Used Laptop Reccomendations

[robytoberts]

Hi guys! Looking for some advice about a good laptop I can pick up used/refurbished on ebay or similar for fairly cheap (around £300-£400 hopefully). 

 

I've been using a chromebook for the last year or so and it's been pretty great but I need to be able to use a few applications that you just cant get on chrome and also be able to store a little more on it so I'm looking to pick up a fairly basic laptop to take to uni/on the train etc. (I have a desktop which I use for most work but sometimes you gotta be portable)

 

Battery life and build quality are top priority for me - it doesn't need to be a powerhouse (most intensive thing I'll be doing on it is probably photo editing) as long as it is not a pain to use on a daily basis and doesn't sound like a jet engine/melt my lap. My chromebook has a 14" screen which I really like, but I know it's not that common, so I think I'd be looking for a 15" screen with the smallest bezel possible as I want as much screen as I can get but still be able to sling it in a backpack nice and easily.

 

If anyone has a laptop they like they bought a few years ago that they think might be cheap to pick up now, or just has any laptops they think are worth looking out for let me know! I was also wondering if getting an old macbook pro might be a good shout, as they are built pretty well and have good battery life but I don't know if anyone has any experience with how well they work after quite a few years or if they are still far too expensive. Cheers!

[Froody129]

Lots of the Lenovo laptops are pretty powerful and are built like a Nokia 3310. The T series is a good choice, as well as the W series. 

[i_got_laid_by_a_dragoness]

23 hours ago, robytoberts said:

If anyone has a laptop they like they bought a few years ago that they think might be cheap to pick up now, or just has any laptops they think are worth looking out for let me know! I was also wondering if getting an old macbook pro might be a good shout, as they are built pretty well and have good battery life but I don't know if anyone has any experience with how well they work after quite a few years or if they are still far too expensive. Cheers!

15.6 inch ruggedized first gen i5 with 2 RAM slots up to 16GB and a FREAKING MXM SLOT for only $150.

 

HP EliteBook 8540p. You can find them on eBay for around $100 and upgraded versions on AMazon for up to $250.

 

the graphics are also upgradeable, mine runs GTA 5 at 45FPS on High.

[robytoberts]

On 02/04/2018 at 9:56 AM, i_got_laid_by_a_dragoness said:

15.6 inch ruggedized first gen i5 with 2 RAM slots up to 16GB and a FREAKING MXM SLOT for only $150.

 

HP EliteBook 8540p. You can find them on eBay for around $100 and upgraded versions on AMazon for up to $250.

 

the graphics are also upgradeable, mine runs GTA 5 at 45FPS on High.

Cheers man! It doesn't look like there's a lot of 8540p aroud in the UK, would you say a lot of the other elitebook range of about the same spec are worth a look?

[robytoberts]

On 01/04/2018 at 2:26 PM, Froody129 said:

Lots of the Lenovo laptops are pretty powerful and are built like a Nokia 3310. The T series is a good choice, as well as the W series. 

Awesome man, seems like there's a lot about! Do you have any idea if the X1 Carbon is any good? I like the idea of something a bit lighter and there seems to be a few knocking around

[Froody129]

37 minutes ago, robytoberts said:

Awesome man, seems like there's a lot about! Do you have any idea if the X1 Carbon is any good? I like the idea of something a bit lighter and there seems to be a few knocking around

Umm, I’m really not experienced with those unfortunately. I know they are good laptops though and were built to last in a business setting. The old Lenovo laptops were almost all excellent so you can’t really go wrong 

 

 

[i_got_laid_by_a_dragoness]

1 hour ago, robytoberts said:

Cheers man! It doesn't look like there's a lot of 8540p aroud in the UK, would you say a lot of the other elitebook range of about the same spec are worth a look?

Wow, you're right. I looked on ebay.co.uk and amazon.co.uk and only found one, for a hundred pounds, when converted to USD is still a great deal.

 

This seller is based in the US but they will ship to the UK and it's only 70 pounds.

 

I'd go for the US based seller. It would probably still be cheaper and you'd be saving the shipping from the UK seller.

[robytoberts]

Cheers for the help guys! Think I will probably end up going for an old Lenovo as there's so many and a lot are refurbished with warranties