What technology can you get for under £200? A smartphone? Maybe a watch? Possibly a tablet or smart security camera? Well, how about a laptop?
Yes, you read that right. £200 is now no longer the cut-off for value laptops with a new swathe of budget-busting computers on the market for the mere price of a tablet.
Much like the tablet market, value laptop prices have begun getting lower and lower with full laptops now around the price of what netbooks were in 2010. The addition of Chromebook and Microsoft’s Bing-installed laptops has helped drive the cost of these entry level computers down to the lowest they have ever been.
So, what should you look for in a cheap laptop and what does £200 worth of computer actually get you? First of all, it’s worth noting that a sub-£200 laptop will not be the most powerful machine you can get hold of. It’s unlikely to be suitable for playing high-resolution games or running complex design software.
However, these entry level machines are ideal for casual users; students, light online browsers, movie watchers and, of course, kids. Here are a few options when it comes to finding laptops under £200.
Portability
Acer TravelMate
Lots of people are now using their computers on the move or when travelling, but space and size has always been an issue to consider when lugging a laptop around.
The Acer TravelMate is great for portability, and is also one of the cheapest laptops on the market. Rocking in at the serious bargain basement price of £198.98, the TravelMate is the perfect entry-level laptop for school children and others in education, and fantastic for those wanting something to cover the basics, like web browsing, admin tasks and watching movies.
Your £198.98 gets you an Intel Celeron N4020, 4GB RAM and a 64 GB SSD memory. It’s pretty basic but, for same the price you’d pay for a mid-range smartphone, you get plenty for your money. The TravelMate comes with Windows 10, webcam and an array of connections like USB 3.0, HDMI and a card reader.
Simple, but it certainly does the job for the entry level market.
Value
CODA 120 Cloudbook
This super portable 12.5″ laptop is ideal for those needing to work on the move or have a PC handy when travelling or working on-the-go.
£169.98 delivers decent power and an HD screen which is nice and crisp with a rather tidy 1366 x 768 resolution. It runs Windows 10S and has an included 12-month subscription of Microsoft 365 Personal, providing access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more, along with 1TB of cloud storage via OneDrive.
There’s also a USB-C port for prodiving both power and data, perfect for use with docks or multiport expansion hubs. Two USB 3.0 ports provide fast file transfers and peripheral connectivity, and a Mini-HDMI means you can plug in a screen and boost your multitasking power.
Chromebooks
ASUS Chromebook 12
Nestling somewhere between netbooks and laptops are Chromebooks. Designed as a cost-effective, low-maintenance, fast running PC, Chromebooks are ideal for basic computing tasks and really cannot be beaten when it comes to price. Currently on offer at £1790 is the ASUS Chromebook 12, the ultimate in simple computing.
Chromebooks runs via Chrome OS (Google’s own operating system), with this HP still packing an Intel Celeron N3350 processor, 4GB RAM & 32GB flash eMMC memory. It has an 11.6″ HD display.
Ok it isn’t going to be pulling up any trees when it comes to all-round computing power, but for basic tasks like internet browsing, document creation and media play, Chromebooks literally cannot be beaten for price.
So there you go. Three great options for laptops under £200!
For more information on portable computers check out one of our laptop guides at the Knowledge Hub, and for a wider selection of computers, take a look at laptops on the Ebuyer website.
