New laptop needed. Recommendations?

[TiffToff88]

I'm long overdue for a new laptop. But I have a strict budget of around £500. 

 

I use my current laptop for streaming, basic Microsoft office programs and football manager. 

 

With the way the world is at the moment I'll also need a laptop good enough to run AutoCAD so I can work from home if necessary, but I know absolutely bugger all about laptops. Any recommendations?

[Jon the Hat]

Start with the recommended specs for Autocad and work from there.

[pleatout]

Everyone wants one at the minute.

 

Now is the wrong time to be buying.  If you can get one, there ain't gonna be any offers.  If you can avoid it, I'd wait.

 

 

[TiffToff88]

2 minutes ago, pleatout said:

Everyone wants one at the minute.

 

Now is the wrong time to be buying.  If you can get one, there ain't gonna be any offers.  If you can avoid it, I'd wait.

 

 

If I can wait, I will. It all depends on the work situation

[pleatout]

22 minutes ago, TiffToff88 said:

If I can wait, I will. It all depends on the work situation

Companies are buying anything that doesnt move at the moment.  There is and has been a run on them lately.  No idea why 

[Blueman1967]

you could try Currys, Argos or Dells site for £500 you could get Intel® Core™ i5 , 1TB hard drive and 8GB memory, that should do you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 22 March 2020 by Blueman1967
put same thing on twice

[Matt]

I was going to post something similar to the OP the other day.

 

My current laptop is fine, done me well for years, still working fine, but is looking abit tired now and am certainly coming to a point where I want to be looking and considering replacements if and when anything goes wrong - If I see a good deal or decide once this shit storm passes I definetely want to replace but i'm in no rush currently.

 

My requirements are pretty much identical to the OP aswell - Probably wouldn't need AutoCAD although it'd be quite handy and could be of use to me.

 

Any brands to avoid or go for?

 

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread, cheers for any advices given!

[Leicester_Loyal]

Acer Nitro 5? Picked mine up for around £550 18 months ago and it's been briliant for light gaming and anything else.

[Matt]

So what makes would people advise? And models if anyone wants to suggest.

 

With sales approaching, I'm going to keep an eye out, not in any rush but there might be some good deals about - with that in mind any decent sites to buy off? Always told don't buy of Currys/PC World but I like to see them in store then weigh up deals I can find.

[danny2997]

On 07/11/2020 at 11:40, Matt said:

So what makes would people advise? And models if anyone wants to suggest.

 

With sales approaching, I'm going to keep an eye out, not in any rush but there might be some good deals about - with that in mind any decent sites to buy off? Always told don't buy of Currys/PC World but I like to see them in store then weigh up deals I can find.

Depends on your requirements. 

 

For semi-serious gaming my HP Omen has been going strong for 3/4 years now, still running every new game that comes out pretty comfortably. Battery life is crap, but you'll struggle to find a good value gaming laptop without that problem. 

[Finnegan]

On 07/11/2020 at 11:40, Matt said:

So what makes would people advise? And models if anyone wants to suggest.

 

With sales approaching, I'm going to keep an eye out, not in any rush but there might be some good deals about - with that in mind any decent sites to buy off? Always told don't buy of Currys/PC World but I like to see them in store then weigh up deals I can find.

 

What's it for? 

 

 

[Matt]

6 hours ago, Finnegan said:

 

What's it for? 

 

 

Just very basic every day use.

 

Nothing too taxing, basically identical to the OP, Web browsing, streaming (Music and/or video online), office programs, perhaps capable of running the odd game, possibly capable of running AutoCAD although that need is pretty unlikely in all honesty.

[Matt]

So i'm still looking, my current laptops still holding up reasonably well - part of the reason I want to make my next laptop just as good, its lasted me so well, but it is falling apart!

 

I'm looking at Acer's I think - Any advice for or against them? I had one before it was ok.

 

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-aspire-5-a514-53-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-256-gb-ssd-silver-10223063-pdt.html

 

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-aspire-5-a514-54-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-256-gb-ssd-silver-10216767-pdt.html

 

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-swift-3-14-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-1-tb-ssd-silver-10208152-pdt.html

 

I've compared these 3, there seems to be much of a muchness between them?

[Blueman1967]

As well as Currys,, Pc World, or John Lewis, have you tried Laptop direct, they do Refurbished computers

[Bryn]

What's your budget matey?

 

[Bryn]

Also how portable does it need to be?

[Matt]

2 hours ago, Blueman1967 said:

As well as Currys,, Pc World, or John Lewis, have you tried Laptop direct, they do Refurbished computers

Yeah, i've always been warned away from Currys/PC World but I like to go and look at them first so I always start with Currys/PC World, I'll have a look at Laptop direct though. Cheers

 

1 hour ago, Bryn said:

What's your budget matey?

 

Erm £500, probably stretch over.

 

I think 2 of those 3 i've looked at are £599.

 

1 hour ago, Bryn said:

Also how portable does it need to be?

 

Not particularly so.

