My dad need a new laptop

He is 72, only ever used windows so no point suggesting Mac, Chomebook etc.

He literally only uses it for basic MS Office stuff, email and browsing. Doesn’t play media, edit photos or do gaming so nothing processor heavy

I can get him MS Office through my kids student license

Is refurb the way to go? Any recommendations for economical, simple and reliable laptop? Thanks

Lenovo office refurbs are good. Solid laptops.

Or whichever Dell is on offer at their website. If you’re feeling nice maybe remove the MacAfee or other third party anti-virus (and other bloatware) and leave it all to Defender.

Nothing less than an Intel i3 or Ryzen 3, 4GB memory min, with a SSD (or m.2) which should be available from around £350, the reason you will get the same spec but a high price is.. the more you spend will get you better cases (metal not plastic) or high quality/bigger screens you get.
Nothing wrong with re-condition units, also look for last years (intel) processors, as for all the singing and dancing about the latest gen, they simply don’t jump forward in performance that quickly

I recently bought this:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9211931

Not from argos though, I broke my laptop by dropping it, and needed something I could get next day that was actualy in stock at the time without breaking the bank.

So I compromised on spec, I’d rather more ram and a bigger screen than 14″, but i’ve been really supprised by it, it’s absolutley fine for the purposes described, surfing the net, watching a video or using office etc.

An I’m actually really liking the smaller slim format on newer 14″ screen laptops as they are much more portable if you are to actually use it as a laptop. It’s no work horse, If I need to do any heavy lifting I connect to my main PC or a work environment but that doesn’t apply here, by the sounds of it.

I suppose my question would be, does he want a bigger screen than 14″ being older, bad eyes maybe?
Does he actualy use it as a portable laptop, or will it sit on a desk 24/7?

I’m 64 so didn’t grow up with microchips. Three months ago I retired (a disaster) and lost my company laptop so my son recommended an Asus workbook. What a disaster, it’s a different environment and I can’t open Word or Excel documents, apparently I’ve got to BUY Windows. The mouse pad infuriates me, I’ll be trying to do something and suddenly the effing thing starts doing things I never told it to do. I’ve got Hotmail and Gmail on the same icon on the desktop and neither of them shows me the texts of my emails, I hate it so much that I can’t be bothered to try using it so it was a waste of money. Make sure you get one that only does the things he wants it to do and nothing else.

Globalti, have you got a chromebook rather than a Windows machine? Something sounds amiss and I don’t think its down to it being an Asus.

It’s an Asus workbook

Back to the OP, I saw this on Hotukdeals, there’s 10% extra off with the code asus10

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/asus-vivobook-m413da-14-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-1-tb-ssd-silver-10212943-pdt.html

Edit to add tidier url

@globalti

I can see vivobook, zenbook, etc but not workbook per se. Have you got a specific model number on a sticker somewhere?

Sorry I’ve just looked and it’s a Vivobook.

He literally only uses it for basic MS Office stuff, email and browsing

This question gets asked on here like every four days. It would be literally impossible to buy a laptop which does not meet those requirements unless you tried really hard to prove me wrong. It’s like asking “what car to drive to the shops? Must have four wheels and a windscreen.”

My dad need a new laptop

Why, what’s up with his old one?

@globalti I’d suggest starting a new thread because 90% of what you say a) makes little sense and b) is likely readily fixable.

He literally only uses it for basic MS Office stuff, email and browsing. Doesn’t play media, edit photos or do gaming so nothing processor heavy

Get him a tablet.

The specs are less important than usability. I’ve just bought what I thought was the perfect Dell for my partner.

Turns out that she can’t see the keyboard properly because the keys are silver and grey and the screen resolution is too fine.

Stuff that you don’t even think of in your 30s/40s become deal breakers when you are a bit older and your eyes aren’t as good.

I’d be looking for a bigger screen and black casing with keyboard that is clear, preferably not a Chiclet keyboard.

Chromebook.

Google Docs will do everything your Dad needs – and will take less re-adjustment than a new Windows laptop.

(The continuous updates on W10 are a complete ball-ache).

My Dad has 15.5in screen at the moment and doesn’t want to go any smaller. I think that is silly big but, noting the comments about usability, I’m not going to try and persuade him otherwise.

Any reason to not buy this (other than Chinese baddies using it to steal our data and lives)?

Currys Link Huawei