Replacing home computer

[Doc]

Hi lads,
Wanting to replace the home computer with a laptop. Don't need anything fancy.
Would like to be able to store pictures. Do the usual stuff like emails, go on the Internet and be able to plug a printer in and be able to use a plug in mouse ( or maybe Bluetooth those )and something with a large screen.
Open to suggestions please.
Budget maybe £500 quid or is that not enough

Cheers Doc

 

[EVskiy]

You looking for a Windows OS or MacOS?

Plug a mouse and printer in??! You are taking a piss!
I haven’t used a wired connection of any kind for a very long time!

Costco (if you have one near you and you do have a membership) do some decent machines.
I personally haven't used a windows computer since mid 2009. So haven’t a clue what they’re are like, what to look for, which processor to go for and which to avoid.

If you are looking for Mac, then MacBook Air will do everything you want. £500 budget though is a bit short of the asking price.

 

[zerax9]

If you are looking for Mac, then MacBook Air will do everything you want.

What about the "large screen" ? I have no idea how large Doc wants it though...

But would defo agree with Mac... I've been a convert for a very long time...

 

[Simon_100]

You'll get a good 10 years use from a Mac, scotching the myth that they're more expensive than Windows.

 

[wessie]

Look at Asus at John Lewis. They do a 17" screen but I do refer the 15.6. Some have 1TB drive but photos are best stored in the cloud where you can access on phone as well

 

[steve hughes]

Doc I have a laptop as a legacy from when I was working. But for 99% of the time my missus and I use ipads / tablets for everything including writing letters college work etc. They are so flexible and as others have said you would struggle to buy a wired printer now, they are all wireless. Photos are stored on the ipad and backed up in the cloud and cost 99 p per month. Thats nice as when travelling all our photos are mirrored on our phones so if we want to show someone something stored at home its on our phones.

If you go down the laptop route, stick with whatever operating system you currently use, eg if current computer is windoze then stick with it, why I hear the Mac boys cry, purely for simplicity and not having to learn a new operating system and applications. If you go Mac which is what my laptop is it will end up being streets ahead of any windoze machine and super reliable , BUT you will have to spend a bit of time getting to know it , lastly a new Macbook will be 1.5 to 2 X your current £500 budget.

 

[EVskiy]

What about the "large screen" ? I have no idea how large Doc wants it though...

But would defo agree with Mac... I've been a convert for a very long time...

Very true!

MacBook Air does come in 13” as well as 15” screen sizes.

Currently Costco have a deal on at £1074.99 on model year 2025 M4 15” MacBook Air. Thats delivered and does come with complimentary 2 year no quibble warranty.



The thing will last at least a decade. In my opinion, with the investment. However, if you haven’t used Mac before, it is Ali told of a learning curve, but not at all difficult, as latest OS is very similar to that of an iPhone or iPad.

Same product from Apple Store or John Lewis cost £125 more and only 1 year warranty.



Despite me having a new MacBook Pro. I still haven’t set it up. Should be able to get it done at Christmas time, as it isn’t just a simple switch it on and go.

My now 11 year old 15” MacBook Pro still does all of my demanding tasks, but browsing, emails, photo editing, watching YouTube videos, Netflix perfectly fine. The only thing that is wrong with it, is 11 year old battery and it hasn’t had a software update in about 3 years.

 

[wessie]

Just looked at the JL website. They seem to be in short supply of the cheaper Asus laptops at 15.6". Not uncommon at this time of year as the students will have bought loads. They will have the Xmas stock in soon.
This one would meet your spec if they had stock
https://www.johnlewis.com/asus-vivo...16gb-ram-512gb-ssd-16-wuxga-silver/p112188777

Note the 2 year warranty. Buy the same product from Currys and you get the 12 month standard warranty.

If you want the bigger 17" screen (but check one out in an actual shop as they are very big for lap use) then they have a choice either side of £500

https://www.johnlewis.com/asus-vivobook-17-laptop-intel-core-5-processor-8gb-ram-512gb-ssd-17-3-inch-full-hd-silver/p113888123

https://www.johnlewis.com/asus-vivobook-17-laptop-intel-core-i3-processor-8gb-ram-512gb-ssd-17-3-inch-full-hd-silver/p113888122

dearer one will be a bit faster

Note, these are all Asus Vivobook, their cheaper range and the sweet spot for the casual home user that does not need massive processing power for games or editing videos.

 

[Doc]

Just looked at the JL website. They seem to be in short supply of the cheaper Asus laptops at 15.6". Not uncommon at this time of year as the students will have bought loads. They will have the Xmas stock in soon.
This one would meet your spec if they had stock
https://www.johnlewis.com/asus-vivo...16gb-ram-512gb-ssd-16-wuxga-silver/p112188777

Note the 2 year warranty. Buy the same product from Currys and you get the 12 month standard warranty.

