You asked for a Laptop costing under £550.
You told me that you needed a family laptop for web-browsing, online video, office work.
If I’m being honest, I would get the third choice below. The first choice is technically the faster CPU, but the bigger screen and newer CPU of the third choice (as well as the fact it’s £50 cheaper) make the Lenovo V15 the one I’d recommend as the best. Unless you want a more portable (i’e’ smaller, lighter) laptop, in which case go for choice 1.
I searched a range of different shops for something that would suit your needs. I have chosen the three options below as the best ones to suit your requirements. However, we all have our own tastes (and of course, prices can change), so I have also included search links for each shop at the bottom of this page in case you’d like to browse further.
I always choose three options – the best performing option within your budget (i.e. best suited to meet your needs for the longest possible time), the cheapest option that still meets your needs effectively and a mid-range option which is a compromise between the two. If you are able to, I would usually recommend the first option as it is likely to be powerful enough to meet your needs for the longest before it needs replacing. However, I specify three choices so that you can pick the one that best suits your circumstances.
Prices correct as of 18th Jan 2022
1. Best overall performance: Medion Akoya E14303 AMD Ryzen 7 4700U 8GB RAM 512GB SSD 14" Full HD Windows 10 Home Laptop – 30031052
£549.99
Key features:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4700U 2.0GHz
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 512GB
Graphics: AMD Radeon Graphics
This choice represents the best overall performance I could get from your budget. I chose it primarily based on its CPU, value for money and RAM, all of which are very good.
2. Cheapest option: ASUS X515EA Intel Core i5-1135G7 8GB RAM 256GB SSD 15.6" Full HD Intel Iris Xe Windows 10 Home Laptop – X515EA-BQ170T
£449.99
Key features:
CPU: Intel Core i5-1135G7 2.4GHz
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
This choice represents the cheapest device I could find that still meets your needs. I chose it primarily based on its value for money, CPU and RAM, all of which are very good.
3. Best of both worlds option: Lenovo V15 G2 ALC AMD Ryzen 5 5500U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 15.6" Full HD, Windows 10 Home Laptop – 82KD002LUK
£499.98
Key features:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500U 2.1GHz
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 512GB
Graphics: AMD Radeon Graphics
This choice represents the best of both worlds – cheaper than choice 1 but more powerful than choice 2. I chose it primarily based on its CPU, value for money and RAM, all of which are very good.
Why did I choose these for you?
It is important that you understand what the components of a laptop do so that you can make an informed choice. Here is my very basic explanation for each:
- CPU: The brain of your laptop. A better one makes your laptop faster.
- RAM: Your laptop’s short term memory – more of this means it can cope well with doing more things at once.
- Storage: How much space your laptop has to store files, photos, apps etc. More storage means you can store more stuff.
- Graphics: Your laptop has a graphics processor (GPU) responsible for how things appear on the screen. A better GPU will mean your device will cope better with more complicated graphics, such as in 3D games.
If you would like to browse the shops I searched for yourself, here are some links that will take you directly to the search results you require:
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links – that means if you go on to buy after clicking one of them, I may receive a small payment. This is how I am able to provide this service for free. It does not affect the price you pay, nor does it affect the recommendations I make – I will always recommend the best I can find to fit your usage, regardless of what shop it is from or any affiliation.
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