Reasonable Laptop, £300 to £400 range?.

[keithmac]

Hello all, I'm looking for recommendations for a good reliable Windows laptop £3/400 range.

I've had a few HP's and they've all suffered from touch pad failures so HP is out.

It does have to be Windows as well (unfortunately).

What's a good reliable bet, are Lenovo still a good make?.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Do you want new, or would you buy refurbished?

The last 2 Lenovo Thinkpads I've had from here have been ok. I prefer the older style as they had metal bodies not plastic.

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/nav...urbished?sortOrder=2&rangeattribute=1~100~400

I wouldn't recommend Acer (build quality - case broke) or Dell (current work laptop, appears to be overheating).

 

[ColinJ]

What's a good reliable bet, are Lenovo still a good make?.

My 5 year old Lenovo is a more upmarket one - about double your price range. It has been very reliable except for one thing - the left side speaker started distorting on loudish sounds after 3 years. I now have the audio set to mono and the left side volume turned down to about 40% that of the rights. Apart from that it has been great.

 

[cougie uk]

I've just taken the plunge on the Chromebook that's on the bargains page. For £70 if the cashback works out it seems excellent value and I don't actually need to have a Windows Laptop at all.

 

[vickster]

Asus?

 

[keithmac]

Do you want new, or would you buy refurbished?

The last 2 Lenovo Thinkpads I've had from here have been ok. I prefer the older style as they had metal bodies not plastic.

https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/nav...urbished?sortOrder=2&rangeattribute=1~100~400

I wouldn't recommend Acer (build quality - case broke) or Dell (current work laptop, appears to be overheating).

Funny you should say that as I've just been looking at some refurbished Lenovo's.

It's the battery that's the sticking point but I suppose a 1 or 2 year old laptop should have plenty of life left..

 

[ColinJ]

It's the battery that's the sticking point but I suppose a 1 or 2 year old laptop should have plenty of life left..

It depends how it has been looked after/used.

I killed a Dell battery in 2 years by overusing the battery. The Dell had a user-replaceable battery though so that wasn't a complete show-stopper.

My Lenovo is not supposed to have a replaceable battery but I have seen places that sell replacement batteries and videos showing how to fit them. Still, I'd rather avoid it if possible! I therefore enabled the battery saver function on the device and run it from the charger in normal use. That only charges to 60% and holds it there to minimise stress on the battery. If I am going to be taking the laptop away from mains power I disable the battery saver and fully charge just before setting off.

By doing this my battery still has about 95% of its design capacity after 5 years use.

 

[Kingfisher101]

They are all designed to last about 3 years so just choose any one in your price range.

 

[si_c]

Funny you should say that as I've just been looking at some refurbished Lenovo's.

It's the battery that's the sticking point but I suppose a 1 or 2 year old laptop should have plenty of life left..

Replacement batteries are usually in the £60-£90 range. I wouldn't concern myself with battery life on a laptop, it's a consumable part if the device is used regularly without a power source, if it's not then it'll outlast the rest of the hardware. I doubt my work Dell will ever wear out the battery as it's nearly always connected to a power source for example.

 

[DaveReading]

They are all designed to last about 3 years so just choose any one in your price range.

Dependent on usage.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Lenovo are good, I've had a couple for my daughter and she seriously abused them. Dropped one of them on a plane, it was dropped so hard that it caused the aluminum fascia around the keyboard to have a massive like lip turning up on the corner. I filed it off with a b@stard file, but the laptop still worked fine.

 

[Time Waster]

I've bought two laptops. HP that couldn't collect to WiFi after a few months and a lenovo that doesn't hold charge. If you're using it battery behaves as normal but turn it off completely and you'll have a flat battery when you turn it back on. I should have taken them back tbh.

Both decent spec and a good deal in the OPs price range. To me that makes me think both brands need a higher budget to get a decent laptop.

 

[ColinJ]

... and a lenovo that doesn't hold charge. If you're using it battery behaves as normal but turn it off completely and you'll have a flat battery when you turn it back on.

Does THIS help?

 

[Time Waster]

Thanks, I'll look into those solutions.

 

[presta]

It depends how it has been looked after/used.

I killed a Dell battery in 2 years by overusing the battery. The Dell had a user-replaceable battery though so that wasn't a complete show-stopper.

My Lenovo is not supposed to have a replaceable battery but I have seen places that sell replacement batteries and videos showing how to fit them. Still, I'd rather avoid it if possible! I therefore enabled the battery saver function on the device and run it from the charger in normal use. That only charges to 60% and holds it there to minimise stress on the battery. If I am going to be taking the laptop away from mains power I disable the battery saver and fully charge just before setting off.

By doing this my battery still has about 95% of its design capacity after 5 years use.

My laptop spends most of its life plugged in to the mains, but I can't find any way to stop it sitting at full charge all day long. The battery saver dialogue box doesn't do anything other than allow you to reduce screen brightness to slow the discharge rate.