Our desktop PC is showing signs of senility - it's running Windows XP from which you can tell that it's well past it's use-by date. We still use it as a file and backup server and for occasional word processing and spreadsheet work, but don't need high performance.

There seem to be quite a number of machines costing up to £350 that look suitable, from brands like Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Packard-Bell, etc.

From experience in buying laptops in recent years, I think the main deciding factor may be how much bloatware is pre-installed but it's hard to assess that from vendors descriptions or reviews. Does anyone have experience of which brands are least infested, or on which it's easiest to remove all the junk?


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Clive Page