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[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I've been using a 10 inch fire tablet after my last laptop met with an unfortunate accident.....

Too small....too awkward.

Can somebody point me in the direction of the best laptop for £500 or less.

Must have a 15.6 inch screen or larger..... But most importantly a fast processor. I don't like looking at whirling circles for hours on end.

So come on....look sharp.

[Doctor Gollum]

Here do...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PANASONIC-TOUGHBOOK-CF-52-Laptop-Core-2-Duo-4GB-RAM-240GB-SSD-HDD-WINDOWS-7-XP-/264223688847

Spend the change on having it rebuilt to requirements. And learn to duck... It's quite heavy. Should survive most anything it's thrown at

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Here do...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PANASONIC-TOUGHBOOK-CF-52-Laptop-Core-2-Duo-4GB-RAM-240GB-SSD-HDD-WINDOWS-7-XP-/264223688847

Spend the change on having it rebuilt to requirements. And learn to duck... It's quite heavy. Should survive most anything it's thrown at

I have toyed with the idea of a refurbished PC..........most seem expensive and of 'poverty spec'

A 1.6 gig processor wouldbe slow.....I think.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Microsoft are ending support for Windows 7 next year, so make sure whatever you get is Windows 10. 

[Rods2]

Something like this & spend the change on a 1TB SSD & 16Gb of memory & a good rugged protective case. You know it makes sense.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fast-HP-EliteBook-8560p-15-6-inch-Laptop-Core-i7-8GB-RAM-500GB-HDD-Windows-10/173851231827?epid=0&hash=item287a574653:g:EqAAAOSwKWJcmfac

[TheBoy]

Age old question, what do you want to use it for. And how portable does it need to be?

PCs/Laptops are a bit expensive currently, due to the way its globally priced in $ (and our exchange rate) and also a current Intel processor shortage (and you'd have to be Radio Rental to be looking at an AMD consumer oriented processor).

[Sir Tigger KC]

Age old question, what do you want to use it for. And how portable does it need to be?

Very portable. Frisbee portable preferably! 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Age old question, what do you want to use it for. And how portable does it need to be?

PCs/Laptops are a bit expensive currently, due to the way its globally priced in $ (and our exchange rate) and also a current Intel processor shortage (and you'd have to be Radio Rental to be looking at an AMD consumer oriented processor).

I don't play games.

I just need it for business, videos, and a quick access to porn.

[Kevin Wood]

I don't play games.

I just need it for business, videos, and a quick access to porn.

You're going to have to confirm your age soon.

..or did you mean that webcam hidden in your SIL's house?

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I don't play games.

I just need it for business, videos, and a quick access to porn.

You're going to have to confirm your age soon.

..or did you mean that webcam hidden in your SIL's house?

Hidden webcam....hmmm.

I ned to fix her shower so perhaps...........

[TheBoy]

Age old question, what do you want to use it for. And how portable does it need to be?

PCs/Laptops are a bit expensive currently, due to the way its globally priced in $ (and our exchange rate) and also a current Intel processor shortage (and you'd have to be Radio Rental to be looking at an AMD consumer oriented processor).

I don't play games.

I just need it for business, videos, and a quick access to porn.

I assume you mean watching videos, rather than editing?

If so, so you want something that will do stuff like MS Office, browsing and email?  Spec wise, for that on a portable PC, I'd suggest i5, 4GB Ram, and an SSD that's big enough.  Mobile components are not as powerful as their desktop companions.  Though given you laptops rarely last the warranty period, maybe a cheaper i3 would suffice, as you'll replace in in 2yrs anyway

Portability was asked because there are larger latops (with a numeric pad on right of keyboard) with bigger screens, but these are heavier and less portable than the smaller ones.

If buying big American brands, stick away from the shite they shift through PC World etc, and go for the bottom end business ones - better end business ones will be well out of the budget sadly (though more robust)

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Age old question, what do you want to use it for. And how portable does it need to be?

PCs/Laptops are a bit expensive currently, due to the way its globally priced in $ (and our exchange rate) and also a current Intel processor shortage (and you'd have to be Radio Rental to be looking at an AMD consumer oriented processor).

I don't play games.

I just need it for business, videos, and a quick access to porn.

I assume you mean watching videos, rather than editing?

If so, so you want something that will do stuff like MS Office, browsing and email?  Spec wise, for that on a portable PC, I'd suggest i5, 4GB Ram, and an SSD that's big enough.  Mobile components are not as powerful as their desktop companions.  Though given you laptops rarely last the warranty period, maybe a cheaper i3 would suffice, as you'll replace in in 2yrs anyway

Portability was asked because there are larger latops (with a numeric pad on right of keyboard) with bigger screens, but these are heavier and less portable than the smaller ones.

