I have a budget of 400 euros and I need a new laptop can someone help me

[noname223]

I know here in this forum there are some people pretty savvy at computer stuff. I absolutely don't have any clue about IT. I almost ordered one on Amazon which has a discount but the discount ends tonight. You could sell me anything. I know almost nothing. 400 euros are 437,59 american dollars or 335.51 pounds.
Could someone please help an idiot like me?
I only need it for college no gaming, no high graphic power.

It is hard to find the same product in english language I am from Germany. The prices and pictures are different. This makes the comparison more difficult.

Okay I give it up. I tried to search for the products in Germany for the British or American equivalent. No chance. The description is wholly different. Damn I have made today a research for 5 hours and I have no result. Quite pathetic. I am so damn frustrated.

Do you have any tips? What is the most important? Either I take one from lenovo or HP.
This is whole day was so frustrating. I have not much money so it is really important that the decision is a good one. It was a lot of stress for me. It just shows me how dumb I am. I know it is hard to give me an advice with so little information...

 

[Sherri]

I had an new apple MacBook Pro, bought it only because I liked the apple light illuminated, I know I'm stupid, couldn't understand how to use it, so sold it, lost 5oo euros for it, brand new. Now I have a crappy HP celeron who takes half an hour to be operational. The seller didn't tell me it was a celeron. 400 euros to download music and migues only lol. It's so slow. Hope you find what you looking for. At least you understand. I'm a dummy.

 

[darkwater]

With a budget like that, I would buy a used leased unit on ebay from a commercial dealer.

 

[GrumpyFrog]

There isn't much information provided indeed, plus I am kinda rusty, so I'd just share some basics.

1) The most important parts are CPU and RAM. RAM is simple - the more GB the better (well, it's not just that, but the rest is not super essential to understand). CPU is a bit harder, there is a lot to unpack but the most simple things are - two basic alternatives are AMD and Intel, AMD is cheaper, though they tend to have a problem with overheating but if your laptop is just for college that shouldn't be much of an issue if you don't overload it. Try not to buy anything with an Intel Celeron CPU (they are basically Intel rejects) unless it's the only reasonable option within your budget, and try to look up comparisions of CPU online if that's the breaking point between two choices.
2) Your best bet is anything with integrated graphics, and without discrete graphics. Discrete graphics are mostly for modern gaming and add a significant cost to your paycheck.
3) If you can choose laptop with SSD versus a laptop with HDD - choose SSD.
4) Lenovo>HP. In most cases at least.
5) Whatever you do, don't buy a MacBook they are unreasonably expensive

Sorry if this only confused you further, if you could show me options you have I'd be able to help more, but with information given I don't know how to make it more comprehensible. Feel free to ask more.
P.S. I don't know much about current prices, sorry about that.

 

[noname223]

There isn't much information provided indeed, plus I am kinda rusty, so I'd just share some basics.

1) The most important parts are CPU and RAM. RAM is simple - the more GB the better (well, it's not just that, but the rest is not super essential to understand). CPU is a bit harder, there is a lot to unpack but the most simple things are - two basic alternatives are AMD and Intel, AMD is cheaper, though they tend to have a problem with overheating but if your laptop is just for college that shouldn't be much of an issue if you don't overload it. Try not to buy anything with an Intel Celeron CPU (they are basically Intel rejects) unless it's the only reasonable option within your budget, and try to look up comparisions of CPU online if that's the breaking point between two choices.
2) Your best bet is anything with integrated graphics, and without discrete graphics. Discrete graphics are mostly for modern gaming and add a significant cost to your paycheck.
3) If you can choose laptop with SSD versus a laptop with HDD - choose SSD.
4) Lenovo>HP. In most cases at least.
5) Whatever you do, don't buy a MacBook they are unreasonably expensive

Sorry if this only confused you further, if you could show me options you have I'd be able to help more, but with information given I don't know how to make it more comprehensible. Feel free to ask more.
P.S. I don't know much about current prices, sorry about that.

No this was indeed helpful. Thank you very much!

 

[thinkkank]

you can get a decent used laptop with that money, like an old thinkpad, maybe even apple air

 

[Interloper]

What do you use it for in college, simply note taking or graphic design or anything?

 

[Someone123]

I just bought an hp for $400 that is working just fine, but I'm not a power user- it may not work well for gaming, but for excel, word, powerpoint, internet surfing and youtube if works just fine.

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

If you can bump up the budget just a little, you can score a Ryzen 7 laptop and that's really where you want to be in terms of speed/bang for your buck.

Something like this for example:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254693997127?epid=13038970255&hash=item3b4cf1fa47:g:tpAAAOSw1DVhOhb5&LH_BIN=1

Make sure you get one with an SSD and you can't really go wrong.

Also, if you want to wait a bit longer, there will probably be a new generation of processors right around the corner that are even faster. But then the price will probably reflect that.

 

[noname223]

What do you use it for in college, simply note taking or graphic design or anything?

Just taking notes. And a little bit streaming, watching youtube videos etc.

 

[noname223]

There isn't much information provided indeed, plus I am kinda rusty, so I'd just share some basics.

