I am looking to buy the cheapest Windows Laptop.
Screen must be 14" or above.
It will used for light browsing & word processing, maybe a Zoom/Skype session.
I found this HP 14" Laptop for $320 (After GC Discount) TGG.
Will the processor hold up for light tasks, do you foresee any lag?
The N4020 isn't bad (boosts to 2.8GHz) and is paired with flash storage (eMMC, but still much faster than a HDD in everyday use). Definitely sufficient for light browsing/Zoom/Skype/Word processing as far as performance but not a lot more. The mic/camera will likely be horrendous though.
Try it out at TGG. I very much doubt it will lag on word processing.
Yeh might have to get the latex on & go down the shops.
Buy something refurbished or used.
Nice 3rd gen i5 systems go for $120 in my neighbourhood on Facebook marketplace
Are there many refurbished laptops on facebook marketplace?
Any battery on a used 3rd gen i5 would be cactus by now.
Surprisingly a number of them seem to last. And I feel that heaps of people stay plugged in anyway. A new battery is often 40 or less if needed anyway.
Does it have to be new?
Yeh it's a present so should be new.
Wouldn't really be a present if the laptop is torturous to use. Absolutely cheapest new laptops are usually badly made with slow components. For example Celeron N4000 CPU and eMMC storage on that HP 14 laptop.
The receiver will use it once or twice a week for browsing or word doc. I thought these cheapos could at least do that without a fuss.
If not then I might go with the Lenovo E415 Ryzen 5 4500U, another $400 via student discount but it's got great horsepower.
The estimated 8 weeks or more shipping time is scary.
Buy a refurbished Dell Latitude or Thinkpad T series from eBay. At the bare minimum I would go for 3rd gen or 4th gen intel. Then buy a cheap 128g SSD from Amazon or something
just bear in mind old laptops with older less power efficient CPU & combination of second hand battery will probably have fairly short battery life unless you want to also replace the lithium battery yourself. Not a big deal if you are WFH though.
Thanks mate, will look into this if I don't go new.
at $320 with a Celeron and 4gb ram, I foresee plenty of lag - even for simple tasks like word processing.