A long story but I have been asked to buy a laptop for a gift. I am an Apple user and have no insight to Windows machines vs MacBook Pro. The intended recipient is a casual user but doesn't like Macs. No heavy processing requirements just email, surfing, occasional photos etc. He currently uses a clapped out Thinkpad that is well past its sell by date.
My thought is no larger than a 13" screen, and I thought one of those that folds to form a laptop and even has a stylus would be of interest. 128GB of storage would be fine, I have little idea about the processor. It would be good to have USB and video outlets as a minimum, USB C not a requirement more a nice to have.
Initial thoughts were for a Surface, but the price looks high, I have also seen Lenovo machines but have no idea about the price/spec. Price? No more than £500, but do tell me if I am shooting for the stars at this level.
I would welcome any comments/suggestions as to type/model/spec/brand and where to source - Curry's/John Lewis/ somewhere else on the high street or online? There is no urgency on this, not needed for a couple of months.
Thanks in advance
Apologies - I mistakenly thought I was posting in the Computing section [Fixed]
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 26 Aug 20 at 18:16
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How about a chromebook of some sort?
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Which? - cue howls of derision - says the Acer Swift 1 SF114-32 at £400 is the cheapest Best Buy laptop.
Me? I know nothing - another cue.
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>> How about a chromebook of some sort?
No dont even go there
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>> No dont even go there
How come?
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 27 Aug 20 at 11:45
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>> How come?
Under specified hardware and an OS lacking in versatility.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 27 Aug 20 at 11:45
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I quite like mine but I don't use it for much, pretty much what the OP said surfing email etc, which made me think of it.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 27 Aug 20 at 11:45
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Lenovo idea pad?
Mrs B and I have these for use while travelling with the caravan. Even though not by any means latest spec (obsolescent Ideapad 120 models) they do the job for browsing etc.
There are later versions with more memory and higher capacity SSD.
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I don't know much about Chromebooks, but a relative has one. She lost the internet in her house for a couple of days, and it was the devil's own job to get the damn thing to even log on. She just wanted to find a photo on it.
Dont know if that's typical but it put me off the things.
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>> Dont know if that's typical but it put me off the things.
It is, they were conceived as internet appliances only.
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Also on Chromebooks, then, paranoid me thinks that if the Chrome browser on a Pc is logging everything back to Google (does it?) then does an actual Chromebook log every mouse movement and keypress in everything you do back to Google, web browser or not?
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Firstly thanks to the Mod for moving this to the correct discussion, and to everybody for their comments so far.
First thought is a big no to a Chromebook. The intended recipient of the gift knows Windows and the brief I received is not to frighten the horses. My daughter had a Chromebook and it was pretty useless, and like CC above I have a paranoia about Google/big tech and their ability to track everything you do.
I like the idea of one of the types of laptops that, as it were, folds back on itself to give more of a tablet experience. The main use fo the kit is likely for armchair net browsing and this could work well. Price up to a certain limit is not the main driver. Of course functionality is important, hence Windows, but a pleasant and easy user experience is valued as well. I like the idea of the Lenovo kit and will certainly look closer at that.
Of course, speaking as an Apple user, a Macbook Air or iPad Pro, even if slightly out of budget, is the ideal solution but that would be a step too far for the person concerned.
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>> Also on Chromebooks, then, paranoid me thinks that if the Chrome browser on a Pc
>> is logging everything back to Google (does it?)
If you are signed into your google account, mostly
>>then does an actual Chromebook log every
>> mouse movement and keypress in everything you do back to Google, web browser or not?
More or less yes. Its all in the terms and conditions you agree to when you open a google account.
You can turn it off, its all buried into how to's and menu sub trees, but it severely cripples your user experience if you do.
Same thing applies on your android phone BTW,
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To be fair, I assume Microsoft do pretty much the same thing on an ordinary Windows PC anyway. I suspect they gather more data if you are logged in to an MS account but I bet if you aren't it's not as if they gather nothing, even if you (try to) turn off Windows telemetry.
Short of building your own Linux system and then not connecting to the outside world on it you're probably being tracked. And I suppose if you wanted to just do some word processing and print it, or pull some photos off a camera for storage, and nothing else much, then you could do that.
I'm completely sorted of course. I block google analytics at router level, so I'm done. If only.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Thu 27 Aug 20 at 09:54
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I think the volumes of consumer laptops sold are a fraction of what they were and there don't seem to be many new bargains. I looked at Costco's offerings but the HP's and Asus's etc around £500 looked pretty flimsy. Online I see they currently have a Lenovo Ideapad 8GB/256GB SSD/Core i5 for £490 -
www.costco.co.uk/Computers/Laptops-MacBooks/c/cos_16.1
For a present you probably wouldn't consider a refurb but I got one similar to the one below about 18m ago.
smile.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T430-i5-3320M-1600x900/dp/B01C6WNEL6/
Mine came with 16GB RAM otherwise similar. I'd check it's the 1600 x 900 screen not the 1366 x 768 which is a bit dim, and that it has the connectors your giftee needs. Mine has no HDMI or DVI for example.
My previous 2 laptops were the £300-£400 "Thinkpads" which fell apart in 3 years - now rebranded Ideapads I think. They were really just consumer laptops, not very robust. I've had a couple of other laptops in that price range that also lasted 3 years or less.
The T430 is probably from 2012-3 but would have been well into four figures new and is built like a brick outhouse - mine's fallen off the table with the screen open with no damage. For £300 it was a comparative bargain.
I also replaced our 13 year old desktop with a refurb Dell Optiplex 7010 - that came with a 480GB SSD and 8MB RAM for £175, and a slightly faster processor.
Last edited by: Manatee on Thu 27 Aug 20 at 12:31
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Laptop advice - Robin O'Reliant
