Is this laptop good value for money/decent spec?

Buck

Buck

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Adrian
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Hi

Mrs Buck's Dell laptop is getting a bit long in the tooth now (8yo) and has served us very well. We've talked about replacing it and she definitely wants a laptop - no tablets/desktops etc.

I thought I'd get her a new one for Christmas and had a browse in PC World/Currys earlier to see what some are like in the flesh especially as some of the laptops these days flex when you type etc.

She will use it mainly for email; web browsing; word; access to work's MS Office 365 on line and iPlayer.

I found this one that didn't look too bad and wondered if there were any recommendations for better specs

HP Pavilion 15 - Intel Core i3-5157U with 8GB and a 1TB hard drive. Chassis seemed solid and good keyboard with a nice screen

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/compu...5-ab269sa-15-6-laptop-white-10137876-pdt.html

Was 400 now £380 and a further £50 off if ordered today.

Thoughts and recommendations please?h
 
Thanks Keith

The reviews suggest it is a bit plasticky though?
 
I don't know how much these things matter but i3 is quite an old processor.
That said for general web browsing you probably don't need any more.

My 5 year old (now kaput) laptop was an i5. It cost £450 5 years ago.

Recently my brother purchased an i7 laptop out of John Lewis for £500. LINK
 
Grey77 said:
I don't know how much these things matter but i3 is quite an old processor.
That said for general web browsing you probably don't need any more.

My 5 year old (now kaput) laptop was an i5. It cost £450 5 years ago.

Recently my brother purchased an i7 laptop out of John Lewis for £500. LINK
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link.

I guess that's the challenge I have in that I don't want to spend a lot on kit that will never be used to its potential.

Our current is a Dell XPS with Intel Core2 Duo T9500 @ 2.6 so most things should seem faster than that! (Even though it has been a great machine and has lasted 8 years so no complaints there)

What does your brother say about the build quality on the Asus?
 
Ive not really spoken to him about that, he only bought it on Saturday. Though I guess HP would be better in that regard.
 
Buck said:
Thanks Keith

The reviews suggest it is a bit plasticky though?
Click to expand...

No more so than most on the market including the one you linked to

The keyboard has a little bit of give to it but is OK to use

When you take into account what you intended use is then it would fit the bill nicely and is certainly good value for what you get
 
I've had 2 HP Pavilions and both suffered extreme overheating issues, my first was a DV6000 (failed 4 times before HP replaced it with a HDX16, which was fine until the GPU started overheating due to insufficient thermal dissipation.

Since then I've had my Lenovo Thinkpad T400, and it's been stellar. It was originally provided by Microsoft in around 2007 as part of the Windows 7 Ignite Testing Team and has never let me down, it's now running Windows 10 perfectly happy.

I too have been looking at upgrading and I think the best investment (for me) is for an i5 Lenovo T430, on the bay they are about £300 (sometimes less, sometimes more).

As an example, check this deal out,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWERFUL-...349515?hash=item46403b768b:g:~5gAAOSwd0BV4Etq
 
Last edited:
Neilc28 said:
I've had 2 HP Pavilions and both suffered extreme overheating issues, my first was a DV6000 (failed 4 times before HP replaced it with a HDX16, which was fine until the GPU started overheating due to insufficient thermal dissipation.

Since then I've had my Lenovo Thinkpad T400, and it's been stellar. It was originally provided by Microsoft in around 2007 as part of the Windows 7 Ignite Testing Team and has never let me down, it's now running Windows 10 perfectly happy.

I too have been looking at upgrading and I think the best investment (for me) is for an i5 Lenovo T430, on the bay they are about £300 (sometimes less, sometimes more).

As an example, check this deal out,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWERFUL-...349515?hash=item46403b768b:g:~5gAAOSwd0BV4Etq
Click to expand...

I had one of those for a time in my old job and it was rock solid.

Thanks for the link - will take a look and see what's out there!
 
Excuse the rubbish video, not my forte, but here is a quick overview of the laptop I just did for you

 
Thanks for that @Keith W - really helpful and you've helped me make my decision (y)

One question - is the Ram that is installed 1 x 4GB with an empty slot or is it 2 x 2GB in two slots?
 
Buck said:
Thanks for that @Keith W - really helpful and you've helped me make my decision (y)

One question - is the Ram that is installed 1 x 4GB with an empty slot or is it 2 x 2GB in two slots?
Click to expand...

Hi Adrian,

1 slot is populated with a 4GB stick and one slot is empty

I had a spare 4GB stick lying around that I installed which bumped the total RAM up to 8GB
 
Keith W said:
Hi Adrian,

1 slot is populated with a 4GB stick and one slot is empty

I had a spare 4GB stick lying around that I installed which bumped the total RAM up to 8GB
Click to expand...

Cheers - that's a nice easy upgrade then :)
 
I think you've made the right choice. Chap at work bought a similar HP from PC world last week - hard drive failed completely within a few days, and he's having to wait a couple of weeks for a replacement. He's not rough in any way, and is still using an ancient Sony Viao (not known for their longevity).
 
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