£300 family laptops - all much of a muchness? - Singletrack World Magazine November 5, 2022

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This topic has 45 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 1 year ago by Ewan.

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£300 family laptops – all much of a muchness?
Pook
Full Member

I want something that will run Windows, Adobe software and allow for a bit of simple gaming (new Monkey Island)

Has to be a laptop.

Are they all about the same at that price point?

Posted 1 year ago

oceanskipper
Full Member

Adobe – if you mean Photoshop and the like, then unlikely to run very well on a £300 laptop….

Posted 1 year ago

Pook
Full Member

Yeah PS and Premiere elements

Posted 1 year ago

ajantom
Full Member

I bought a refurbed i5 laptop from Tier1 for under £200, added an SSD and extra Ram and it runs Photoshop perfectly well.
Also copes with music software and recording,v etc.

You can get very good bang for your buck getting refurbs.

Posted 1 year ago

oceanskipper
Full Member

Yeah – refurb is your best bet. i5, SSD and as much RAM as you can (8Gb minimum I would say, 16Gb preferable for PS etc)

Posted 1 year ago

Pook
Full Member

ah good thinking. I’ve used music magpie for phones in the past. Who’s best for refurblaptops?

Posted 1 year ago

GlennQuagmire
Free Member

Dell outlet would be worth a check but doubt there will be a huge selection at the £300 mark.

As always, it’s always tempting to spend a little bit more!

Posted 1 year ago

stwhannah
Full Member

I got a refurb laptop from Tier 1 following a recommendation here. Customer service was good and laptop has been great.

Posted 1 year ago

stumpyjon
Full Member

If you do buy new at that price I’d factor in an SSD and then do a clean Windows install, remove all the manufacturers bloatware, will make a big performance difference and 3asy to do.

Posted 1 year ago

5lab
Full Member

I use itzoo for refurb laptops. Something like a t480 is built amazingly robustly and will outlast a Currys laptop by a decade

Posted 1 year ago

ajantom
Full Member

https://tier1online.com/

Look at things like the HP Elitebooks. Very robust and easily upgradeable.

Posted 1 year ago

Cougar
Full Member

Something like a t480 is built amazingly robustly and will outlast a Currys laptop by a decade

I have a T420 on my desk here. It looks like it’s just fallen out of the 1990s but every time I go back to it I’m reminded how much nicer it is than everything that came after it.

But, yeah. As others have mostly already said: a decent keyboard, solid state storage, as much RAM as you can muster and for Adobeage an external monitor. Anything else is gravy.

Posted 1 year ago

simon_g
Full Member

+1 for ex-corp Thinkpad.

Spent about £150 on a X240 for my daughter in lockdown and it’s been great. Get one with an SSD and it’ll be snappy and nice to use. Great keyboards, easy spares availability if things break or batteries lose charge, and built for road warrior (ab)use.

Posted 1 year ago

kaiser
Free Member

I’m looking for similar and don’t require great processing power but reliability and durability are paramount as funds are minimal.
I seem to remember ThinkPads and ..was it latitudes were recommended ?
Any/ all advice appreciated.thanks

Posted 1 year ago

ajantom
Full Member

Thinkpads are pretty damn tough. It’s what most schools give to teachers (for good reason!)

I’ve also been very impressed with an HP Elitebook I got a few years ago. Aluminium case is tough as old boots, and it’s been gigged heavily (using virtual synths + controller keyboard in a sweaty alt rock band) and lived to tell the tale.

Posted 1 year ago

xora
Full Member

Thinkpads are pretty damn tough.

They have to be, the keyboards are so damn aweful they give you the rage really quickly!

Posted 1 year ago

fatbrad
Free Member

I would go with
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-hp-elitebook-840-g3-core-i5-6300u-8gb-256gb-14-inch-touchscreen-t1-840g3-256gb-t/version.asp
That’s what we’ve used at the last place I worked and they were great.

Posted 1 year ago

fatbrad
Free Member

The i7 isn’t much more though either!
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-hp-840-g3-core-i7-6600-8gb-256gb-14-inch-windows-10-professiona-t1-hp840g3i78gb256gbw10p/version.asp

Posted 1 year ago

mattyfez
Full Member

fatbrad
Free Member

The i7 isn’t much more though either!
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-hp-840-g3-core-i7-6600-8gb-256gb-14-inch-windows-10-professiona-t1-hp840g3i78gb256gbw10p/version.asp

There’s a reason it’s cheap, the screen is 14″ @ 1366 x 768 and no good for photoshop.
It’s also a skylake/kaby lake CPU, which whilst still very good, is not compatible with windows 11, full stop. It’s a perfectly capable CPU but the crap screen and the fact microsoft simply won’t entertain chips of this vintage for windows 11, makes it pretty much worthless…

…unless you just want it as a laptop for surfing or whatever, but then youd want a newer model i3 or i5 for the lower power consumption, not an ‘old’ i7.

Posted 1 year ago

trail_rat
Free Member

That’s what we’ve used at the last place I worked and they were great.

I have one of them elitebook 840s for work. They had a brief deviation from Dell to hp for a short period I ended up stuck with one of them hateful pieces of crap replacing my decade old dell workhorse.

It’s battery’s swollen -the screens curved , it has wobblers about drivers and won’t boot until they are updated. It won’t stay logged into the server without full reboots.

Me nor the unfortunate other 2 members of my team stuck with the elitebook 840£ would recommend them …..

Redeeming features – batteries last ages and they are light/thin.

Posted 1 year ago

Cowman
Full Member

I’d second the tier1 refurb option. I’ve bought two for my two fake kids.

Lasted years and worked well for that time.