If buying big American brands, stick away from the shite they shift through PC World etc, and go for the bottom end business ones - better end business ones will be well out of the budget sadly (though more robust)

Please explain the advantage of an SSD.
There is a laptop that (supposedly) has been reduced from £699 to £499 that has an SSD, but only 125 and not the usual 1TB.

[TheBoy]

Speed.  If you really need 1Tb storage, then SSD isn't for you (as a 1Tb SSD is about £100 for the part alone).  But most people don't.

[Auto Addict]

I'm going to upgrade my desktop, would you recommend this?

https://www.ebuyer.com/824748-samsung-860-evo-250gb-ssd-mz-76e250b-eu?mkwid=s_dc&pcrid=228070419090&pkw=&pmt=b&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0Pz45Obg4QIV2obVCh2YnwgzEAAYAyAAEgJPk_D_BwE#

[TheBoy]

I'm going to upgrade my desktop, would you recommend this?

https://www.ebuyer.com/824748-samsung-860-evo-250gb-ssd-mz-76e250b-eu?mkwid=s_dc&pcrid=228070419090&pkw=&pmt=b&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0Pz45Obg4QIV2obVCh2YnwgzEAAYAyAAEgJPk_D_BwE#

Yup. That's ideal.  Probably not worth paying the premium over the £25 Integral (a brand I've used), or £32 SanDisk (another brand I use extensively). But any of the brands you've heard of - WD, Samsung, Sandisk, Crucial*, Integral etc.

Also check prices on box.co.uk, their prices are sometimes better.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Can SSD be added to the HDD already in a laptop or does it replace it?

I notice that some gaming computers have both SSD and HDD. No idea why.

[TheBoy]

Most laptops only have room for one drive, so 99% of the time, you replace the HDD with an SSD.

Some higher end modern laptops have NVMe/M2 slots which mean you can add an M2 SSD type drive and still keep the main drive (you'd still need to reinstall Windows, as you want the main OS on the faster flash drive)

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Most laptops only have room for one drive, so 99% of the time, you replace the HDD with an SSD.

Some higher end modern laptops have NVMe/M2 slots which mean you can add an M2 SSD type drive and still keep the main drive (you'd still need to reinstall Windows, as you want the main OS on the faster flash drive)

Thanks,TB. Interesting.

I know SFA about computers and before this thread thought that SSD was some kind of sexual infection.

[Viral_Jim]

IMO, people over-egg the spec of laptops/pcs they need. I've just setup my home-office rig; it's all SWMBO's cast offs. A 2012 Acer laptop (£450 new), with a £55 SSD and a £30 RAM upgrade to 8gb, plus her old 24" laptop and even older 20". As far as I can tell, the only negative is that the refresh rate on the portrait monitor is garbage, but considering its for reviewing documents only, I'm not bothered. 



Buying all of this setup today  second hand would cost you maybe £250 plus the cost of a copy of Windows.

Given your intended usage, and the likely fate of the equipment at the hands of the lady in your life, id pick the screen size you want and buy the cheapest that's for sale. It will serve your needs until it's inevitable demise 

[TheBoy]

IMO, people over-egg the spec of laptops/pcs they need.

I do tend to agree, hence I always ask the same question - what is it used for.  Most people don't need top end stuff.

A couple of years ago, I would say i3 + 4Gb RAM (because all new machines had 64bit Windows by then). Last year's Windows update have made me jump that to an i5 (for laptops) for some element of future proofing - mobile processors are crippled compared to desktop variants.  But any 2nd gen (Sandy Bridge) or later i3 will work pretty well today still.

I type this on my infamous 2007 Core2 Duo + 2Gb (32bit Windows 10), 240Gb Sandisk II SSD, which is "quick enough" except for the completely ad laden shite sites like egay and vBulletin based forums. Also, its graphics capabilities - the old 965G North Bridge - means the likes of simple 3D design like TinkerCAD is unusable, and any heavy design package won't even load . But it still runs Office fine - big heavy spreadsheets do have a lag and make the fans noisy - and non ad-laden browsing.

[Sir Tigger KC]

IMO, people over-egg the spec of laptops/pcs they need.

3 years ago I bought a second hand 11" Asus laptop from ebay for £50 for travelling with.  It's only got 1gb RAM and I'm not sure what the storage is, but it's been a great little machine. 

[scimmy_man]

Speed.  If you really need 1Tb storage, then SSD isn't for you (as a 1Tb SSD is about £100 for the part alone).  But most people don't.

thats a LOT of porn