Choosing a new Laptop... Advice please

[neffian]

Hey everyone.

My girlfriend is currently looking for a new laptop, mostly for word processing, browsing the web, watching movies and so on. Ideally, she wants something that will last, not burn itself out in 2 years.

Now when it comes to desktops I'm pretty savvy, I've built a couple of systems before and always keep up-to-date with the latest and greatest bits of tech about. When it comes to laptops however, I'm clueless.

She gave me a budget of £350ish, and I've been scouring high and low for the right laptop for her.

In the end I've found an 'Acer Aspire ES1-523-87UW', it has an AMD A8 7410 in it and 8gb RAM for £348. I'm aware that this is overkill for what she wants to use it for, but I'd rather her have something that's better, than something that's worse.

I also found an HP 255 G5 powered by an A8-7410 but with 4gb of RAM for £299, which is what I'm angling towards currently, as I'd rather it be under budget if anything.

What do you guys think to these two? Anyone have any opinions on Acer vs HP? Or even better, does anyone know of a better laptop for the price range?

Realistically, I just want something that's relatively decent (for the price, anyway) that will still be going strong in 4 years time.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Steve.

 

[Barty1884]

While those two would be more than up to the task, I'd be more inclined to look at something a little newer to still be "going strong"* in 4 years tie.
* I fully expect the A8 would still be "going" in 4 years..... but that would make the CPU at least 6 years old at that point, and probably a fair bit outdated.

Something like this Lenovo IdeaPad has a 6th Gen i3 and, although the 4GB RAM is a little, it should be more than enough for the required uses.... and should hold up a little better to time IMO.
http/www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-310-15-6-laptop-silver-10157947-pdt.html

Another option would be:
http/www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/lenovo-v110-core-i3-6006u-2ghz-4gb-500gb-dvd-rw-15.6-inch-windows-10-laptop-80tl00a9uk/version.asp

All things considered though, a refurbished option may be a smarter way to go:
http/www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/pre-owned-hp-elitebook-8460p-core-i7-2.7ghz-4gb-320gb-14-dvdrw-win-10-pro-t1-l8460pi7-4-320/version.asp

i7-2620M - while it's current >6 years old, is still a much stronger CPU compared to the A8. Replacing the HDD with an SSD and bumping the RAM to 8GB should see it outperform anything "modern" in the same end price bracket.