OV9

I’m not up to date with current processors, which are the ones to have? AMD or Intel or are they much of a muchness? I need to get a new machine, it needs to run a Teams call all day while running things like YouTube, presentation software, Word and similar. All will be running at the same time. I have a budget of around £500, 15.6 screen as a minimum.

Buy a recent Lenovo used on eBay. You'll easily get something that matches that spec with cash to spare.

Make sure it is minimum full HD though. Some of the cheaper ones run rubbish resolution.

https://ebay.us/m/qYJvvY (for me there's also a £40 voucher reducing the cost).

https://ebay.us/m/LlJfqc

https://ebay.us/m/Rhe2Ik (a bit over your budget, but silly high spec and a 4k panel)

For what you're needing an i5 and 16Gb RAM will be more than enough.

Cool, thanks. Are AMD processors to be avoided?

No, they're fine too. I just picked a model I know.

RAM is far more important for mainline laptop processors these days, for running multiple apps. And I mean, like, seriously, don't get less than 16gb, Windows and Chrome and Teams will gobble that memory up and make it chug.

Any modern processor that isn't an Atom or an ARM (qualcomm) should handle the CPU side (video rendering etc) fine. Watch for those names on suspiciously cheap laptops, etc.

And as already stated, get a min 1080p HD screen, higher the res the better.

Beany wrote: Sun Feb 15, 2026 9:03 pm RAM is far more important for mainline laptop processors these days, for running multiple apps. And I mean, like, seriously, don't get less than 16gb, Windows and Chrome and Teams will gobble that memory up and make it chug.

Any modern processor that isn't an Atom or an ARM (qualcomm) should handle the CPU side (video rendering etc) fine. Watch for those names on suspiciously cheap laptops, etc.

And as already stated, get a min 1080p HD screen, higher the res the better.

Ah, well as I said it will be running Teams from 9 to 5 along with other things.

definitely 16gb.

I have bad habits of not closing tabs and I regularly make my 32gb work laptop choke

Yep, what Beany said.

I've recently had a new one - Lenovo Ideapad Slim5. Has an Intel Core 7, but curcially I went for 32Gb of ram. Has made a huge difference, especially when I'm running AutoCad whilst on a Teams call.

I’d also say go for 32gb now so it lasts a few years. If you’ve just got YouTube open these days running on windows you’ll be using 12gb of ram. And in a few other tabs and you’re churning butter.

I'm wary of recommending 32gb RAM at the moment because of the cost - RAM has near tripled in cost since late last year thanks to supply being eaten up by the AI cunts.

If there's a laptop for £500 with 16gb of RAM, and a laptop with 32gb for £500, then that 32gb one is gonna have huge compromises somewhere else cos that RAM cost, even to the manufacturers, is notable, and they're not charities.

32gb of DDR5-6000 RAM at retail is currently well north of £300, and 5200 (often used in laptops) is not far behind it.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/trends/pric ... 00.2x16384

The third one I recommended above will be more than good enough, and has 32Gb RAM. A tad over budget though.

Yup, I'm thinking more new laptops but a tenth gen i7 (twelve threads) with a 2070 mobile and 32gb of ram will kick the arse of most peoples uses without too much trouble and be plenty usable for a good few years - for a shade under £600 that's a decent shout.

I recently needed to replace my laptop and couldn't believe how much anything with a semi decent spec had gone up in price, a friend had warned me but I just thought he was being a bit of a drama queen

I decided to look at the used stuff available and bought a refurbished Dell direct from Dell thenselves. It's a Latitude 7420, i7, 16gb of ram, 512 gb SSD and grade A condition for £289

Dell refurb can be quite a bargain. Have had luck with them before.