Cheapest price for an entry level Windows 10 Laptop or even a Mac?

[Mr Allen]

Topic.

Needs to be in UK £ not US $.

Ideally for around the £200 or less price point, I have a monitor, keyboard and Mouse to use.

Hard drive also needs to be at least 1 TB, preferaby as much memory as possible for the budget as it would be used for 3D modelling, animation software and game development using Unity 3D.

Can anyone help?

Last time I was in PC World about a month ago I saw a Windows 10 Laptop that looked like it would suit my needs for £150.

 

[WildCat]

If you're looking to do anything 3D or game development then you should probably wait until you've got a higher budget. Entry level laptops start at that price range and they're barely going to cut it. I'd also ditch the idea of getting a Mac altogether; if the question is game development, stick with anything Windows and worry about cross-platform later if that's your thing.

Another thing, do you really need a laptop? Desktops tend to run cheaper and you'll get more bang for your buck hardware wise.

 

[Mr Allen]

If you're looking to do anything 3D or game development then you should probably wait until you've got a higher budget. Entry level laptops start at that price range and they're barely going to cut it. I'd also ditch the idea of getting a Mac altogether; if the question is game development, stick with anything Windows and worry about cross-platform later if that's your thing.

Another thing, do you really need a laptop? Desktops tend to run cheaper and you'll get more bang for your buck hardware wise.

Thanks but I have a Desktop Chromebook which I use for browsing and other online activities.

Plus I don't really have room in my small Flat (Americans would call it an Apartment) for another Desktop PC.

 

[Xenocity]

Can you even get a Windows 10 laptop for 200£/$400 or less?

If you need a dedicated graphics card in your laptop, be prepared to shell out a price that is comparable to the Mac counterparts.

Most computers don't come with dedicated graphics cards due to the price of said card.

 

[Mr Allen]

Can you even get a Windows 10 laptop for 200£/$400 or less?

If you need a dedicated graphics card in your laptop, be prepared to shell out a price that is comparable to the Mac counterparts.

Most computers don't come with dedicated graphics cards due to the price of said card.

I've seen a few Windows 10 Laptops in PC World with decent specs for around my price range.

Oh well, £300 Jackpot on Open the Box tomorrow night, that'll help me to save up! Plus Lottery winnings, although that'll be about £25 if I'm extremely lucky.

 

[2/3RDS]

Dell often have clearouts before Christmas. Though 'Black Friday' (another american anachronism in my view!) is in a couple of weeks, I have found their best deals are about a week later. Once got a stunning deal on an XPS for 30% of the price they originally launched at around early December. If you need a laptop, get anything with an i3 processor or better, avoid atom processors and slower than i3, they work fine when you get them but a year later they wheeze. I predict that around december 5th you should be able to buy a basic but good Dell laptop with i3, 15" non touchscreen, for around £240 delivered. Be VERY aware that Dell has one of the most pervasive tracking systems around and once they show you an advert online with a price, it will follow you everywhere so to keep the price low, log in on another computer.. Dell rarely do vouchers but occasionally you can get 5% off. Phoning up sales to negotiate a deal doesn't work with the cheaper laptops as they are very low profit margin.

 

[2/3RDS]

Dedicated graphics cards are unnecessary for the vast majority of users unless you video edit Full HD lots and lots. The latest intel processors with inbuilt graphics are far superior to earlier versions and will easily handle most tasks EXCEPT for latest games in high res. You can even do proper 3d graphics for free using 'Sketchup make' with one. I recommend my friends to buy a cheap laptop and a second hand console, saves having to take part in the arms race that is PC graphics when you want to play games!