Hi, my very old lap top is in desperate need of being replaced,it was second hand from my wife's firm years ago. As that avenue is no longer available as we are now both retired. Recommendations please, thank you.

I've been buying HPs from Amazon for a while now and they seem to work well despite heavy use. The last Dell I had was so stuffed with bloatware as to be almost unusable. I also had a very bad experience with a PC World bought laptop that they failed to fix about 5 times, then washed their hands of. HP fixed it even though the warranty had by then expired. Just find one that fits your budget and read the reviews. OOAA.

I've had excellent experience with Microsoft Surface computers. They aren't full of unnecessary bloatware from other manufacturers. I've been running a Surface Pro 4 for I reckon probably 6 or 7 years now and its been all over the world with me in various Land Rovers and Grenadiers and never missed a beat. Its now starting to complain about battery life - fair enough, but will definitely replace with another Surface computer.

They are not the cheapest, but do what they say on the tin and just work!

Paul I have one at home here If you are interested in it, I just upgraded it to a SSD It's very fast, If you can't get on with it just return it to me, I use it as a back-up, text me If you're interested.

After a very bad experience with a Dell laptop and PC World, I vowed never to buy from them again.
I bought an HP Pavillion directly from HP. It is a "solid state" model which makes it very fast and I hope reliable. I believe these run cooler than the older models.
Very happy to recommend it.

Ian F

The Microsoft surface range of laptops is perfectly good for most peoples use.

Depending on what you use a computer for you could also consider some form of Chromebook.

I've bought highly specced ex-corporate laptops/desktops from eBay - some so new they are still under manufacturers warranty, but a fraction of their new price.

Are you going for a brand new laptop or a good (refurbed maybe) 2nd hand model


If you are a Windows user whatever you do make sure it's running Windows 11.

Some older Dells (pre 2016) can NOT be upgraded to run Windows 11. Lots of us got caught out, and is one reason some older laptops are cheap.

An SSD (solid state hard drive) - good as there are no moving parts and they work faster than the old stuff, up to 1TB is plenty of storage space.
8MB RAM (memory) is more than enough for normal home use - if you are not an avid games fan. 16MB is better.
A 2nd hand unit should only come with the OS installed, no extra bloatware.
That said, an MS Office subscription would be very useful.
Consider running the Mozilla Firefox internet browser (dumping the MS offering) and Mozilla Thunderbird email program. These are free open source downloads and IMHO work far better than the MS offerings build into MS Windows 11.

Quote from: TimV on Feb 10, 2024, 04:22 PMI've bought highly specced ex-corporate laptops/desktops from eBay - some so new they are still under manufacturers warranty, but a fraction of their new price.

That's my trick. Ex NHS base-model business grade Dells on eBay for £2-300. Will do anything most of us would ever want. Internet . maybe Office, Youtube and email. And being business grade are pretty much bullet-proof. You don't need high-end unless you're doing high-end work.

Were given to nurses and bureaucrats in the NHS. Designed for mistreatment. You won't break it.

Just make sure what you get is running Windows 11.

A lot of corporate stuff may well be "dumped" on the gullible public as they can't be upgraded to Windows 11. Be careful of rock bottom low price deals.
Why
Because Windows 10 is a dinosaur OS and no longer to be supported by Microsoft.
Windows 11 is past its use by date, but should be upgradable to what ever comes next.

It is important to be current with the latest OS for whatever platform you are using.
You only have to look at the computing problems one of our longstanding forum users is having using old outdated equipment 

That said: be mindful that older printers/scanners/other devices may not work under Windows 11. The drivers may not work with the newer OS's. Or your favourite bit of software. I like Adobe Photoshop 5.5 and Dreamweaver 8 and have to take devious and geekish measures to get these to work on my current platforms.

Quote from: Mycroft on Feb 10, 2024, 11:38 AM.......I also had a very bad experience with a PC World bought laptop that they failed to fix about 5 times, then washed their hands of......

PC World (Curry's PC World) are usually found at the very bottom of the Which? Consumers Association Customer Satisfaction table.
 
I remember reading a report about them having been found to have sold a PC as new, but when the customer switched it on they found lots of what was evidently a previous owners stuff. It seems the PC had had a problem and had been returned for a refund to PCW, who then repaired (allegedly) and wrapped it up as a new machine before selling it to the unsuspecting new customer. And knowing their dismal customer satisfaction rating, I don`t believe this could possibly be an isolated case.

There have been many occasions when Which? have reported on them for "ripping off their customers" and have passed their investigations onto Trading Standards. With their record I can`t understand why anyone would trust them. PCW won't be getting their grubby hands on my money.

It would be helpful if Smokey could give a brief description of his old laptop and what he uses it for. There's almost an infinite array of possibilities out there, some which will suit his exact needs, many others that won't at all.

Alan, we have a HP laser printer that is well past its sell by date as we bought it well before I finished work and i have been retire 18 years and it works well with Windows 11 but it is a very simple printer.  We have a Brother A3 colour printer and scanner.  I find that a 3rd party scanner program is far better than the windows offering and I use a free program called Irfanview for graphics.  I agree that Firefox is the best Internet browser and I use Thunderbird for handling emails.

Quote from: Beowulf on Feb 10, 2024, 10:16 PM

Quote from: Mycroft on Feb 10, 2024, 11:38 AM.......I also had a very bad experience with a PC World bought laptop that they failed to fix about 5 times, then washed their hands of......

PC World (Curry's PC World) are usually found at the very bottom of the Which? Consumers Association Customer Satisfaction table.

I would never buy from them again. Even the store manager was surprised how unhelpful their HQ were. HP collected it and returned it fixed 3 days later. Never a problem since. Outstanding customer service I thought.

I have a DELL which I bought from an online retailer. It came with a service agreement which came in very handy when it developed a fault.  A technician came to my house and did a full rebuild. The service pack also provides software updates and tuning features. There is even a real person on the end of a telephone.