<£500 Laptop Recommendations

JJ88

JJ88

JJ88

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Joined
18 Mar 2025
Posts
4
Location
UK
Its been a long time since I've needed to buy myself a new laptop as for the last 10 years they have been supplied by my employer; mostly Dells. I'm starting my own business and finances will be tight so trying to stick to <£500.

Currently using a DELL precision 5550 (which I like) for lots of CAD work (Solidworks) but going forward won't need any CAD ability.

My Wish List
  • Reliable/Solid/Dependable
  • Daily use of: Email, Google/Research, Excel (basic workbooks, no VBA etc), website updates and some basic photo editing (before uploading to website), Word
  • 15 inch screen, don't really want to go smaller, but don't have a need to go bigger either
  • Decent battery life (will be mainly used at desk)
  • >16GB RAM, >256GB Storage
  • Not really bothered about screen quality, colour etc.
  • Refurbished no problem but concerned about battery life?
Read a few things suggesting refurbished Apple MacBook (pro or air) but not sure what I'll get in budget and I don't own any other Apple products. (although looking at M4 MBA is tempting me to double my budget)

As you can see from my usage requirements I don't need anything spectacular, it will all be pretty general business admin work.

What should I be looking for? & Where should i be looking to find a good deal?

Thank You
 
I think you'll struggle to find a decent new laptop within budget even with 16GB of RAM.

HotUKDeals would be good to check for laptop deals. I'm looking for a new laptop as well at moment and keeping an eye there.

As you've already suggested Refurb or 2nd hand could be an option to get what you are after.
 
If you like your precision (which as a 5690 user, I don't understand) then maybe a second hand latitude machine. Or an HP elitebook or Thinkpad. There are plenty of very good machines for less than £300.

Just make sure to get one new enough to be at least a quad core, but not so new that everything is soldered and it has hee haw ports.

After using professional laptops for 10 years, I will never go back to consumer machines. The build quality is just awful and prices absurd.
 
Disco_P said:
If you like your precision (which as a 5690 user, I don't understand) then maybe a second hand latitude machine. Or an HP elitebook or Thinkpad. There are plenty of very good machines for less than £300.

Just make sure to get one new enough to be at least a quad core, but not so new that everything is soldered and it has hee haw ports.

After using professional laptops for 10 years, I will never go back to consumer machines. The build quality is just awful and prices absurd.
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Probably a silly question but how do you distinguish a professional laptop from a consumer model? What am I looking for on the spec list?
A used pro model sounds ideal for my needs.
 
JJ88 said:
Probably a silly question but how do you distinguish a professional laptop from a consumer model? What am I looking for on the spec list?
A used pro model sounds ideal for my needs.
Click to expand...
From the model lines, Dell has vostro and latitude, HP uses ProBook and elitebook, Lenovo has thinkpad X and T series.

There are others but those are the main ones.
 
Try the Dell Outlet for refurbished Dell laptops (it's official Dell). An Inspiron would likely meet your needs, although higher spec model ranges might be in budget.

If you're limited in budget I would probably go Dell rather than Apple.
 

ASUS Vivobook 16 X1605VA 16" Laptop - Intel® Core™ i5, 512 GB SSD, Silver google that model we have one and it’s very good for the price​

 
gazzaa said:

ASUS Vivobook 16 X1605VA 16" Laptop - Intel® Core™ i5, 512 GB SSD, Silver google that model we have one and it’s very good for the price​

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i've seen this model and looks good for the price only concern has been some reviews about poor build quality but when considered against the price its hard to complain. I tend to look after my stuff as well. Its on the list.
 
JJ88 said:
i've seen this model and looks good for the price only concern has been some reviews about poor build quality but when considered against the price its hard to complain. I tend to look after my stuff as well. Its on the list.
Click to expand...
We have had ours a few months now and it’s been fine with my heavy handed 17 year old using it daily for college. Lol.
 
At that budget I would be looking at used HP Pro books or Lenovo Thinkpads (spec will vary but should get you in 11th gen or newer configs). I would add Dell's to the list but I don't have any personal experience with them.

We use Pro Books generally at work (or Z books for Design / CAD purposes) and the general difference between them and the consumer models (So Pavillion in HP's case) is the feature set. overall build quality and, if buying new, support. The build quality difference can be massive depending on model - full metal chassis on the Probook vs plastic on the non Probook model. That isn't to say you can't get a decent non "pro" model but at the lower end of the budget scale its easier to get a "pro" model on the used market which won't be ****.

We recently picked up a Probook 440 G9 (11th gen) for my MiL for £200 on eBay. Came with a 11th Gen i5, 8GB RAM (upgradable), 256GB storage and all usual 440 G9 features. Excellent condition with decent battery life. With a higher budget newew and higher spec Probook G10 and G11's would have been within easy reach. :)
 
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