Clueless, send help

[Chasingdandelions]

Me and dh have decided to buy a laptop. We both need it for work, however weve never owned a computer before and don't have a clue what constitutes a good laptop. Any recommendations?

Where to start ...

Choose Macbook or Windows. Macbooks are lovely and horrendously expensive. Windows is more likely to be compatible with work as it's the cheaper option.

If you're only using it for work, you probably won't need superfast. If you're storing documents on a work server or cloud storage, you won't need a huge hard drive either. If, however, you will be using the laptop for games or storing a lot of media, you will need faster and/or greater capacity.

Look at screen size - 13" is good for me (teacher) but you might pre4fer a larger screen if you need to look at, say, spreadsheets, with a lot of columns/rows.

Go to a retailer and look at what's available and then go home and research. You need to narrow your options before choosing and don't be swayed by salesmen - listen to their advice and then do your own research.

There will be many many laptops that are equally good for you: do not be panicked into thinking you have to keep searching for the special one. Like Cynderella says, work out what you are going to do with it before you buy it. Also do you have broadband already? Need a printer? Cloud storage?

I personally think this is the best guide: www.johnlewis.com/buying-guides/laptops-buying-guide.

I've bought from Laptops Direct several times, think they are great and you can call them for more advice.

Thank you both very much for your help! You've both made excellent points and it definitely will help narrow down the search. I have suoerfast broadband and I don't think we will need a large screen. My grandad give me a Bluetooth printer but I honestly have no idea about connecting that 😂

What sort of work will you both be doing on it?

If it is just email you will need a lower spec than if for example you are doing graphics work.