Where's the best place to get cheaper laptops these days? And what specs are sensible?
I'm hoping for something to do word processing on that I can normally have plugged into a big monitor (so it needs to run higher resolutions smoothly) but take into other rooms when necessary. Weight, battery life and graphics not all that important. Nor is memory, really.
Seconded. The newer ones run Android apps, so you aren't stuck with exclusively browser-based stuff. They're essentially immune to malware, they don't get bogged down with crap like a Windows laptop will and you can get a reasonable one brand new for about £200.
Failing that, get a refurb Thinkpad off eBay. We've undoubtedly had multiple threads about getting a refurb Thinkpad off eBay, because it's the only sensible choice if you want an inexpensive Windows laptop.
Chromebooks usually have very low specs compared to a Windows laptop, which is why they're so cheap. You actually don't need more than they come with to run Chrome OS, so it won't really feel slow as such, but just as a reminder that you get what you pay for.
Chrome OS is also still heavily dependent on an active Internet connection for much of the more Windows-like stuff. If you're on the go a lot with patchy wi-fi, you could run into some of the system's inherent limitations.
Personally, I'd always spend 100 quid more on a Windows 11 capable laptop. Brands like Lenovo offer decent enough laptops in that kind of price range. Your minimum should be 4GB to run Windows 11 Home, but if they've got a reduced one with 8GB, that's your better option. Also make sure it has a removable SSD with at least 128GB. eMMC memory tends to be quite puny on budget laptops, and you can't swap it out for higher capacity.
Interestingly, I went to an eye doctor the other week, and he had a Chromebook laptop sitting on his desk in his room with which he appeared to be doing all his everyday office stuff. Not sure if they're really suitable for that by now, but I thought that was interesting.
>Chromebooks are deep deep into schools/education and starting to appear in the NHS - Microsoft is getting kicked out.
It's as much that Microsoft have adapted to a post-desktop world. The whole Microsoft 365 suite (Office, Teams, a million other things) works in the browser, with cloud-based storage and sync. Microsoft care about Windows, but it's not the core of their business and they'd be fine if it died.
ChromeOS is basically the rebirth of the thin client, with everything being managed remotely. If Gemma in HR loses her Chromebook, you just de-activate it, hand her a new one and tell her to log in as usual. For Gemma, it's as if nothing has happened, because all her files and settings are still there; for the IT team, there are no worries about data protection or data loss.
It arrived, Lenovo ThinkPad T470S but cheaper due to having Windows 10 Education edition on it. I don't know what that is. Is it going to be a pain in the arse to use or shall I just stick some sort of linux and WINE on there?
No, it's fine. Education edition is between Pro and Enterprise on the pecking order. The differences are all weird features that are useful for IT departments but irrelevant to normal users.