Posted 1 year ago

oceanskipper
Full Member

It’s what most schools give to teachers (for good reason!)

Err no it’s not. Well, not in any of the 50 plus schools that I know of…. 🤷‍♂️

Posted 1 year ago

trail_rat
Free Member

Most schools round here teachers have Microsoft surface convertibles…..the kids have Chromebooks

That or what ever the schools could get when lockdown hit.

Posted 1 year ago

mattyfez
Full Member

Just make sure if you go intel, it’s an 8th gen cpu or newer, or whatever the AMD equivelent is.

A gen 6 i7 laptop with a 720 screen is no good, especially for photoshop. Although a laptop is really the wrong tool for the job if your’e doing graphics work.

Posted 1 year ago

ajantom
Full Member

Err no it’s not. Well, not in any of the 50 plus schools that I know of

2 out if the 3 schools I’ve worked in over the last 10yrs (and the other does desktops, so no laptop action). Obviously that’s just my experience.

Most schools round here teachers have Microsoft surface convertibles…..the kids have Chromebooks

Ooh, posh. Not down here in deepest Devon.

Posted 1 year ago

fatbrad
Free Member

I would beg to differ. Photoshop does run well on a 6th gen i7. Plus it will happily run W11 as does my 4th gen i5.

Posted 1 year ago

mattyfez
Full Member

Photoshop does run well on a 6th gen i7.

I’m sure it does at 720p.

Plus it will happily run W11 as does my 4th gen i5.

You must have hacked it, Microsoft simply don’t support CPUs that old for w11.

Posted 1 year ago

racefaceec90
Full Member

@5lab i just wanted to thank you for recommending itzoo.

i was looking for a reasonably priced laptop and checked them out.

i now have a reconditioned p50 thinkbook with an i7 and 24gb ram 15.7″ screen that i bought for £344.

am well chuffed with it (it can definitely play pc games for sure).

Posted 1 year ago

duncancallum
Full Member

And om late to the party with itzoo….

Some good kit

Posted 1 year ago

molgrips
Free Member

Those Lenovo black rectangles that used to be IBM ThinkPads may have an aluminium chassis but they have a fairly lightweight plastic shell on which the corners will shatter if you drop it.

I’ve had two, albeit a whole ago. The first one had a dodgy RAM slot, broke easily, had a bad connection to the magnet that told it when the screen was closed, and the WiFi antenna plug fell off. The one that replaced it was better made and fault free except the plastic case was slightly proud of the chassis on top so it clicked and moved about when typing.

Others I’ve seen don’t seem bad, to be fair.

Posted 1 year ago

bearnecessities
Full Member

@racefaceec90 Hi matey – great news. Can I ask what grade & condition it was/is? I’m tempted by one of their ThinkPads too, but nervous by their grade B description!

Cheers 👍

Posted 1 year ago

GlennQuagmire
Free Member

I posted this on the other laptop thread, thought it might be useful here as well.

ASUS laptop

Posted 1 year ago

racefaceec90
Full Member

@bearnecessities how are you good sir,I hope you are well 👍

There are a few scratches on the outside but nothing bad at all tbh. The screen and keyboard etc are perfectly fine and the laptop is all working (it came with a 12 month warranty also).

Am very happy with it I have to say (no way I could afford a brand new similar spec pc).

Edit apologies it was a b grade

Posted 1 year ago

tails
Free Member

Bookmarking for later, that website looks mucho cheapness.

Posted 1 year ago

racefaceec90
Full Member

it was this one i bought https://itzoo.co.uk/products/refurbished-lenovo-thinkpad-p50-notebook-pc-15-6-display-intel-i7-6820hq-core-i7-2-7ghz-cpu-256gb-ssd-24gb-ram-b-grade-windows-10-home-installed-qwerty-us-keyboard

Posted 1 year ago

eyestwice
Free Member

They have to be, the keyboards are so damn awful

For software engineers such as myself, a ThinkPad keyboard is by far the best laptop keyboard to ever exist.

It changes slightly generation-on-generation. But it has the right amount of travel. The right amount of feedback. The perfect response time per keypress.

I have never, ever – until now – heard of *anyone* who thinks that a ThinkPad keyboard is sh*t.

I currently have two ThinkPads of different generations.

Day-to-day they’re docked and I use a mechanical keyboard.

Undocked, both are a a pleasure to use.

Posted 1 year ago

bearnecessities
Full Member

Thanks @racefaceec90 – I’ve gone all in with a p52 & 32gb…but am still dubious of what will turn up for the frankly ridiculously cheap price!

Posted 1 year ago

racefaceec90
Full Member

@bearnecessities oh very nice enjoy 🙂 (it should come with a 12 month warranty if any issues).

i hope your laptop is fine too when you get it.

Posted 1 year ago

bearnecessities
Full Member

Thanks @racefaceec90 – I’ve gone for it with one of these that have just been listed, just in case anyone else is interested. Seems like insane value to me and I’ll let update thread with what turns up.

Refurbished LENOVO THINKPAD P52 Notebook PC – 15.6" Display – Intel i7-8850H Core i7 2.6GHz CPU – 512GB SSD – 32GB RAM – A Grade – Windows 10 Home Installed

Edit: how did that happen?! Anyhow, cheers matey 🙂

Posted 1 year ago

bearnecessities
Full Member

Well it’s immaculate – it was a grade A mind you, but it’s spot on. Delivered next day as well which was a bonus. Cheers again 5lab & RF.

Edit: Battery health info

DESIGN CAPACITY 90,000 mWh
FULL CHARGE CAPACITY 84,960 mWh
CYCLE COUNT 101

Posted 1 year ago