Hi All

 

Im looking for a laptop as a present for my dad. Its to replace his ageing one. Got a budget of £400 ish less if ppssible must haves are a 15" screen and decent memory and was thinking min core i3. Anyone have any recommendations. He is only a light user but would like to future proof as much as possible I know the budget is pretty cheap.

Does he need a laptop? It's very hard to future proof a laptop especially a cheap one.

A modest desktop attached to the TV (assuming he has a LCD TV) would easily outperform any cheap laptop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 12 October, 20178 yr by io1901

Also remember laptops last less time than desktop as they have a hard time keeping cool.

Unless you really need to cart it about of course. And if you leave it plugged in for 99% of the time you will find the battery could be shot.

I always go for Aldi Medion kit. Good quality and unbeatable guarantee - total no quibble money back

Would he be better with a decent tablet and a bluetooth keyboard?

 

For light users a good droid tablet will be easier to use. My old man has a Samsung tablet and never uses a laptop now.

If he wants a bigger screen occasionally you could add in a chromecast dongle and project the tablet screen to the TV.

 

 

My Mil insisted that we got her a laptop and it had to be cheap (<£200) - and it's rubbish, really slow, mainly as it's only turned on once a week and spends ages installing updates. Doesn't help that she's a technophobe and impatient and that laptop manufacturers always seem to insist on installing the slowest they can source.

 

 

If the laptop he has USED to be good - copy all his files off and rebuild it (reinstall OS). It will be as good as when if was bought new.

 

Or put an SSD in the old one. SSDs are little miracles for old machines.

^ this

1 hour ago, Aspman said:

Or put an SSD in the old one. SSDs are little miracles for old machines.

 

I'd second that

Spend the savings on a nice monitor and keyboard

A local PC guy should be able to do the job for far less than a new PC

Also, many people hate upgrading operating systems. The jump from XP or Win7 to Win 10 is quite a shock to some

46 minutes ago, S00perb said:

Also, many people hate upgrading operating systems. The jump from XP or Win7 to Win 10 is quite a shock to some

 

I understand where you're coming from, Bud 

 

But if this geriatric technophobe can cope with the jump from Vista to Win10, then OP's dad should have no problem at all 

On ‎17‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 18:22, Robjon said:

 

 

But if this geriatric technophobe can cope with the jump from Vista to Win10, then OP's dad should have no problem at all 

Vista to Win10 is probably a good move. I am sticking to Win7 for as long as I can work out how to go to Linux!

What does your dad use the laptop for? A tablet may be more beneficial to him. Only saying as mother in law who has access to a desktop and latptop in her home never really used them. We gave her a cheap android tablet and it's changed her use altogether as she is contact more people using emails and messaging than ever before as well as using the internet for booking holidays etc. 

@T-1000 are you still looking for a laptop? are used ones out of the question?

 

You can pick up a good laptop for about £250 used with an i5, decent amount of ram as well. 

Hi sorry totally forgot about this thread. Got one in the end only a cheapish one but the old man was happy which is a first!