 

It'll mainly be used for just web browsing, streaming, office, occasional gaming, potentially CAD.

 

I think my budget is way above what I need to spend for my needs I feel that's the market i'm in and what i'm happy to spend in order to get something I feel will be adequate and last for what I want.

 

It'll be used everyday pretty much.

[Bryn]

26 minutes ago, Matt said:

Yeah, i've always been warned away from Currys/PC World but I like to go and look at them first so I always start with Currys/PC World, I'll have a look at Laptop direct though. Cheers

 

Erm £500, probably stretch over.

 

I think 2 of those 3 i've looked at are £599.

 

 

Not particularly so.

 

It'll mainly be used for just web browsing, streaming, office, occasional gaming, potentially CAD.

 

I think my budget is way above what I need to spend for my needs I feel that's the market i'm in and what i'm happy to spend in order to get something I feel will be adequate and last for what I want.

 

It'll be used everyday pretty much.

 

I just got a Chromebook from Currys and it was fine. The key with them is to go in having done your homework, if you're not sure what you want they'll mug you off.  Their prices and stock are actually pretty competitive if you know what you want.

 

I'll have a little browse. I think you do right stretching the budget if you can because you'll just get a more reliable piece of hardware. I'm wary of laptops, there's a lot of shite out there and you get less for your money than for a PC, you don't wanna be replacing it in 3 years really at that price.

 

Whilst I'm looking I'm sure you are too. What I would say to you are essentials are a SSD (do not buy any kind of computer without one of these nowadays, the speed difference is remarkable in an era in which consumer tech developments come in pretty small increments), a Full HD display (your budget won't reach UHD and to be honest not much calls for it at that screen size), a decent Intel (stick to I5 or 7, the 3 is underpowered and the 9 is overkill) or AMD (Ryzen 5 and 7 are loosely equivalent to i5 and 7 and AMD make solid processors these days) processor and at least 8GB of RAM, ideally 16. With the processsor, check it's fairly recent as the newer generations are superior; I think the latest generation for Intel is the 11th gen (the model number will begin 11xxx) but most on the market will still be 10th gen, avoid 9th gen if you can. A dedicated graphics card (as opposed to an integrated graphics chip) makes a bit of a difference as well if you do want to do any video editing or gaming, but it does push you into a slightly higher price point (though around £600 gets you a decent machine from a very quick look I just took).

Have a little look at the materials used as well, a metal casing is usually a sign of better quality than plastic. Some laptops are tested to "military standards" for being dropped and stuff which is quite nice. And then google the manufacturer and have a look at their reliability record.

Edited 30 May 2021 by Bryn

[Bryn]

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9471379?clickPR=plp:10:33

This reviews well. Huawei produce good stuff, just depends how you feel about buying from the CCP... mind you, you won't find any modern computer of any kind without any Chinese manufacturing somewhere inside it.

 

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9380886?clickPR=plp:8:33

 

HP Pavilions have good specs but lower build quality.

 

The Acer Swift 3 reviews fairly well, there's a slightly cheaper one than the one you linked on Laptops Direct which is a little cheaper and has a new processor but a smaller hard drive so depends how much storage you need. Techradar comment that the build quality is good. There are a few different specifications so worth browsing around.

 

There's an Asus Vivobook S15 which seems to review very well on multiple sites, where other Asus laptops aren't so well reviewed. A few sites link to this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DTP0WZ6?tag=georiot-trd-21&th=1&psc=1&ascsubtag=trd-gb-3458770633961156000-21&geniuslink=true but I can't verify that that is the same model they mean which makes me wary.

[Matt]

On 30/05/2021 at 23:39, Bryn said:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9471379?clickPR=plp:10:33

This reviews well. Huawei produce good stuff, just depends how you feel about buying from the CCP... mind you, you won't find any modern computer of any kind without any Chinese manufacturing somewhere inside it.

 

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9380886?clickPR=plp:8:33

 

HP Pavilions have good specs but lower build quality.

 

The Acer Swift 3 reviews fairly well, there's a slightly cheaper one than the one you linked on Laptops Direct which is a little cheaper and has a new processor but a smaller hard drive so depends how much storage you need. Techradar comment that the build quality is good. There are a few different specifications so worth browsing around.

 

There's an Asus Vivobook S15 which seems to review very well on multiple sites, where other Asus laptops aren't so well reviewed. A few sites link to this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DTP0WZ6?tag=georiot-trd-21&th=1&psc=1&ascsubtag=trd-gb-3458770633961156000-21&geniuslink=true but I can't verify that that is the same model they mean which makes me wary.

Cheers for that!

 

Gonna do abit more looking about see what I can find, see what deals are to be had but i'll certainly be looking into these options, thanks once again!

[Col city fan]

My laptop (Acer) is a few years old but still decent spec. It’s gone hugely annoying at start-up though, taking bloody ages to get going! It’s got some SSD ram and was fine to start up quickly when I bought it, but this has now become a real issue.

Would i be better to replace it or is there something obvious im missing in terms of this sluggishness at start up?