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"Homework" Laptop - any suggestions?


Waylander
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time to replace my Sony vaio laptop as it's getting arthritic.

mainly need it forward kids homework etc but I'd like it to be relatively responsive as if anything they are less tolerant of any lagging than me.

Don't really want to spend over £500.

Should I wait til after Xmas?

any recommendations either way?

Ta.

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4 hours ago, Waylander said:

Don't really want to spend over £500.

Should I wait til after Xmas?

 
 

It's rare to see laptops legitimately reduced in 'the sales'. They tend to be either end of life models or a special batch priced to shift in volume, Asus and Acer are renown for this -  many the 'special offer' models don't have DVD drives, have use older intel (or AMD!) CPU's or boast about 1TB drives which are slow.

I always suggest sticking to Intel i5/i7 CPU of the latest generation (at least Gen 6), 8GB RAM and a 240GB+ SSD, for example something like this: HP Pavillion 15 or if you want a full-HD screen (no SSD) LENOVO IdeaPad 510.

It may be worth waiting a week or two for Black Friday/Cyber Monday but I'm not sure they'll be so many offers around this year due to most computer stuff being price in either dollars/euro and the current price trend is UP!

Edited by Andy_Bangle
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If this isn't as a gift, I think you should try something else.

Look for your local auction house and their online auctions.  They will take liquidated company hardware.

Right now, our local place has a mass of PC gear (i5's, servers, etc) and whilst there are no laptops on this occasion, this is a regular thing you'll see.

I paid £100 for a very new Dell laptop a year or so ago.  You won't get an OS on the machines as they remove all licensed software, but with the money you save that won't be an issue. 

A few years ago we bought a £3,500 Sharp Multi-function photocopier, scanner, printer with 500gb hard drive.

It had done less than 15,000 copies (nothing to a machine like that).

We paid £32. :roflmao:

There's a guy in Northumberland who buys most of the gear up usually and then whacks it on eBay at x10 premium.

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As a live example of what I'm talking about, look at this.

PC's are of no interest to me at all, but this is on the site now and has got up to £46 so far.  I'll bet it doesn't reach £65.  You'll have to add 20% VAT. 

PC's fetch very little money at auction.

HP Pro Desk PC, Intel Core i5 3.2Ghz with 8gb of RAM and 500gb HDD

It might not be the very latest state of the art stuff, but when you consider what you get for the money...?

There are masses of them right now, most of them at £1.  There's a Buffalo NAS system at £6.  A HP ProCurve 24 port network switch?  £1.

I always browse when the auction opens online once a fortnight.  I occasionally buy stuff although I've not done so for a good 6 months now because I've seen little of interest, but it is very unusual for there to be no laptops for sale at present.

 

Screen Shot 2016-11-04 at 14.33.11.png

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35 minutes ago, Waylander said:

do you have to collect in person or so they post? Just wonder if there might be relatively less bidding vs Manchester ones?

Collect in person and pay in person.

I doubt you'll find it any different in Manchester.  The volume here is still high.  People travel from a long way away.  However, PC's still rarely go for much money,.

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20 minutes ago, garcon magnifique said:

Anyone know whether the Saturday computer fairs still happen at Bowlers exhibition centre in Trafford Park? 

Might be worth a look, but care advised. It is a hive of con merchants and general pikey scum. 

That's really gone downhill. Just not what it used to be anymore imo

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  • 3 months later...

Apologies for resurrection of this old thread. Completely fell of my radar due to other preoccupations but came to a head again last night when both kids needed pc access and I had the mbp due to on call.

found a local refurb laptop company which I feel will fit the bill for this purpose but:

Could I please ask opinions on :
Ram - 4gb is plenty or opt for 8gb? 
I'd look to go for an ssd option vs hdd but is 120gb okay or spend more and go for 240gb?
The plan is for this to be as above teenage 2nd machine after the desktop pc

What about Thinkpad T420 vs HP Elitebook 8460 vs Dell Latitude E6420?
They seem relatively similar in spec but for young teenagers I figured the HP looks better?

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1 hour ago, chasdrury said:

If you are looking at latitude E6420 let me know and i'll give you a 6430 or 6440 for nothing. I'm in Leeds so not a million miles from you.

Got a pile of them on my shelf.

 Brilliant, thank you very much!

can look to arrange collection at your convenience. +++ 

Ill have whichever you feel is better for them(6440 I'm assuming)

 

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