# Reasonable Laptop, £300 to £400 range?.



## keithmac (20 Apr 2022)

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 (20 Apr 2022)

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 (20 Apr 2022)

keithmac said:


> 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 (20 Apr 2022)

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 (20 Apr 2022)

Asus?


----------



## keithmac (20 Apr 2022)

wiggydiggy said:


> 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.
> 
> ...



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 (20 Apr 2022)

keithmac said:


> 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 (21 Apr 2022)

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


----------



## si_c (21 Apr 2022)

keithmac said:


> 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 (21 Apr 2022)

Kingfisher101 said:


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


Dependent on usage.


----------



## Cletus Van Damme (24 Apr 2022)

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 (24 Apr 2022)

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 (24 Apr 2022)

Time Waster said:


> ... 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 (24 Apr 2022)

Thanks, I'll look into those solutions.


----------



## presta (25 Apr 2022)

ColinJ said:


> 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 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.


----------



## ColinJ (25 Apr 2022)

presta said:


> 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.



It is a Lenovo feature, though other brands may also do something like it...


----------



## Time Waster (25 Apr 2022)

My Asus has battery save keeping it at 60% when on power cable. Occasionally it stops working and I get to 100% before I realise. Then I have to turn the feature off and on again to get back to 60% maintenance.


----------



## keithmac (25 Apr 2022)

That's a really good idea keeping battery at 60% on AC power, will have to make sure new one has that feature.


----------



## delb0y (25 Apr 2022)

I'm interested in a new laptop, too - anyone know any suppliers who can supply one without all the free stuff - like30 days of Norton, and a month of Microsoft 365 and so on? Always annoys me because I can never quite get rid of such things fully. Ideally I'd like a DVD drive built in, too, because I'm old fashioned.


----------



## presta (25 Apr 2022)

In order of best to worst Which customer satisfaction scores:
Microsoft
Dell
Samsung
=4 Acer
=4 Asus
Lenovo
HP

In order of best to worst reliability over 6 years:
Microsoft
Acer
=3 Lenovo
=3 HP
=5 Dell
=5 Asus
Samsung

(My laptops are a 15" Samsung NP350 & 13" HP3501)

My current HP compared to the old Samsung:

*Pros:*
SSD Faster than HDD
HD screen
Quality audio by B&O
Smaller & lighter

*Cons *(worst first)*:*
Touchpad buttons hidden under the touchpad: difficult to right click without left clicking
Touchpad drag releases instantly, making it impossible to take a second bite when you run out of space
Keyboard visibility poor due to grey legend on silver keys
Internal battery not user replaceable
No numeric keypad
Fewer USB ports
Fan sapping battery
Fan noise an irritating piercing whine
SDHC positioned where it keeps getting ejected accidentally
No DVD
Smaller screen
SSD smaller than HDD

The colour hue is very different between the two, the one that looks worst is whichever one I'm not currently used to.


----------



## vickster (25 Apr 2022)

delb0y said:


> I'm interested in a new laptop, too - anyone know any suppliers who can supply one without all the free stuff - like30 days of Norton, and a month of Microsoft 365 and so on? Always annoys me because I can never quite get rid of such things fully. Ideally I'd like a DVD drive built in, too, because I'm old fashioned.



Call up a company called Mesh and ask them if anything exists (a quick Google says probably not, although apparently MS surface laptops are better than some)
https://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx


----------



## si_c (25 Apr 2022)

delb0y said:


> I'm interested in a new laptop, too - anyone know any suppliers who can supply one without all the free stuff - like30 days of Norton, and a month of Microsoft 365 and so on? Always annoys me because I can never quite get rid of such things fully. Ideally I'd like a DVD drive built in, too, because I'm old fashioned.



The best way to remove all the crap is to simply get a USB pen drive and download the most recent Windows installer from Microsoft, then wipe and reinstall the OS onto your laptop. You can do this on any brand of laptop regardless of what the manufacturer installed - the license for Windows is linked to the hardware of the laptop so you don't even need a license key or anything like that.


----------



## SpokeyDokey (25 Apr 2022)

Lenovo Ideapad - excellent so far.

SSD is a must these days imo.

W11 running very smoothly and MS cloud storage is a fantastic solution for file back up.


----------



## Hornchurch (3 May 2022)

keithmac said:


> 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.
> 
> ...





delb0y said:


> I'm interested in a new laptop, too - anyone know any suppliers who can supply one without all the free stuff - like30 days of Norton, and a month of Microsoft 365 and so on? Always annoys me because I can never quite get rid of such things fully. Ideally I'd like a DVD drive built in, too, because I'm old fashioned.





Afraid I'm a bit LATE getting in here, this thread, what with being a "forum newb" - (but not a 'newb' to forums)

I have an EXCELLENT suggestion, assuming you can (still) find one, brand-new, as in "brand-new/old-stock"

It's a superb laptop which fits the o.p's parameters, to a tee - £300 to £400 range & Windows compliant.


It's the outstanding *"Fujitsu / Siemens" AH-530 series* - both 'that' & it's subsequent derivitives & offspring.

*(They're Japanese/German BTW)*

Both myself AND my elderly Father use an 'AH-530', on a very daily basis & I'm typing this out on one, now !


"Reliable as F$6% (unprintable !)", they have NEVER once let us down !!!!!!

Quality of 'build/manufacter' is FAR higher than most I've ever seen - Frankly, I wouldn't use anything else !!!!

My Dad's one has been in daily useage since 2012 & altho' that sounds "old", they WERE cutting-edge, back then.

You can get them with either the "i-3" or "i-5" core processor - Mine is still super-fast, or I wouldn't still be using it, otherwise.

Handles everything you can (metaphorically) "throw at it", task-wise & like I say, the build-quality is SUPERB - (2nd to none)


Yes, they DO have an excellent already built-in top-end (for it's class), "D.V.D" player which "burns/rips/records" too.

I use a mouse in conjunction with mine (just my personal preference), but my Dad has been using the touchpad, since 2012

That'll be TEN YEARS USE later this year, ALL with a touchpad, used daily - still going strong, no-issues !


Honestly, I cannot recommend these machines highly enough - They're outstanding - (& no, I don't work for "Fujitsu / Siemens" either !

Yes, I "know" they went out of production - (being 'lesser-known' & outsold by cheaper, crappier makes)

But you still CAN get them, off of E-bay UK (or elsewhere) - You'll just be buying "New / Old-Stock" that remained unsold.


We rate them that much, that we've bought yet another, newer pair, as yet, unopened.

It's an "A.357" which is a later version of the "AH.530" used here - Label says "Country of Origin - Germany"

This (unopened) one has an "i-3" processor, same as I'm using now, with 4Gb storage & was bought, tail-end of 2021

Like I say, you WILL have to fish-about, but, my (strong) advice is - GO FOR A NEW ONE - as in brand-new, unused.

They are still about, albeit, getting much rarer now - But it's worth hunting one down, before they become extinct.

So my recommendation is, "Fujitsu / Siemens" AH.530, or AH.357 - I'll fish-about later, to find any 'new' ones online...


Fujitsu / Seimens 8gb Laptop, Brand New (UK seller) 

- BTW , am not affiliated with seller in any way - just came across it, via search.

POST EDIT - Found this one, above - UK seller (warehouse/firm), in Nottinghamshire - It's £459.00 post-free & 8Gb RAM

That's assuming of course that you want 'brand new' - it's worth paying the £60 extra, to avoid being saddled with junk.


.


----------

