You asked for a Laptop costing under £300.
You told me that you needed a light use laptop for light email and web-browsing.
It’s hard for me to recommend a laptop at this price point – for £300, you are usually restricted to Celeron CPUs (slow) and 4GB RAM (slow). However, I’ve found a few that contain faster CPUs and 8GB RAM, which should mean they last much longer than lower spec machines. They are all a little over your budget though, but please read the notes carefully on each one to see how to save on the listed price.
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 12th May 2022
1. Best overall performance: ASUS VivoBook 14 Intel Core i3 8GB RAM 256GB SSD 14″ Laptop
£349.97
Key features:
CPU: Intel Core i3-1005G1 Dual-Core Processor
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
Graphics: Integrated Intel UHD Graphics
This choice represents the best overall performance I could get from your budget. I chose it primarily based on its all round performance. This is my top recommendation at this price point. Although it is way over budget at £350, Box has a refurbished model (it states that the packaging is damaged, I don’t know if it is just a customer return with damaged packaging ar something else) with 12 month warranty for only £308. After you click the link above, select “Buy Refurbished” (just below the price) to see. This is the best I could find for around the £300 mark.
2. Second option: Lenovo V14 14″ Radeon Ryzen 3 Laptop
£337.00
Key features:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3250U Processor
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
Graphics: AMD Radeon Graphics
This laptop might differ from the picture to the left, you’ll have to click through to see what they are offering. I chose it primarily based on its all round performance. Again, CCL has an open-box one for £317 (look a little down the page on the right side), just over budget. Be aware that this is not a Windows laptop – if you want Windows, you will need to install it yourself. Don’t get this if you don’t know what that means, but if you do, this might be a cheap way to get a very capable laptop.
3. Third option: Avita Liber V 14 Pro Ryzen 5 8GB RAM 256GB SSD Windows 10…
£369.99
Key features:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3500u Quad Core Processor
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 256GB
Graphics: Radeon Integrated Graphics
This choice represents the third option – wildcard. I chose it primarily based on its all round performance. On paper, it has the best specifications of the lot (Ryzen 5 3500u CPU), but some people have criticised this brand in the past for their build quality. The refurbished model of this is £309, although do check the notes as it is reporting a slow boot up. There is an open box version too for £334.
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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