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Buying a refurbished laptop


paul1966
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i am looking for a laptop for my daughter, does not need to be anything special it's just for school work mainly and no doubt playing roblox. I would rather buy a refurbished one to get the best one for the least cash. Can anyone recommend any companies? budget is about £250

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Bought mine refurbished from Currys/PC World via Ebay - mine was £100 below the cheapest price anywhere on the net and came boxed and as new - only problem I've had is that it came with WIN10 "S" - the "S" I believe is Microsofts attempt at making the machine less prone to hacking/virus attacks - in reality all it does is only allow you to download MS approved apps which is a PITA - it can be disabled but not re-enabled and I'm fairly certain most peole will be disabling it so dont go paying extra for it.

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31 minutes ago, paul1966 said:

could really do with a windows machine, and could stretch the budget to 300 ish, Del refurbished have a latitude 7280 for £330, although looking again it has no wifi!

Why?  For that much money, you are asking for problems. Been there, done that. 
 

What software does she use at school. Google classroom or MS teams?

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1 hour ago, paul1966 said:

They use Teams at the minute, but when she changes school next year they use google

Okies, minor problem with a CB for a year.
 

Have you considered a refurbished MacBook Air?  The model will be older but will outlive a £300 laptop. 

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1 hour ago, jeffgg said:

Remember you will need to buy software such as office student and security like Norton  so allow £200 for that 

you more than likely will find that the the school will participate in MS licensing and will cover office install for the student. Windows Defender is free along with some other anti-malware - google bleepin computer forum I think it is for a good guide of what can be done for free.

If not - you can buy an annual office subscription for a lot less than that - has to be renewed yearly though

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Here is the link for the Gov site on getting a laptop for schooling https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-laptops-and-tablets-for-children-who-cannot-attend-school-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19

Hope it helps but not sure if it applies to your kids, think the age group is below as it stands,

  • the number of children in years 3 to 11 (16 to 19 education providers will be contacted during the 2021 spring term when the service is extended to years 12 and 13)

The schools have to apply.

My last employer IT department was throwing out old laptops as they were a bit old and the reps didn't like that, I bet there are many company's with the same policy, shame these could not be donated for school use.

 

Mick

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2 hours ago, ferguson_tom said:

If its just school work and roblox then nip into currys and pick up whatever they have in budget from a known brand rather then messing around with refurbs. 

I bet to differ.
 

Bought direct from apple as a refurb in 2014 and still running like new, typing on it right now.
 

Not many laptops will still be doing that and I bet it outlives many bought in 2020.

 

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Edited by markm
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13 hours ago, The Heron said:

What you should do is buy the best new one you can afford if you want to waste your money then go on ebay and buy ****. 

This. Unless direct from the original maker/manufacturer. The issue with anyone else on eBay or elsewhere selliung refurbished is that the "spring" in the keys and the left and right buttons in the mousepad will be possible nearing the end of their lives and in these days of internet child pornography I'd not want someone else's ex-laptop....it might be Mr Paul Gadd's!

Edited by enfieldspares
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Clearly everyone has different ideas. Variety is the spice of life. 

But there is no need to buy office, the school will have a copy for every student, only issue is the files will disappear when she leave.  Our students get office and google, but 99% only use google as the platform is much more student friendly. 
 

You can use google suite to work on MS files or import them into the google format and then share with teachers as a pdf (or print of course). 
 

 

Edited by markm
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I have bought a couple of "not quite the latest but very well spec'd laptops" from Scan here...

https://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-hardware/laptops-home-office/refurbished-laptops

I've got a Thinkpad which is powerful enough to run cad software (at a basic level) and my daughter's very happy with the 14" Elitebook I got her at the start of this year.

 

 

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