If you want the bigger 17" screen (but check one out in an actual shop as they are very big for lap use) then they have a choice either side of £500

https://www.johnlewis.com/asus-vivobook-17-laptop-intel-core-5-processor-8gb-ram-512gb-ssd-17-3-inch-full-hd-silver/p113888123

https://www.johnlewis.com/asus-vivobook-17-laptop-intel-core-i3-processor-8gb-ram-512gb-ssd-17-3-inch-full-hd-silver/p113888122

dearer one will be a bit faster

Note, these are all Asus Vivobook, their cheaper range and the sweet spot for the casual home user that does not need massive processing power for games or editing videos.

Cheers I'll take a look.

 

[EVskiy]

A very similar Asus Laptop 15.6” screen with a lower spec processor at Costco

 

[grantmac]

plus 1 for the ASUS. Great little computer. I have one for taking with me on road trips. Macbooks are overpriced and really only for those that want to do specifc graphics etc. I'd stick to the one EV shows from Costco.
The only thing you always need to look at are the 2 ''numbers'' : RAM & Hard drvie capacity. Hard drive for storage - if you wish to store a load of say photos or videos on your hard drvie - most people use cloud these days, and RAM which means how fast your machine is able to proccess data. For day to day useage the one above would be perfect. If you are gaming or runnig some complex processes then the higher RAM is better

 

[Pukmeister]

I bought a used ex-corporate high specification 15.6" HP laptop for about £250 for my personal use when bored sat at work. I think I got it on Backmarket UK or Discount Laptops, I cant remember which, I've had it a while now.

Its an HP Probook 450 G8 with an 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.42GHz with 20Gb RAM and 512Gb SSD, its what I'm typing this on.

It came with Windows 11 and runs lovely for everything I need. No need to spend a fortune, plenty of companies out there selling ex-corporate stuff.

Same with software, buy licenses from gaming sites like CDKeys, Kinguin etc etc for all the productivity apps you need, don't pay through the nose for retail.

 

[er-minio]

If you are looking for Mac, then MacBook Air will do everything you want. £500 budget though is a bit short of the asking price.

If he's happy with MacOS, looking at the used market he would be able to find something that suits him within that budget.
Considering light usage, any recent Apple Silicon Mac laptop would do and will last a bit.

I do work on Mac and my machine last (usable for work) 6+ years easily.

I would have a look at a used MacBook Air.


Depending on how big Doc's photo collection is, I would also consider a medium sized external SSD, that could be either used as storage (you probably don't need/want all the pictures on your computer's internal storage if the library is huge) or as a manual backup.

 

[Pukmeister]

I can probably do most of what Doc wants on my iPad to be fair. Sod browsing the web on a laptop when I can just tap and swipe on a big hand held device.

 

[Barnoe]

Everyone suggesting Mac.

Which is fine if your part of the Apple ecosystem.
If like me however, you have never owned any apple products then its Windows 11 all the way.

for sub 500 quid you have

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/acer-aspire-15-15.6-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-1-tb-ssd-grey-10284806.html

 

[LOLGEOFF]

Is it worth hanging on a month for Black Friday? I have been nursing a tired tablet with an unpredictable, temperamental touch screen hoping I can get a good deal in November.

 

[Oldrat]

I was brought up on windows, became proficient at all the usual stuff- office suite etc

My steam driven desktop died and so I was persuaded to buy a Mac Air M3 laptop.

What a top notch bit of kit, but can I use it to anywhere near its potential? Bugger can I.

Learning a new system is not as easy as some make out, although an iPad is totally different from a Mac Air, piece if cake.

Apple store do free lessons but it’s real basic stuff, and doesn’t go far enough, whereas I wanted to understand how to file documents and store stuff on a SSD.
such as
Pictures/holidays/years/ locations
Vehicles/ bikes / cars / documents/ workshop

I even when to CityLit college for a class on the Mac, but again, it only covered what the keys did, and not how to file stuff in folders.
So yes I do appreciate the Mac Air, but it still puzzles me a year in!


So if you are a Windows man, stick with windows unless you get an iPad

 

[wessie]

Is it worth hanging on a month for Black Friday? I have been nursing a tired tablet with an unpredictable, temperamental touch screen hoping I can get a good deal in November.

maybe, maybe not. How fussy are you about the spec and brand?

I bought a cheap Blackview 10" tablet for £70 to use when on trips. Peanuts on Ebay and Amazon if you are just after something that can stream Youtube rather than render a 3D video in seconds.

 

[wessie]

for sub 500 quid you have

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/acer-aspire-15-15.6-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-1-tb-ssd-grey-10284806.html

anyone buying something from that shop needs their bumps read

 

[er-minio]

whereas I wanted to understand how to file documents and store stuff on a SSD.

As simple*** as (note the green "+" that appears):

Happy to help next time we meet at the pub




***tongue in cheek: with a lot of Apple's monolithic libraries, it's not always as straightforward, and external storage management can depend on the software used.