Best Intel Laptop for £500

[I-A]

Hi All,

I am looking for an intel laptop (prefer the convertible 2 in 1 type) to use for emails, web browsing and word processing mainly.

I like to hang on to my tech for a good few years before replacing.

Does anybody have any recommendations? (It's been nearly 10 years since I last bought a laptop!!)

Thank you

[anonymous-user]

Why does it have to be Intel?

[I-A]

Personal preference! Are AMD options any good?

[davek_964]

I-A said:

Personal preference! Are AMD options any good?

I bought a laptop this week - similar need to you but I set the budget higher. I was also intending to go Intel but the laptop that had the features I wanted turned out to be AMD, so that's what I bought.

I think that 2 in 1 is a bit limited choice with £500 budget, especially if you want Intel

[I-A]

davek_964 said:

I bought a laptop this week - similar need to you but I set the budget higher. I was also intending to go Intel but the laptop that had the features I wanted turned out to be AMD, so that's what I bought.

I think that 2 in 1 is a bit limited choice with £500 budget, especially if you want Intel

What did you go for Davek?

Thank you

[davek_964]

I-A said:

What did you go for Davek?

Thank you

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=95&t=2045975

I did also consider HP Envy x360 from Currys which seemed a good deal for the spec

[I-A]

Thanks Davek.

The HP Pavilion x360 is the one I am considering - will see how it compares against the AMD options.

[wyson]

HP consumer models get 3 yrs of updates if my Mrs’ Envy is anything to go by. I would avoid for this reason.

If, as you say, you are going to hold onto it for a while, its definitely worth looking up the update policy of the laptop.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 24th August 23:41

[xeny]

wyson said:

HP consumer models get 3 yrs of updates if my Mrs’ Envy is anything to go by. I would avoid for this reason.

? Surely laptop updates for Windows come from Microsoft?

[I-A]

Thanks all - we've pulled the trigger on a HP Pavilion x360 from Currys, came in 10% over budget but worth the jump up from i3 to i5.

[BlueJazz]

xeny said:

wyson said:

HP consumer models get 3 yrs of updates if my Mrs’ Envy is anything to go by. I would avoid for this reason.

? Surely laptop updates for Windows come from Microsoft?

Not BIOS and other firmware updates unfortunately.

[captain_cynic]

I-A said:

Personal preference! Are AMD options any good?

I'm an AMD fanboy but the processors have a greater.powe draw so the battery doesn't last as long.

That being said, at £500 they're the best bang for you quid performance wise.

[wyson]

lol, the OP is the inverse of GaryB.

[xeny]

BlueJazz said:

xeny said:

wyson said:

HP consumer models get 3 yrs of updates if my Mrs’ Envy is anything to go by. I would avoid for this reason.

? Surely laptop updates for Windows come from Microsoft?

Not BIOS and other firmware updates unfortunately.

True. OTOH, MS bundle CPU microcode security updates with WIndows (depending on your perspective of the exploitability of speculative execution vulnerabilities), an dhow many functional bugs are likely to be discovered in a 3 year old laptop?

[wyson]

xeny said:

True. OTOH, MS bundle CPU microcode security updates with WIndows (depending on your perspective of the exploitability of speculative execution vulnerabilities), an dhow many functional bugs are likely to be discovered in a 3 year old laptop?

What if MS release Windows 12, the laptop won’t have driver support. I’ve run into this twice now.

My old 2009 Sony Viao also only had 3 yrs of updates, BSOD’d constantly when upgraded from Win 7 to Win 10 outside the support period. I ended up keeping it on Win 7 until I retired it.

My current 2018 Dell is still being updated, but Dell won’t support Win 11. I did try upgrading, the laptop became really buggy. Rolling back to Win 10 was the only option. XPS and other premium laptops from that date are getting Win 11 support.

Also my Dell, its keeps getting new BIOS and driver updates, even though its 5 yrs old. I’m sure Dell wouldn’t be doing these updates for no reason.

Edited by wyson on Saturday 26th August 13:22

[xeny]

wyson said:

Also my Dell, its keeps getting new BIOS and driver updates, even though its 5 yrs old. I’m sure Dell wouldn’t be doing these updates for no reason.

Have a look at the release notes for those BIOS updates - aren't they for Intel security vulnerabilities, which MS also cover as microcode updates bundled with Windows?

FWIW this is typed on a T3500 which isn't listed as supporting Windows 10 (I dread to think when it fell out of support) Windows seemed happy enough finding drivers for itself - it isn't as if Dell makes the components that need drivers like GPUs, motherboard chipsets, audio chips etc.

[wyson]

Yeah, quite a few people have mentioned they don’t have any problems, but I think its depends on the manufacturers implementation. Someone with a Lenovo laptop posted here previously they needed Lenovo’s driver packs for the laptop to function correctly. My Sony Vaio previously was heavily dependent on Sony’s modified updates. I tried all the ‘generic’ drivers but the laptop still BSOD’d.

Its a risk. I’ve had it not work out two times in a row, and won’t risk it anymore. Will always look up a laptops update policy before purchase.

I think desktop machines are less risky than laptops which are more heavily integrated and are more likely to have manufacturer / model specific tweaks and features.

Edited by wyson on Sunday 27th August 08:39

[richhead]

genuine question, unless gaming, why do you need a high spec laptop, i have a cheap one i got from i think amazon, it was less than 200, its more like a cromebook, but windows based, it does everything i ask of it without issue, i use it for email, serfing, zoom, word prosser, light cad and its been fine, lets not forget we mannaged fine on the older stuff, and the new stuff isnt that much better, maybe it can do something nnth of a second faster, but is that an issue?
i would rather spend the money on a nice meal out , and what ever you get will be out of date in months anyway.
If you are using modern computer heavy software then fair enough tho

[the-norseman]

richhead said:

genuine question, unless gaming, why do you need a high spec laptop, i have a cheap one i got from i think amazon, it was less than 200, its more like a cromebook, but windows based, it does everything i ask of it without issue, i use it for email, serfing, zoom, word prosser, light cad and its been fine, lets not forget we mannaged fine on the older stuff, and the new stuff isnt that much better, maybe it can do something nnth of a second faster, but is that an issue?
i would rather spend the money on a nice meal out , and what ever you get will be out of date in months anyway.
If you are using modern computer heavy software then fair enough tho

Looks like your cheap one isn't capable of doing spell check.

[davek_964]

richhead said:

genuine question, unless gaming, why do you need a high spec laptop, i have a cheap one i got from i think amazon, it was less than 200, its more like a cromebook, but windows based, it does everything i ask of it without issue, i use it for email, serfing, zoom, word prosser, light cad and its been fine, lets not forget we mannaged fine on the older stuff, and the new stuff isnt that much better, maybe it can do something nnth of a second faster, but is that an issue?
i would rather spend the money on a nice meal out , and what ever you get will be out of date in months anyway.
If you are using modern computer heavy software then fair enough tho

You can use the same argument for pretty much anything. Why spend tens of thousands on a car when a £1,500 shed would provide the same basic transport? Why live in a detached house when you could save money and live in a studio flat? Etc etc etc.

I guarantee that my laptop is smaller and lighter than yours, both of which mattered to me. I bet it has a better screen which I also cared about and it's also more future proof due to being higher spec.

I keep laptops a long time - so I don't consider what I spent excessive for the amount of time I'll keep it even though it is higher spec than I need. Plus, I guarantee I won't be thinking that we can't go out for a nice dinner because I just bought a laptop.