Small computer for sat nav updates and GS911

[Flipfly]

Hi Guys, looking for advice.

Just want a super cheap small form
Computer for the above tasks, any recommendations?

It’s just for these tasks so don’t want to spend much if at all possible and happy to buy used.

Thanks

Phil

 

[wessie]

have a look in the Dell refurb shop for a 12" laptop, or Ebay for a used device.

I had two from work from 2016 until 2023 and it was great device. I only had the 2nd one as it was an exchange when they upgraded to Win 11 and my old one went away to be upgraded.
Compact enough for carrying with me around the county but all the functionality of a full fat Win 11 device. At home I paired it with a 17" screen if needed, and in the office we had 2 screen docking stations. It's what I would buy if I needed a properly portable Windows device.
If you want to take it on trips, ensure it has an SSD not spinning rust HDD. Mine made many commutes from home to office in a topbox.

 

[KickStarter]

I've bought from this seller before, and ThinkPads are fantastic,

eBay Link:

FAST Lenovo ThinkPad X270 WINDOWS 10 Laptop Core i5 4GB/8GB Ram 128GB/240GB SSD | eBay UK

Lenovo ThinkPad X270. Laptop will have minor wear to the lid and palm rest, and may have minor scratches/marks around the surface. Laptop had moderate signs of use. Expect the laptop to have dents in the lid, major scratches, clear screen blemishes and a worn keyboard.

www.ebay.co.uk

£140 with 4GB RAM and 256GB Hard Drive

 

[DrFarkoff]

All I will say @Flipfly If you get one get someone to wipe it and do a fresh install of win 10 Pro and do not go below 8Gb of ram

Running Windows 10 You will get fed up with how slow it can get with all the Ram hungry luggage that comes with Win 10 Home versions

Definitely don;t get XP it will be like a bit of raw meat to a Hungry bear on the Net

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Make sure it’s Win 11 proofed

 

[Mzokk]

For any Windows based laptop I'd recommend going for a device capable of running Win11 at the moment. Windows 10 officially became unsupported by Microsoft in October 2025. However, you could apply for, free as a private user, Extended Security Updates (ESU's) which extend security updates to 13 October 2026. Whether this support will be extended further depends on Microsoft but its not clear at the moment. If the computer was just for diagnostics and there was no need to connect to the internet then a Win 10 Machine would be fine. However, if you want to connect to the internet to do Sat Nav updates then a Win11 capable machine would be best from a security standpoint.

Microsoft requires certain CPU's and TPM 2.0 to run Win 11 and though there are hacks to get it to run on machines that don't meet those requirements no one knows how long that will be the case. I have an ancient Toshiba (2012) laptop that used to run Win 10 and now runs Linux Mint on a 1TB HD. I obtained a free used 2020 ish Huawei Matebook 14 inch laptop with 8gb of ram and 512gb ssd hard drive from a friend as the screen was bust. A new screen was £40 ish and it now runs Win11 as it meets Microsoft's hardware requirements.