Laptop for parent?

stickyfiddle

Time for this age-old question again. My Mum wants a new laptop - what's good these days? I've had a mac for 5 years so more than a little out of the loop on windows laptops, aside from the Thinkpad I use for work and get no choice over. 

Her ideal wishlist looks something like the following: 

- 14" or 15" screen
- at least one USB3 port (more = better)
- min 250 GB storage
- Decent non-janky trackpad (my words, not hers!)
- Lightweight would be good

Something that's not full of bloatware out of the box would also be nice as I'm not in the UK to help set it up, though conceivably could remote desktop in and delete any pre-installed shite if needed. 

Budget is not fixed but closer to 300 than 800 would be welcomed! FWIW, her current machine is a Samsung R530 which she's been relatively happy with but it's getting really slow after about 8 years of use.  

In terms of shops, I've warned her off PC World already. John Lewis is usually a good bet but they don't have anything with decent storage for the price. Amazon?

Any thoughts?

ThePrettyDamned

Laptops direct have this for under 500 quid

HP 250 G6 Core i5-7200U 8GB 256GB 15.6 Inch Windows 10 Laptop

256gb ssd, 8gb ram, last gen i5 (I'm running gen before that... Processors are pretty much topping out on current tech I think). 

Seems decent. For less, you can get a 4gb ram version but I'd probably stick with 8 as ram is pretty cheap. 

ThePrettyDamned

There is a 14 inch version that's even cheaper, 430 quid  

HP 240 G6 Core i5-7200U 8GB 256GB 14 Inch Windows 10 Laptop

PC_Dave

After looking for a while, my parents bought this;
https://www.very.co.uk/lenovo-ideapad-320-intelreg-coretrade-i5-processor-8gb-ramnbsp128gbnbspssd-14-inch-laptop-platinum-with-microsoft-office-365-home-1-year-and-mcafee-total-protection-for-1-device/1600319424.prd

Got it for £399 during Black November. I have to say I’m very impressed.

octatonic

Sounds like a fair trade.

Foster

I use a Lenovo laptop at work and I really can't fault it at all. It's far better than the HP laptops we started buying.

I'm not 100% on which model I have, it's got a 250gb ssd (I think). The only downside to it are the built in speakers are utter bollocks.

randella

Foster said:

I use a Lenovo laptop at work and I really can't fault it at all. It's far better than the HP laptops we started buying.

I'm not 100% on which model I have, it's got a 250gb ssd (I think). The only downside to it are the built in speakers are utter bollocks.

I don’t know what Lenovo’s “consumer” stuff is like, but the good old office Thinkpads are absolutely indestructible, have good trackpads and the keyboards are up there with the best - I prefer them to any MacBook I’ve used. 

They look a bit austere though, and if your parents plan on using it on the train they will look like they’re on their way to a meeting. 

stickyfiddle

Yeah, I'm a thinkpad devotee at work. They are seriously tough and reliable. They went through a shitty trackpad stage a handful of models ago but are good these days. I daren't think how many hundreds of hours I've spent on my current work machine and it's only starting to slow down after 3 years heavy use. 

I think they're a bit "work looking" for mum though. 

Will have a browse of laptops direct

monquixote

What are they using it for?

If it's just web browsing then a chrome book is a really good option. Great for security and no maintenance.

stickyfiddle

monquixote said:

What are they using it for?

If it's just web browsing then a chrome book is a really good option. Great for security and no maintenance.

Not gonna happen. Apart from my massive mistrust of google my mum is a big Word user and Google Docs is a massive pile of shite  

menamestom

stickyfiddle said:

I think they're a bit "work looking" for mum though. 


The Ideapads are good, at least my 720 is.  The 500 series is closer to budget

https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/500-series/Ideapad-530S-15-Intel/p/88IP50S0986

You can usually get a 10% discount on their store prices if you have any kind of corporate discount.  
The one with the 256gb sad and 8th get i5 would be a good machine. 

monquixote

stickyfiddle said:

monquixote said:

What are they using it for?

If it's just web browsing then a chrome book is a really good option. Great for security and no maintenance.

Not gonna happen. Apart from my massive mistrust of google my mum is a big Word user and Google Docs is a massive pile of shite  

If you use office its a non starter, but for a lot of people its a great choice.

randella

stickyfiddle said:

I think they're a bit "work looking" for mum though. 

Yep, totally get that. It’s looking increasingly like I’m going to have to buy my own computer for the first time in living memory and, to be honest, I think a Thinkpad X1 Carbon is the one for me.

They're just tools to me though, I guess it’s like me fussing over the look of my guitars when lots of gigging guitarists wouldn’t give tuppence about fancy tuners or an aged pickguard. 

Paying loads of money should get you something that makes you feel good when you’re using it.

Axe_meister

I personally would never touch an HP. They must have the worst cooling engineers in the business (that goes for their servers as well). 
Dell make good machines.
Not sure why you don't trust Google. Yes I am biased as I work for them, but culturally they are probably the least evil company I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. 
Once you get used to the quirks of using G suite it's not bad, especially if you are sharing and collaborating with others.

stickyfiddle

I use "G suite" for work. It's hateful. And it isn't useful for collaboration with anyone who isn't also up to speed with it (never mind that most corporates don't trust it so won't let you use it). Fact is, Office is still the go-to standard for business, mostly because of familiarity. It's not ideal but it's still true.

But I digress... the main point is my Mum doesn't know how to use it and doesn't want to.

TheMarlin

I’ve got two Lenovo models. Ones a Yoga. 
They’re really well built. Acer laptops fall apart. My last two Dells failed within a year.  

I’m sticking with Lenovo!

ESBlonde

Laptop for parent?

Thats a good swap, I'll take it. Where do you want mum delivered?