You asked for a Laptop costing under £350.
You told me that you needed a light use laptop for light email and web-browsing. You also added the following additional information: Cheap and cheerful 🙂 I do want it to be able to play DVDs.
Playing DVDs is the sticking point here – almost all new laptops do not come with a DVD drive built in as the majority (but not all) of consumers have little need for it and it adds considerable size to the machine. As a result, you do not have much choice if you want a DVD drive built in.
I have recommended three laptops to you. The first two do not have a built in DVD drive. If you want to play DVDs, I recommend that you buy one of these two laptops and then buy a plug-in DVD drive for about £20. If you are set on having a laptop with a DVD drive built in, choice 3 is the cheapest reasonably performing laptop with a built in DVD. It will perform at about the same level as the other two choices, so bear that in mind.
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. These are usually (1) the best performing option within your budget (i.e. best suited to meet your needs for the longest possible time), (2) the cheapest option that still meets your needs effectively and (3) usually a wildcard option or 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.
I do not work for or on behalf of any of the retailers listed below.
Prices correct as of 16th Mar 2022
1. Best overall performance: MEDION Akoya E15303 Ryzen 3-4300U 8GB 256GB SSD 15 Inch W…
£349.97
Key features:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 4300U
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
This choice represents the best overall performance I could get from your budget. I chose it primarily based on its all round performance.
2. Cheapest option: MSI Modern 14″ FULL HD (Intel i3-10110U, Intel UHD Graphi…
£329.99
Key features:
CPU: i3-10110U
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
This choice represents the cheapest device I could find that still meets your needs. I chose it primarily based on its all round performance.
3. Third option: Fujitsu Lifebook A3510 Core i3 8GB 26GB SSD 15.6″ FHD Win…
£472.98
Key features:
CPU: Intel Core i3 1005G1 1.2GHz
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
Graphics: DVD Super Multi / Intel UHD Graphics
This choice represents the third option. I chose it primarily based on its all round performance and the fact it includes a built in DVD drive, as you requested. It is no more powerful than choice 1 or 2 however, so bear in mind this built in DVD drive is costing you an additional £120 when you could just buy a plug-in DVD drive for about £20.
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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