Can't anyone recommend a reasonably priced laptop?

[florarose11]

Under £500 for student-y type things: word, PowerPoint, browsing the web, emails, and so on. Nice keyboard a must!

Ok, maybe start by looking at this?

m.johnlewis.com/lenovo-ideapad-320-laptop-intel-core-i3-8gb-ram-128gb-ssd-14-inch/p3288129

Personally I'd say i3 processor (or AMD equivalent) and 8gb ram as a minimum. I5 would be better. I like SSDs myself as faster to boot than hard drives, but they hold less.

Would you consider a chromebook? You will get a faster device for less money. It won't run word etc but will run google docs and similar. You can't plug most things in - or at least not easily - so not good for cameras, energy monitors, iPods/iPhones, older printers etc.

Yes, I was going to suggest Chromebook as well - you actually can get them to run the Word Android app now (at least some Chromebooks do, mine has recently joined the list of those which can run Android apps) but Word Online would do just as well, or Google Docs. The battery life tends to be great, so no having to lug the charger around during the day.

I saw and fell in love with a very nice HP Chromebook 13 a little while ago. Out my price at the mo, think it was £450 but that may be ex-vat

4gb of ram on a chromebook would be fine - they can have a lower spec than windows laptops. Avoid 2gb ram - too low.