'm glad I can get a decent one for my budget! Will I will have a look at the links. Also thanks for the tips with student discount and free options, that will certainly help