Is a €200ish laptop doable?

Grumpypants

Mrs Grumpypants is going doing a college course for the next year and will need something to look up research and type up essays, and not much else, we also have very little money to throw at it. €200, maybe squeeze to €300.

I have a decent desktop so it won't be needed for anything too tasking but i'd still like to get something that wasn't a brick and pretty nippy on these light tasks. I don't mind if it's a bit older / used / refurbed.

I know I'm prob over thinking it when it's only 200 quid but i'd still like to get something half decent.

I've seen some ebay/advert ads for used/refurbished hp/dell/thinkpads that on paper look good i5 or i7s, 8gb ram and ssd's

Any help as I'm really out of the loo on laptops.

something like this is probably ok. battery life will have degraded tho so ask about that.

https://www.adverts.ie/laptops/ultrabook-toshiba-portege-z30-a-1d6-laptop/18318790

or this for cheaper

https://www.adverts.ie/laptops/ultrabook-lenovo-thinkpad-t440-intel-core-i3-8gb-ram-ssd-128gb-webcam-4g-gps-usb-3-0-windows-10/17715486


bargain for 20 to 40 off in each case probably

Twenty Grand

Keep an eye on hotukdeals.

eBay deals pop up every so often and they're flagged there

Here's an old one from yesterday that's in your range
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/refurbished-lenovo-ideapad-320s-core-i3-7100u-240-ghz-4gb-ram-128gb-ssd-14-full-hd-win10-18639-at-laptop-outlet-ebay-3272673

Grumpypants

Picked up at Dell 5450 for just under €200 on ebay. I5, 8gb ram and 256gb ssd. Windows 10 and office on it. Should do the trick.

wes16586

CEX is pretty decent and at least you'd have more of a comeback than buying from a private seller on adverts, ebay or similar.
https://ie.webuy.com/

wes16586

Grumpypants wrote: »

Mrs Grumpypants is going doing a college course for the next year and will need something to look up research and type up essays, and not much else

On another note if its for very basic tasks a Google Chromebook does the job. I got one brand new 5 years ago for around 250euro so I'd say they're dirt cheap second hand and not too much more brand new if their still made. Works perfect for web searching, email, GoogleDocs (their version of Microsoft Word), YouTube, most apps from the Google Store and any other google application.

Less Chromebooks are made now, especially at the low end. A decent one costs as much as a comparable Windows laptop really, if not more because it's a part of the market with less competition.

JustAThought

Tell hsr to do her research and typing on yours - why waste money you dont have and she won't be needing one during lessons. Plus a lot of colleges have computers attached to.their libraries for research or for studenrs to use.

I looked up.laptops when mine broke a while back and the annual user licence costs for the licenses for the basic software were a big surprise - eg word. E100 + a year. Big surprise.

greasepalm

Think lidl is doing a laptop for 199

ED E

greasepalm wrote: »

Think lidl is doing a laptop for 199

Its a glorified calculator.

JustAThought

JustAThought wrote: »

Tell hsr to do her research and typing on yours - why waste money you dont have and she won't be needing one during lessons. Plus a lot of colleges have computers attached to.their libraries for research or for studenrs to use.

I looked up.laptops when mine broke a while back and the annual user licence costs for the licenses for the basic software were a big surprise - eg word. E100 + a year. Big surprise.

you can get perfectly good free versions of microsoft office -

https://www.techradar.com/best/free-office-software

mondeo

wes16586 wrote: »

CEX is pretty decent and at least you'd have more of a comeback than buying from a private seller on adverts, ebay or similar.
https://ie.webuy.com/

Most of the laptops they sell in the €200 price category are ancient... Intel celerons from 2012 or worse.

if you buy from a seller on adverts who specialises in 2nd-hand laptops you're more likely to get a good item.

Grumpypants

Got it from a uk store rather than a random dude. They have nearly 8,000 positive pieces of feedback this year alone so should be okay. £180 delivered. Will do me for the odd work email too.

Grumpypants

Grumpypants wrote: »

Got it from a uk store rather than a random dude. They have nearly 8,000 positive pieces of feedback this year alone so should be okay. £180 delivered. Will do me for the odd work email too.

specs?

link?

Grumpypants

glasso wrote: »

specs?

link?

It's a Dell 5450. I5 processor, 8 GB Ram, 256gb ssd. Windows 10.

https://m.ebay.ie/itm/Dell-Latitude-E5450-Core-i5-5300U-2-3GHz-256GB-8GB-DDR3-Win-10-14-quot-Laptop-/383039318612?txnId=999620891025

seems grand and will do the job for the uses described for sure.

no mention of battery life tho and it's a little heavy (2kg) with non full-hd screen.

but certainly not bad for the money

tuxy

I think the old T430 thinkpads are great value at under €300, real workhorses.
They come with the intel M CPUs which does use more power but is also as fast or faster than some newer U CPUs that are in most laptops.
You may need to buy a replacement battery though.

darragh o meara

I recently picked up a used Lenovo T440 for just a little over your budget and its a little workshorse. 4th Gen I4 processor, 8gb Ram and 256gb SSD. It was an Ex business laptop with plenty of bells and whistles to satisfy most usage requirements. The thing I love about these is that batteries/ chargers etc are all readily available and interchangeable between different models, plus the laptops themselves are really well put together and sturdy.

For the money there's not a lot to beat it and given Lenovo's reputation in the business laptop world you cant go too far wrong. There is usually a slew of them for sale on Adverts.