Cheap laptop opinions.

[FennecTheFox]

So I'm looking to buy my mom a cheap laptop. She really only uses her desktop to send emails, browse the internet and watch YouTube stuff.

I'm a little out of touch with processors and specs in general these days, but I would appreciate some feedback. Below I've linked a number of options. Let me know what you'd go for. Thanks.

I'd kinda like to get something that won't be sluggish and will last longer than a year.


http/www.staples.ca/en/Lenovo-Ide...10/product_2491932_2-CA_1_20001##revs_content

(Seems decent and I've heard good things about Lenovo, but I'm not familiar with that AMD Processor.)

http/www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...c021e24ed062a06849ec652en02&SearchPageIndex=1

http/www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=14f58ff9086c079b4f1f8aaa29d9c2d6en02

http/www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product...spx?path=fe1425fdfb57e6436fa105ca7fad94b7en02

(Has an SSD)

http/www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product...spx?path=7e7ae336180c9cdc5eaf4c26a43c6370en02

https/www.londondrugs.com/hp-elit....html?cgid=comp-laptopsandnotebooks-pclaptops

http/www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=c21a8e45880c3e411511d18dcf515117en02

($100 more expensive, but maybe worth it if It's substantially better than the others?)

 

[Solandri]

Only your first link works.

So I'm looking to buy my mom a cheap laptop. She really only uses her desktop to send emails, browse the internet and watch YouTube stuff.

Windows is overkill for just those things. When you get down to these low-end prices, most of your money is being spent on a Windows license, a CPU powerful enough to run Windows, RAM to run Windows, and storage for Windows.

Have you considered a Chromebook? They do browsing, email, FB, and YouTube just fine. And because you're not paying for all that Windows stuff, they tend to be a lot cheaper for the same or higher level of build quality. In particular, several of them in the $250-$350 range have 1080p IPS screens, which is unheard of for a Windows laptop in this range. They also get much better battery life since they don't have a gazillion Windows services sucking up CPU cycles. 10+ hours is the norm.

Their biggest drawback (aside from inability to run Windows programs) is lack of local storage. Usually they only have 16 or 32 GB of local storage. They're really designed to use cloud storage via your Google account, especially for things like photos.

Based on the $400 price of your first link, I'd take a look at the Acer Chromebook 14 and Acer Chromebook R 13. They're like Chromebook versions of $700-$900 laptops.

 

[FennecTheFox]

Only your first link works.

So I'm looking to buy my mom a cheap laptop. She really only uses her desktop to send emails, browse the internet and watch YouTube stuff.

Windows is overkill for just those things. When you get down to these low-end prices, most of your money is being spent on a Windows license, a CPU powerful enough to run Windows, RAM to run Windows, and storage for Windows.

Have you considered a Chromebook? They do browsing, email, FB, and YouTube just fine. And because you're not paying for all that Windows stuff, they tend to be a lot cheaper for the same or higher level of build quality. In particular, several of them in the $250-$350 range have 1080p IPS screens, which is unheard of for a Windows laptop in this range. They also get much better battery life since they don't have a gazillion Windows services sucking up CPU cycles. 10+ hours is the norm.

Their biggest drawback (aside from inability to run Windows programs) is lack of local storage. Usually they only have 16 or 32 GB of local storage. They're really designed to use cloud storage via your Google account, especially for things like photos.

Based on the $400 price of your first link, I'd take a look at the Acer Chromebook 14 and Acer Chromebook R 13. They're like Chromebook versions of $700-$900 laptops.

I considered a Chromebook, but she wouldn't know how to use it. She barely knows how to use Windows. Appreciate the feedback, but I'd prefer to get one of the above laptops.