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Laptop Recommendations

Hello! I'm going to uni in September and I'm looking to buy a cheap laptop. I currently have a Chromebook, but it's ~6 years old and insanely slow. I'm not sure how to write this really, so I'm going to bulletpoint for clarity.

- Using it for notes, assignments, general usage (e.g. watching shows, browsing internet, etc)
- Needs to run Microsoft 365
- Needs to be Windows (preferably 11, 10 is fine)
- Ideally be lightweight (I will walk and use public transport a lot, and I'd like to be able to study in a range of locations/on trains/etc without it being cumbersome)

My budget would be ~£300, but I'd rather it be closer to 200. I've looked online and have seen mixed opinions regarding 4gb vs 8gb of RAM, but I would also like to use the laptop after graduating so I believe 8gb may be better.

I have looked at second-hand and heard about business laptops on Ebay, but I don't know what to search for to find such laptops, or really how to identify a good second-hand product.

My question, then, is what laptops would you recommend? Where should I buy from? What will have the most longevity? I understand my budget may be limiting, so really just looking for the best I can get within that price range. Thank you in advance!

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 1

Dunnig Kruger

If you're looking to buy now, buy this:
HP 840 G8 for £240
It's a very nice premium business laptop in good condition with a charger. It will be pleasantly portable whilst having a reasonable screen size. With it also being rugged enough to take some knocks, thanks to the aluminium chassis and lid.
Speed wise it will be lightning fast for your needs. You could always upgrade the RAM (buy a used stick that's identical to whatever's already fitted).
Put aside £35 for replacing the battery, when the battery life eventually gets too annoyingly short.

My personal recommendation: try Libre Office and Thunderbird for email. If you get on OK with them, ditch Windows and run Linux, eg Debian with KDE Plasma instead.

If you don't need a laptop till September, buy in August, when there's a very good chance you'll get an even better deal than this.

Reply 2

jejewhjaghjee

Original post by Dunnig Kruger

If you're looking to buy now, buy this:
HP 840 G8 for £240
It's a very nice premium business laptop in good condition with a charger. It will be pleasantly portable whilst having a reasonable screen size. With it also being rugged enough to take some knocks, thanks to the aluminium chassis and lid.
Speed wise it will be lightning fast for your needs. You could always upgrade the RAM (buy a used stick that's identical to whatever's already fitted).
Put aside £35 for replacing the battery, when the battery life eventually gets too annoyingly short.
My personal recommendation: try Libre Office and Thunderbird for email. If you get on OK with them, ditch Windows and run Linux, eg Debian with KDE Plasma instead.
If you don't need a laptop till September, buy in August, when there's a very good chance you'll get an even better deal than this.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the help.

If I wait until August to buy, what laptop models should I look out for on Ebay?

Reply 3

Dunnig Kruger

In August look out for deals on HP 840 G8, HP 845 G8, HP 840 G9, HP 845 G9.
For something more portable but with a smaller screen to work on look for HP 830 G8, HP 835 G8, and the G9's.

Dell and Lenovo business laptops used to be worth buying, but they've moved to soldered RAM, and the recent Dell premium business laptops seem to be less well engineered than they once were, resulting in me no longer being able to recommend them.

When shopping for laptops enter the model you're interested in in the ebay search bar and order them by lowest price +P&P first.
Then work your way through them till you come to a fully working one with no faults on the screen and a chassis and lid and baseplate that's not too bashed about. A few dings and dents are OK, but a cracks or tears in the fabric of the laptop are less good. I also look at the condition of the keyboard and trackpad - any signs of wear from a lot of use in those 2 areas would reduce how much I'd be willing to pay for it compared to one with a hardly touched looking keyboard and trackpad.

When comparing laptop deals I bear in mind the price I can get RAM sticks, SSD's, batteries, chargers. All of which are relatively inexpensive and easy to fit. So that, for example if there's 2 equally good same model laptops for sale, one with 8 GB, the other with 16 GB, I'd buy the 16 GB if the price difference was less than £15. If the price difference was more than £20 I'd buy the 8 GB and as soon as I got the laptop I'd check what exact RAM stick it has and buy another.