1) The most important parts are CPU and RAM. RAM is simple - the more GB the better (well, it's not just that, but the rest is not super essential to understand). CPU is a bit harder, there is a lot to unpack but the most simple things are - two basic alternatives are AMD and Intel, AMD is cheaper, though they tend to have a problem with overheating but if your laptop is just for college that shouldn't be much of an issue if you don't overload it. Try not to buy anything with an Intel Celeron CPU (they are basically Intel rejects) unless it's the only reasonable option within your budget, and try to look up comparisions of CPU online if that's the breaking point between two choices.
2) Your best bet is anything with integrated graphics, and without discrete graphics. Discrete graphics are mostly for modern gaming and add a significant cost to your paycheck.
3) If you can choose laptop with SSD versus a laptop with HDD - choose SSD.
4) Lenovo>HP. In most cases at least.
5) Whatever you do, don't buy a MacBook they are unreasonably expensive

Sorry if this only confused you further, if you could show me options you have I'd be able to help more, but with information given I don't know how to make it more comprehensible. Feel free to ask more.
P.S. I don't know much about current prices, sorry about that.

Here is see one from Lenovo. It costs 379 euro.
Lenovo IdeaPad 3i Laptop 39,6 cm (15,6 inch, 1920x1080, Full HD, non-reflecting) Slim Notebook (Intel Pentium N5030, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Intel UHD-Graphic 605, Windows 11.
How good is the Intel Pentium N5030?

Or the other from lenovo for 399 euros. Lenovo (15,6 inch) HD+ Notebook (Intel N4020 2x2.80 GHz, 8GB DDR4, 512 GB SSD, Intel UHD 600, HDMI, Webcam, Bluetooth, USB 3.0, WLAN, Windows 10 Prof. 64 Bit

Or this one from HP for 377 euros. HP (15,6 inch HD+) Notebook (AMD Athlon 3050U 2x3.2 GHz, 8GB DDR4, 512 GB SSD, Radeon RX, HDMI, Webcam, Bluetooth, USB 3.0, WLAN, DVD, Windows 11 Prof., MS Office 2010 Starter)

 

[GrumpyFrog]

Here is see one from Lenovo. It costs 379 euro.
Lenovo IdeaPad 3i Laptop 39,6 cm (15,6 inch, 1920x1080, Full HD, non-reflecting) Slim Notebook (Intel Pentium N5030, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Intel UHD-Graphic 605, Windows 11.
How good is the Intel Pentium N5030?

Or the other from lenovo for 399 euros. Lenovo (15,6 inch) HD+ Notebook (Intel N4020 2x2.80 GHz, 8GB DDR4, 512 GB SSD, Intel UHD 600, HDMI, Webcam, Bluetooth, USB 3.0, WLAN, Windows 10 Prof. 64 Bit

Or this one from HP for 377 euros. HP (15,6 inch HD+) Notebook (AMD Athlon 3050U 2x3.2 GHz, 8GB DDR4, 512 GB SSD, Radeon RX, HDMI, Webcam, Bluetooth, USB 3.0, WLAN, DVD, Windows 11 Prof., MS Office 2010 Starter)

I think the first option is the best. Intel Pentium N5030 is not a high-end processor, but high-end would be way out of your price range and with the tasks you need a laptop for you don't really need high-end. It's not bad though. It is a nice 2019 model. Athlon 3050U (CPU of the option 3) does better in benchmarks, but not by much and since you aren't a gamer as far as I can tell, it is not that critically important. However, Pentium (options 1) has more cores which allows for better multitasking and helps with certain tasks such as processing video, and, more importantly for you, it is much more energy-efficient than Athlon (option 3) - which translates to better battery life, less overheating and better CPU longevity. The one downside is a rather small side of SSD (256 GB is not much), but if you don't tend to save a lot of data on your computer, or if you can afford to invest into an external SSD later if you need it it shouldn't be a major problem. And also I wouldn't pay for the license to MS Office unless I absolutely need to use it and nothing else (like if you use some unique macrosses or something like that) because there are many free alternatives, but that might be just me and my intense dislike of expensive software. And all other characteristics appear super similar.
Oh, I didn't say much about option 2 - it has Intel N4020 CPU - that's a Celeron

they are basically Intel rejects

So it's probably the worst of the options.
But generally any of the 3 should be able to handle your tasks. Hope this helps

 

[DeutscheKartoffel]

Don't mean to hijack the thread,

My shitty MacBook Pro 2016 needs an upgrade,
can't run any mainstream game when I bought it, let alone now.
It's definitely becoming more and more an outcast.
Bought it for using Microsoft word/internet browsing mainly.

Might aim for a non–Apple gaming laptop if I'm still alive by end of the year but who knows…

Wishing op good bang for his bucks,
and Nessie you are so resourceful, very impressive.

 

[noname223]

I think the first option is the best. Intel Pentium N5030 is not a high-end processor, but high-end would be way out of your price range and with the tasks you need a laptop for you don't really need high-end. It's not bad though. It is a nice 2019 model. Athlon 3050U (CPU of the option 3) does better in benchmarks, but not by much and since you aren't a gamer as far as I can tell, it is not that critically important. However, Pentium (options 1) has more cores which allows for better multitasking and helps with certain tasks such as processing video, and, more importantly for you, it is much more energy-efficient than Athlon (option 3) - which translates to better battery life, less overheating and better CPU longevity. The one downside is a rather small side of SSD (256 GB is not much), but if you don't tend to save a lot of data on your computer, or if you can afford to invest into an external SSD later if you need it it shouldn't be a major problem. And also I wouldn't pay for the license to MS Office unless I absolutely need to use it and nothing else (like if you use some unique macrosses or something like that) because there are many free alternatives, but that might be just me and my intense dislike of expensive software. And all other characteristics appear super similar.
Oh, I didn't say much about option 2 - it has Intel N4020 CPU - that's a Celeron

So it's probably the worst of the options.
But generally any of the 3 should be able to handle your tasks. Hope this helps

Thank you so much for your help.
Lots of love to Ukraine. I hope so much your situation improves.