Upto £300 laptop

[TheAngryDog]

It's been a while since I have bought a laptop (6 years). My sister is looking for one with a budget upto £300. Main usage will be to watch YT / do Open University work on.

Does anyone have any suggestions and recommendations? I know that a £300 laptop isn't going to be the best.

Thanks

[grumbledoak]

Refurbished business laptops on Amazon or eBay.

[acd80]

Chromebook

[otolith]

First thought is Chromebook, but she needs to check that her OU course doesn't have any particular software requirements.

Second thought is secondhand.

[TheAngryDog]

I've been looking at refurbished from laptops direct.
I am not a fan of chromebooks, and tbh she isn't tech savvy, is used to Windows so as I don't want her to call me 300 times a day with questions I cannot answer, I'd like to stick to Windows

[Troubleatmill]

Dell Outlet with scratch and dent (never seen one look less than perfect - just comes in a brown box )


Home
https://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearc...


Business
https://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearc...

[Andeh1]

Dell outlet is usually a safe bet!

[colin79666]

Just about any refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad T or X series if Windows really is a must.

If she isn’t tech savvy then all the more reason to go the chrome book route!

[beigepants]

I have had to buy a couple of laptops recently as my kids need them for school work. I can recommend a Chromebook as compatability is pretty good - the kids have been able to log in to do their school work and online courses, and MS Office is available via app. Two that stuck out:

Lenovo S345 (A6 version) is about £270 before discounts from Lenovo's website, but there is 10% off for signing up for the newsletter and a further 10% for students, which reduces the price significantly. It has a full HD IPS screen which will make working on it a little more enjoyable and battery life is pretty good - the kids get 10 hours between charges.

HP Chromebook 14 (full hd version) has just been released which is £280 before discount codes on HP's website.

Strangely people seem to pay more for these on eBay than they cost new.

If you want to go down the Windows route there is currently a Dell Inspiron 3000 14 inch laptop for £230 (details on the HotUKDeals website) which is currently cheaper new than the same via the Dell outlet. The specs aren't amazing, but I bought one for a relative and it handles most things with ease. As other posters have mentioned, there if you want something a little more pokey, Dell's outlet is a good starting point and there we generally coupons on offer, especially as it is a bank holiday weekend.

[bloomen]

One thing I wouldn't get is an old ex business Lenovo. The screens are the worst I have ever seen on any computer bar none. Just because it's 'business' does not mean the user has to suffer with a blurry, milky morass in front of them.

If it's more modern or has a screen upgrade then great. An original screen I found intolerable.

[beigepants]

Completely agree regarding used Lenovo business laptops. At my workplace we used to have X230s and X240s which were continually being replaced due to various failures.

[anonymous-user]

Having suffered a cheap Dell laptop which had an endless series of heat-related motherboard problems (and having worked at a company that bought a job lot of Dell XPS(?)s and ended up with literally stacks of overheated and burned-out machines) I would never buy that brand again.

Buy a Lenono instead, IMHO they are much better made and more reliable. Mine has been doing 8 to 10 hours a day , 5 days a week for maybe 5 years, its been taken on holiday multiple times, jammed in the boot for long trips etc.., and the only problem it's had is the W key popping off a few times - I bought a replacement keyboard for £20 from Ebay for it, although I suspect a drop of superglue would have worked just as well.