Laptop recommendations please

[Gaijin]

Hello all   It's been decided for me that I am buying a laptop for my daughter in the US. And it's a surprise. 

I don't know anything about laptops nowadays. I'm limited to the River on the US site as no point sending a UK laptop 

I guess I can afford about £13 in US dollars  No, I guess I can spend up maybe $400. 

What's a good brand? She has an Apple phone but it only took a second to see that Apple laptops are for rich people, so that's not an option. 

What laptop would you buy for a 15 yr old girl that has school and Instagram to do in equal quantities. Possibly some tick tock

 

I have seen "renewed" Apple Mac books on the River, but not renewed by Apple, just renewed by the vendor. basically another word for second-hand, I guess. Would they be worth taking a look at? I saw one that is just within budget, but it's a 2017 model - does that mean it's basically out of date already? 

 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated

Edited December 15, 2022 by Gaijin

[Strawberry Fields]

They are all made from the same chips and parts from the same factories mate and that price point they usually arent great and dont last to be honest. Id look at whatever is the best spec for the money from any brand. Look if there is anything on sale.

 

I wouldnt get the mac personally. It will be better built but probably slower than a newer windows machine. Mac people tend to know they want a mac.

Edited December 15, 2022 by Two Tents

[latigid aikon]

If you buy a laptop from the USA it wont have a £ key as well as a few other keyboard differences, it's a minor thing but it can get annoying.

 

Nearly all used Macs are obsolete currently, they recently changed architecture from Intel chips to their own processors so it's not a good idea to buy an Intel Mac now unless it's very cheap.

 

Anything older than these models are obsolete https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_M1#Products_that_use_the_Apple_M1_series

[Degsy]

33 minutes ago, latigid aikon said:

If you buy a laptop from the USA it wont have a £ key as well as a few other keyboard differences, it's a minor thing but it can get annoying.

 

 

 

I think his daughter is in the US

[latigid aikon]

Just now, Degsy said:

I think his daughter is in the US

Yeah it's fairly clear if you read it properly

[badbillybob]

i know very little about laptops, but ive used a fair few over the years.

heres my take -avoid acer, they always break at the hinge, because its just set in epoxy and not up to the job, ive had 3 fail due to this...

HP , im using a hp now and it seems sturdier. 

sony- over rated but ok

Asus, see acer- cheaply made, and it shows.

 

err thats me, im done....sorry but technically im not clued up enough to cast an opinion on the specifics of drives, memory etc. 

 

[Rhubarb & Flustered]

@Gaijin You can get a Lenovo ideapad  (thinkpad is us I think ) for around that price & they do last,just make sure you get one with an SSD so it boots up straight away.

 

 

Search this on the US river,it's $394.89 sold by Lenovo (list $959 so 59% off)

 

Lenovo 2022 Newest Ideapad 3 Laptop, 15.6" HD Touchscreen, 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4 Processor, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD, HDMI, Webcam, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth, Windows 11 Home, Almond

Edited December 15, 2022 by Rhubarb & Flustered

[Slippy One]

Get an iPad pro with keyboard stand

[Brysee]

Maybe ask her what she wants mate talk to her and make sure it's all good 

[Rhubarb & Flustered]

12 minutes ago, Slippy One said:

Get an iPad pro with keyboard stand

 

 

 

The only ones in his price rage are from 2017 and we all know how much Apple enjoy pushing updates.

[j.o.i.n.t]

1 hour ago, Rhubarb & Flustered said:

(thinkpad is us I think

 

Nah they not, they're more aimed at professional/business use, whereas the ideapads are more 'consumer' orientated.

 

 

[Gaijin]

@Two Tents Yeah like most things nowadays, unfortunately

@latigid aikon Got me confused, there   

@badbillybob HP sturdier, good to know, thanks. It's for a teenager, after all 

@Rhubarb & Flustered Thank you. That looks like it'll work  

@Slippy One I did suggest that, mate. "That's not a laptop, Dad". She's on the other side of the Atlantic, I can't say no  

@Brysee My daughter's one of those rare ones that says she's happy to not have a laptop, she doesn't really need one ........ lies. So I'm surprising her with something she's convinced herself she'll never get

@j.o.i.n.t thanks for that input 

 

Thank you all. I'm a pretty quick shopper once I get the scent, it's over pretty quick  I'm grabbing the Lenovo mentioned by @Rhubarb & Flustered, thank you very much for making this relatively easy for me  

[Mugwuffin]

Asus make some good laptops, and have a range of price points, the one I'm using now has survived 10 years so far, and the battery is still good for over 5 hours

[Military Grade]

Avoid anything made by Apple, unless if you hate your daughter then buy her a iPad

[j.o.i.n.t]

3 hours ago, Military Grade said:

Avoid anything made by Apple, unless if you hate your daughter then buy her a iPad

 

Hate himself more like, with the prices. ...Have to say though - mine got one, saved up, and loves it...despite being brought up proper (linux) she's become a bit of an apple fan *sad sigh. Has a few of their things.

 

 

Air M1/M2... fuck the mad prices, and the flimsyness, even the os, but the chips seem lovely. Spoke to a bloke who bought an m1, his first apple device - and he adores it. Sips battery but feels quick for the geeky stuff he uses it for.... oh they tempt me! gaaah.

Edited December 16, 2022 by j.o.i.n.t