Best of The Cheapie Laptops

• 

  scrimshaw on 09/05/2019 - 18:13

  +2

  HP Keyboard probably has a lose ribbon cable, dropping the laptop would have have loosened / dislodged the cable so you'll just need to re-attach the cable into the ZIF connector. If that sounds like technical mumbo jumbo, just forget about it and re-purpose the laptop as a HTPC or a desktop replacement, or sell it off to someone who knows what to do with it.

  The Kogan X350 notebook doesn't sound too bad on paper, there is a review on Whirlpool

  Refurb laptops don't always mean you will get lemon units with bad batteries, Dell Outlet for example sells 'refurbs' but they are always current generation laptops which are actually nearly new, they are often dead-on-arrival or faulty units that had to be returned back to base for repairs and these laptops will have been checked thoroughly for faults before being put back on sale. It is a pretty good source of cheap laptops.

  https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/2799655

• 

  Sage on 09/05/2019 - 18:19

  +2

  Cheap laptops are pretty bad. You'd have to spend a lot to get the bare minimum level of efficiency.
  If you need to cut corners I'd suggest refurbished or second hand. Don't go more than 5 years old though.

  Less than $500 laptops are bin-worthy, but someone desperate may be selling them.

  • 

    FireRunner on 09/05/2019 - 18:25

    This, you'll find yourself needing a replacement much sooner than later

  • 

    altomic on 09/05/2019 - 20:26

    I disagree with this statement.

    I bought a refurb 14" lenovo Ideapad from grays on ebay for $119. It was for my child starting high school. High school required office and web browsing -didn't need to be an i7. That lenovo is more than capable of that. Only downside was the in built ssd was only 32gb- win 10 couldnt update. But it had a slot for a M.2 drive. So bought a 256gb one from ebay for ~$50. The machine is light weight and has very good battery life (has not run out of charge during school).

    For $119 if she drops it and smashes beyond reasonable repair $$ then i wouldnt be upset. Not as upset as her smashing a $500+ laptop

• 

  wei13 on 09/05/2019 - 19:34

  Assuming that your priorities are price and size for carrying, maybe can consider this ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 for $383 each from the current Computer Alliance eBay sale. Free delivery if you have eBay plus.

  If you are in Brisbane you can also look up what Umart and MSY have on sale under your budget.

  • 

    ChocolateTown on 11/05/2019 - 09:31

    I had one, beautiful screen except it always looked like it had a bluish tinge to me. After 3 months it wouldn’t turn on. Had to claim warranty so they replaced motherboard with no explanation. Worked fine after that.

• 

  loropy9 on 09/05/2019 - 20:50

  I bought HP with AMD A6 processor brand new with 4GB ram. It's been a pain to use it since day one. Slow, slow and slow. Much older desktops with Intel i3 are much better.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 10/05/2019 - 07:20

  This one at MWave has an i3 with 4gb ram so might be similar to what you're used to and only $549.

• 

  ChocolateTown on 11/05/2019 - 09:33

  Anyone comment which is better?
  Pentium N4200
  Celeron
  i3

  • 

    scrimshaw on 11/05/2019 - 17:19

    Pentium and Celeron are kind of the same stack. It's a little confusing to most people but some parts of Pentium are desktop processors which are very cut down versions of Core i series.

    The mobile versions like N4200 are just Atoms. Same goes for some of the Celerons, some of the lower end product stack of the Atom processors get the Celeron branding. While the higher end lines are called Pentium Silver.

    Core i3 is two tiers up from the Pentium lineup. There are also Core M processors which are essentially ultrabook and tablet processors, you see them in devices such as the Macbook Air and Surface Go.

    So if you want to rank them from worst to best:

    Celeron and Pentium (Old)
    Pentium Silver (New)
    Pentium Gold (New)
    Core M
    Core i series.

    • 

      ChocolateTown on 12/05/2019 - 08:57

      Wow thanks so much, I keep getting conflicting or biased answers when I’ve asked. So a small laptop otherwise comparable, one has Pentium N4200 and the other has i3, the faster one would be the i3. Now I don’t have to necessarily find a cheap lappie with 8GB ram and i5 that’s six years old, I think I’ve seen some Lenovo’s with i3.

• 

  Jettblack on 11/05/2019 - 18:00

  I see alot of Windows 10 S - cut down version of Home Or Professional ?

  Not the below ones
  Just links for cheaper Laptops
  https://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers-tablets/laptops/lenovo/l…

  https://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers-tablets/laptops/hp/hp-14…

  and this brand
  https://www.harveynorman.com.au/ollee-ml130s-13-3-inch-lapto…

  Refurb - any good ?

  https://www.jw.com.au/lenovo-ex-leased-think-pad-t450-14-lap…

• 

  Bios Plus on 12/05/2019 - 13:20

  I've had some luck with https://renewd.com.au (they do refurbished laptops). Got a Surface book from them a year ago and it had minor scratches but nothing that wasn't already stated via their condition report.