Best advice on laptops. I am thinking it's probably best to get an apple one but I may be wrong
-
A friendly and supportive community, register today. Our forums use a separate account system.
Best laptop to buy
- Thread starter JR52
- Start date
The thing with choosing Apple is that generally you'll pay more than an equivalent Windows machine, and introduce some compatibility issues. Modern Apple CPUs are based on ARM, and don't work well with some older applications based on x86 – that said, if you're mostly going to be doing stuff in the web browser this makes little difference. For simple usability, it's not a bad shout.
Personally I'd recommend a standard x86 Windows laptop, but what exactly depends on budget.
For Windows, you could get away with as little as a few hundred for something used, which is still modern enough to last for several years.
For Apple, buying new, the pricing will start at about £999 for a Macbook Air, though cheaper if you grab a Mac Mini, monitor, keyboard/mouse etc. Apple do offer cheaper refurbished products directly too though.
Personally I'd recommend a standard x86 Windows laptop, but what exactly depends on budget.
For Windows, you could get away with as little as a few hundred for something used, which is still modern enough to last for several years.
For Apple, buying new, the pricing will start at about £999 for a Macbook Air, though cheaper if you grab a Mac Mini, monitor, keyboard/mouse etc. Apple do offer cheaper refurbished products directly too though.
How much would I need to spend on a decent Windows laptop.
I would not know what make to get.
I would not know what make to get.
That's a tougher choice, after building PCs for 25 years I'm always supportive of Asus, because on the hardware side they rarely fail - though their laptop chassis aren't as good as their internal components at the lower end of the price scale.
Dell, while seen as an office brand, actually has pretty excellent quality control on many of its laptops. Acer is a decent budget Taiwanese brand, again a little rocky on the lower end of the scale.
Any idea what screen size would best suit you? 15.6" is considered fairly standard, 17" is considered large, with 13--14" being most smaller machines that often weigh under 1KG.
While I use desktop machines 95% of the time, personally I use a Dell XPS 13 for portable stuff.
£500-700ish likely for something decent that's new.
Dell, while seen as an office brand, actually has pretty excellent quality control on many of its laptops. Acer is a decent budget Taiwanese brand, again a little rocky on the lower end of the scale.
Any idea what screen size would best suit you? 15.6" is considered fairly standard, 17" is considered large, with 13--14" being most smaller machines that often weigh under 1KG.
While I use desktop machines 95% of the time, personally I use a Dell XPS 13 for portable stuff.
£500-700ish likely for something decent that's new.
I tend to use Asus and have paid between £350-400 for an i5 processor and maybe a bit cheaper for an i3 and I always have the 15.6" but 17" would be preferable .
This is similar to mine apart from the processor
This is similar to mine apart from the processor
The above looks pretty adequate, but if there's an option for a cheap 16GB RAM model I'd definitely take it - 8GB RAM can really choke modern OS just with a ton of browser tabs open.
- Messages
- 2,454
- Likes/Reactions
- 6,472
- Clinic
- 🏴 CC Cardiff
What are you going to be using it for mate? Anything specific like gaming or editing? Or are you just looking for a good all rounder to use on the daily?
I've got 11 open and agreed
- Messages
- 3,625
- Likes/Reactions
- 9,632
- Clinic
- 🏴 CC Cardiff
PC builder / upgrader here, only had a laptop once, updated the ram and a few other bits but there a limit to how far I could take it so fell out with them
Another option these days is to get a decent tablet, that's what I do for portable needs - they can cast to larger screens when at home etc, and you can connect a bluetooth keyboard and mouse easily, so it's very flexible that from the full desktop experience to big phone in your bag on the go
Depends on what you'll use it for though as @joint_account asked
Another option these days is to get a decent tablet, that's what I do for portable needs - they can cast to larger screens when at home etc, and you can connect a bluetooth keyboard and mouse easily, so it's very flexible that from the full desktop experience to big phone in your bag on the go
Depends on what you'll use it for though as @joint_account asked
- Messages
- 2,454
- Likes/Reactions
- 6,472
- Clinic
- 🏴 CC Cardiff
Having a quick gander, Neither of these look to be bad options for the price. I'm not sure if the Vivobook is the same range that @GrownHealth screenshotted above. Looks similar though.
www.currys.co.uk/products/acer-aspire-3-15.6-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-silver-10254475.html
www.currys.co.uk/products/asus-vivobook-s-15-laptop-copilot-pc-snapdragon-x-plus-512-gb-ssd-silver-10263012.htm
www.currys.co.uk/products/acer-aspire-3-15.6-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-silver-10254475.html
www.currys.co.uk/products/asus-vivobook-s-15-laptop-copilot-pc-snapdragon-x-plus-512-gb-ssd-silver-10263012.htm
- Messages
- 2,454
- Likes/Reactions
- 6,472
- Clinic
- 🏴 CC Cardiff
I use a Legion Go as my daily driver for this exact reason. Can't tell you when I last played a game on it though!
I better stop lookingHaving a quick gander, Neither of these look to be bad options for the price. I'm not sure if the Vivobook is the same range that @GrownHealth screenshotted above. Looks similar though.
www.currys.co.uk/products/acer-aspire-3-15.6-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-silver-10254475.html
www.currys.co.uk/products/asus-vivobook-s-15-laptop-copilot-pc-snapdragon-x-plus-512-gb-ssd-silver-10263012.htm
It's been a weakness in the past like VAS
I just need it for music and YouTube really but I get stressed with all the virus protection
- Messages
- 2,454
- Likes/Reactions
- 6,472
- Clinic
- 🏴 CC Cardiff
Most virus protection is nonsense these days. Windows defender should be enough unless you're clicking every ad in sight.
I don't think you can go wrong with any of the suggestions here. A tablet as @Lank72 mentioned could be a good option if you don't mind touch screens.
- Messages
- 3,625
- Likes/Reactions
- 9,632
- Clinic
- 🏴 CC Cardiff
Noooo, we must all pay the Norton fear tithe!
I would like a tablet but do I not need a laptop for the MedBud beta
I've advise against the second as it's also an ARM processor, and isn't compatible with the past 30 years of x86 apps - aside from spotty compatibility layers.Having a quick gander, Neither of these look to be bad options for the price. I'm not sure if the Vivobook is the same range that @GrownHealth screenshotted above. Looks similar though.
www.currys.co.uk/products/acer-aspire-3-15.6-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-silver-10254475.html
www.currys.co.uk/products/asus-vivobook-s-15-laptop-copilot-pc-snapdragon-x-plus-512-gb-ssd-silver-10263012.htm
The first option looks great at 16GB, definitely worth watching some YouTube reviews first before committing though
100%. Though ads themselves aren't the issue, the only risk should be downloading and opening/running files from the web from such sources.
- Messages
- 3,625
- Likes/Reactions
- 9,632
- Clinic
- 🏴 CC Cardiff
Should all be the same mate, better in fact to test across different devices / OS / browsers / etc
No, not restrictly speaking - a tablet will do the job, but you might end up a bit zoomed out dependent on its resolution. The current desktop website uses a default resolution of 1,400px.
My daughter has offered me a free I pad as she wants a new one
Similar Discussions (Automatically Generated)
