Recommendations for home desktop and laptop
 

It is several years since I replaced our home desktop PC. I have wandered the web but am getting confused. Recommendations please for a PC which will permit the usual basis functions of email, browsing and Word/Excel. Budget say £300-£400.

Similarly , I need a couple of laptops for work; same basic functions. Screen size minimum 14" to 15.6".

Too much choice and want some items with a bit of power for future proofing.

The honest answer is probably that all of them will do what you want. Unless you're gaming or video editing or something else that requires extra power, any one of them should do just Internet and office functions, which need a lot less grunt.
Personally I would have a look for a good spec secondhand one with Windows 7 on, I'm yet to be convinced of any reason to go to 10. They gave 10 away for a reason..... to turn it into a subscription service down the line, that's why you no longer have control over the updates.
For just Internet and basic office you could even get rid of Windows altogether and go Linux Mint, does those just as well, better if you hate the MS Office versions since 2010 with all the hidden functions, ribbon and so on.
Would have a look at sites such as PC Advisor and Toms Hardware if you want new though.

There was a thread recently on Lenovo laptops: http://www.pprune.org/computer-inter...ghlight=lenovo

I would certainly consider them, along with Dell and HP. I've no personal experience with Acer.

The approach I would take is to set a budget and see what you can get for that from each manfr, given your requirements.

SD

I am currently using an Acer Veriton with W7 Pro and has been fine for basic stuff. Amazon are still selling PCs with W7 and I even saw one which had Win XP installed !

Check it out:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Desktop-P...975682&sr=1-15

That's 2nd hand / used / refurb kit that's being sold by 3rd parties, via Amazon Marketplace.

SD

Anything with an i5 processor and 8Gb of RAM will be more than capable of doing office tasks and much more for the foreseeable future. Any brand name is pretty much as good as any other, Toshiba, HP, Lenovo, Acer. It basically ends up coming down to screen size and the number of extra bells and whistles bolted on. Go with whatever you can get the best deal on.

I agree with Gouli. i5 and 8mb is the requirement, then find the best deal with the best warranty. Warranty included, not a rip off insurance job.
If you go to a high street shop, make sure you find someone who knows what they are talking about. Too many of them employ "nice" salesfolk who do not understand pc.s. Others employ techies who can bamboozle you.

Following my thread about fitting an SSD to a new, well, boxed unused, Lenovo, I put W10 on the 2TB HD and gave up on the SSD idea. The original was very fast for a mechanical drive but I wanted the protection of a repairable/removable front end.

My pal tried the same with one of the mini Lenovos - with the same negative results.

We can not get into the BIOS as one could in't old days. It runs fine, but I want to have what I want, but not what some manufacturer dictates.

I never did follow the thread of one kind Ppruner who suggested certain ways of overcoming the limited BIOS controllability.

The recommendation of an i5 processor over an i3 processor is bad advice. Due to the higher clock speed of the i3, it is superior to the i5 for single core tasks such as office applications. The i5 would be around 50% more expensive than the i3. The i5 is superior for more computationally intensive tasks that utilise multiple cores such as video editing or gaming, which this individual has expressed no interest in. The saving can be spent on additional RAM, faster RAM, an SSD disc or superior peripheral devices all of which would be a better investment than an i5 over i3.

rocknguyen my reasoning is as follows.

The OP requested a degree of future proofing, hence the suggestion of an i5 processor. Links to graphics and multimedia are increasingly included in office presentations, so having a multicore processor is an advantage. I agree that an i3 processor could handle today's computing demands. Here in the UK, there isn't that much of a price differential between the two processors once incorporated into a complete system. So the recommendation is to go with something that is a bit more powerful than is technically needed to satisfy the basic requirement.

Oh dear! My Dell All-in-one has an i7 processor, I really have screwed up ;-)

I'm on the point of buying a new Macbook Pro as my Vintage 2010 i5 processor model has virtually given up the ghost. The graphics card forces it to crash when I use Safari and surfing Facebook. It's not really worth forking out £600 plus labour for a new one.

I bought a refurbished & updated (new motherboard & processor) ex-business lease machine about 7 years ago - in a full sized case (makes upgrading easier). I have since upgraded the cooling fan & RAM myself (easy), and installed Windows 7. It's still going strong and has given me no problems ...

We went to Chillblast (based in Poole, good website) who do gaming machines for a living - you can pretty much design your own machine - very good prices and service

My Surface 3 may be more expensive than a laptop, but it certainly handles all the bells and whistles I need (Excel/Word/Windows 10 etc) and travels well. With an external hard drive, I can 'bring the home computer with me' and rapidly reintegrate any work done away from my desk top when I get home. Just my tuppence worth on what works for me!

I bought a Chillblast several years ago and its'fab. I have to say it's worth spending a little more. SSD essential, and 8Mb is the minimum. RAM is so cheap. i'd really consider 16