My old laptop is really struggling with most things these days and has been for a while, so I have been looking to see what’s out there.
I started with new laptops, but then started looking at refurbished ones too and now I am confused about what to go for!
I don’t really play games (never had a laptop powerful enough to try!), Zwift would be the main thing and then mostly YouTube, films etc…

I originally found this – https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/product.aspx?id=6W7H3EA&opt=ABU&sel=NTB seemed that it would be good enough for me, but then I looked at refurbished ones and was finding ones like this – https://thetechoutlet.co.uk/collections/laptops-in-stock/products/refurbished-upgraded-hp-i5-11th-16gb-ram-256gb-nvme-ssd-full-hd-i5-1135g7-laptop-14s-dq2512na-windows-11 and

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145608038260?hash=item21e6ea5774:g:~HQAAOSwRcxlygRx&_trksid=p5731.m3795

Both have a 1 year warranty, is there any reason not to go for a refurbished laptop with better spec than a new one?

To give you any idea of what I have now, its a Fujitsu Lifebook U904 (10 years old!!) that I bought second hand a few years ago, so just about anything should be a vast improvement on this!

Thanks in advance for any advise you can give me.

Ive just got a lenovo from back market for generic use and its a couple of hundred quid.

Their stock changes a bit as its a market place.

This looked ok on my very mediocre knowledge.https://backmarket.onelink.me/j4lA/n65ijb01

@cougar you’re IT ish. Any good?

From what you have listed, I would be tempted to go with one of the refurbs… but I can’t comment on the companies in question/quality of refurb!

Dell UK outlet can have some bargains if you mix voucher codes and cashback, with proper warranty and aftercare https://www.dell.com/en-uk/dfh/lp/outlet

Bought a Dell inspiron 15 3000 for £299 maybe 18 months ago and it has been superb. fast start up fast close down and pretty quick for general surfing. probably a bit more now, but same or similar refurbs will be same price I presume.

This place was recommended on a previous thread but haven’t used them so can’t personally recommend, but good prices. There’s usually some discount codes available also (maybe when you sign up for their newsletter).

https://itzoo.co.uk/

Also check out the Dell Outlet

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/dfh/lp/outlet

Newandusedlaptops4u on eBay are good. Very happy with the cheap laptop I bought from them.

XPS 13 is in your budget:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234629862742

Newandusedlaptops4u on eBay are good.

And they partake in the eBay discount codes every week or two so don’t buy it without the extra 10/15/20% offers.

@cougar you’re IT ish. Any good?

Honestly,

I’m not bang up to date on whether the Nth generation i7 is better or worse than the N+1th generation i5. Aside from this desktop I have two laptops on rotation, one is from 2011 and the other 2008. But this question crops up on STW on like a weekly basis, “what laptop to do very little” and it’s difficult to go wrong with those modest requirements. It’s like asking “what bike to dribble down towpaths?”

Zwift I think is RAM-hungry (I’ve never used it), a quick google would suggest 8GB+ is recommended so your 16GB machine linked there should be fine. Whether there are better options at that price point I’ve no idea. Personally I wouldn’t stray much past Dell or Lenovo, but that’s just me, I’ve worked on too many systems which were technician-hostile (I’m looking at you, HP).

If you’re open to Apple a used MacBook Air (2017) is within budget. Get one with as much memory as you can afford. Just make sure it has a low battery cycle count. My previous one lasted 6/7 years of abuse before I chose to upgrade to a bigger screen.

“I’ve worked on too many systems which were technician-hostile (I’m looking at you, HP).”

Good point my HP Pavillion has been a nice machine other than the keyboard getting a bit stick after spills. I went to our local repair shop and they said it wasn’t possible or economcally possible to replace the keyboard.

Dell or Lenevo it is then when this one finally dies.