Even though smartphones and tablets are usually our go-to way of checking social media and watching Netflix or YouTube while commuting these days, we still love having a laptop at home for shopping, typing documents and helping the kids with their homework.
While the convenience of a phone is great, we’ll take a physical keyboard and large screen over finger-taps every time. And if the basics are all you need, you don’t have to splash out for a high-end laptop.
There are various online stores in UK naming Laptopsdirect, which provides its customer up to 40% off in best laptop deals through their Laptops Direct Discount Code!
How much to spend on a budget laptop?
We think it’s important to get this out of the way upfront – going too low on the price means you compromise on performance. We consider a budget laptop to be £400 to £500, but if you can stretch the budget slightly, to around the £600 mark, you get even better quality.
At those price points you get a real bump in performance and build from entry-level models. Go below that price point and you sacrifice on materials, specs, battery life and storage, meaning you may end up having to replace the machine much sooner.
If you only have around £200 to spend, there are a few laptops we recommend you consider, including the HP Stream, Lenovo IdeaPad 1i, Acer 314 and the Acer Aspire 1. Any of those models will only handle very basic tasks like writing documents, light video streaming, video calls, websites and social media, but they’re decent for the cost.
Apple laptops are known for having a premium design and sturdy build quality that lasts for years – and yes, high prices. But you can get a MacBook for a more affordable price if you buy a refurbished model.
We found a 2019-era MacBook Air (with a crisp Retina display and a reliable Intel i5 processor) for under £500 on BackMarket. There are only 2 USB-C ports (so you need a dongle for pairing extra gear like external hard drives, cameras or printers) and the front-facing camera is only 720p, but this is a fantastic laptop that gives you the Apple experience on a budget.
Laptop or tablet? Why not both? The IdeaPad 5 Duet is a Chromebook laptop with a fully detachable keyboard so it doubles as a 13.3-inch slate. The software is fast and cloud-based (so you don’t have to worry too much about the built-in storage) plus at 700g it’s ideal for popping into a bag to bring to your local coffee shop.
We love the kickstand on the back that’s used to prop it up for watching videos or setting it on a desk without the keyboard, and it includes a stylus so you can make notes or annotate documents. The borders around the screen are neat, and even though it doesn’t have enough power for photo editing, it has the longest battery life of any model on our list, lasting for multiple days between charges.
Operating system
There are three laptop operating systems: Microsoft Windows, Apple’s macOS, and Google’s ChromeOS. Each type has their own design, stores to download apps from, and customisation options – just like how an iOS smartphone looks and feels different to an Android or Windows phone.
Windows
This is a traditional PC experience and is best if you love having a wealth of settings, customisation and the ability to get software from anywhere. These laptops are ideal for students and working as they come with Microsoft apps like Word or Excel, and games perform best on this OS.
MacOS
This is the main alternative to Windows in terms of functionality and features, and is generally known for its sleek, clean design and ease of use. It is not as cluttered as Windows, but it’s slightly more restricted because Apple has stricter rules about what software is allowed to run on its computers. These are considered to be the best for editing as they have lovely displays and speedy performance, but they’re also generally quite expensive.
ChromeOS
Laptops that run ChromeOS are built around Google’s suite of apps, including YouTube, Sheets, Gmail, Slides, Docs, Maps and Chrome – and you can only download apps from the official Google Play Store. These laptops are usually the most affordable as the software is cloud-based, meaning you’ll usually need an internet connection for them to work properly.
They often (but not always) lack the processing power of Mac or Windows, but they’ll be just as good for both ease of use and portability.
