Laptop shortage in the UK?

[Brian G Turner]

So my middle daughter is preparing for university, and we were keeping an eye on a good laptop to get. We had a particular Acer laptop in mind, available through Argos, which is more or less the same as my eldest uses, so we knew it was decent.

However, after a couple of weeks, when she went to order it, it was no longer available. Checking through the options, many of the cheaper laptops were no longer available for either delivery or collect from the local Argos.

So we had a rethink and looked at options for what might be a better options, and focused on a HP Slim or Lenovo IdeaPad. My daughter had a think for a few days, and then went to order. They were certainly in stock that morning - they weren't when she tried to order.

Checking through the list at Argos, and at Currys PC world, it seems there's a shortage of latops, certainly the more budget type as opposed to the £1,000+ ones. There's very little available.

I figure that with the lockdown and with the big increase in people working from home there's been a spike in laptop sales that hasn't been replenished. Additionally, with students now buying for college and university it looks like there will be a further strain on supplies over the summer.

Anyway, Dell were running a sale this week so my daughter finally ordered one from there - more expensive than she'd planned, but the specifications are pretty decent so it should last for some time. Plus we got a decent deal with a money off coupon code.

However, I figure if anyone else is looking for a laptop it might be better to get one sooner rather than later, or else have to wait until stocks are replenished after the summer. In the meantime, it looks like there's going to be a continued shortage of laptops in the UK, and it remains to be seen when manufacturers will be able to catch up with supply.

 

[Foxbat]

Have you thought about looking out for a reconditioned one? There seem to be a few places online dealing in them.

 

[HareBrain]

Have you thought about looking out for a reconditioned one? There seem to be a few places online dealing in them.

Yes, I went this route. Very pleased with it.

 

[.matthew.]

I was planning on getting a reconditioned one myself, but they all saw a pretty immediate price hike when lockdown began (the main one I had my eye on jumped £140 overnight).

 

[AlexH]

Laptop shortages were in the news in March/April, largely due to the shutdown in China if I remember rightly. So that combined with the increase in demand and decrease in exports (due to travel restrictions and red tape at borders), could mean it's a while before laptops are readily available again.

There's a shortage of loads of other stuff too. You should've seen the vultures when my local bike shop reopened. To replace my broken bike I'd been using for 2-3 months, I settled for a £45 used make-do bike until bikes in my price range become available again. The first time I used it, the handlebars came loose when I was travelling around 30 miles an hour (very scary), though that can happen on new bikes too.

 

[MikeAnderson]

The U.K. has a shortage, the U.S. has a glut.

Yup, time to do some smuggling. Just look for the ratty navy blue fishing boat docked in Cardiff in 2 weeks. And don't tell everybody and their mom; I've already burnt up enough favors from the port authority.

 

[Danny McG]

Argos IMO does this now and again to clear out their lower price stuff, thus ensuring a lot of customers buy the more expensive items.
They did it spectacularly here in Whitehaven (the first town in the UK to go wholly digital for television)

All the cheaper digital televisions (most people bought them instead of keeping their big chunky analogue tellies and getting a set top box) were sold out in all the Argos shops within fifty miles of here very quickly during the several months preparation period.

They kept restocking with middle range televisions only, plus the occasional giant screen models. So people felt panicked into buying those, within three weeks of the digital switchover happening, when sales had fell right off, they were suddenly stocked out with dozens of the cheaper sets.
It wasn't a national shortage, it was a cynical marketing ploy by Argos.

Note: The local branch has struggled since then and has finally announced it's closure

 

[Brian G Turner]

And a shortage in the US:

US faces back-to-school laptop shortage

Schools across the United States are facing shortages and long delays, of up to several months, in getting this year's most crucial back-to-school supplies: the laptops and other equipment needed for online learning, an Associated Press investigation has found.

phys.org

 

[-K2-]

And a shortage in the US:

US faces back-to-school laptop shortage

Schools across the United States are facing shortages and long delays, of up to several months, in getting this year's most crucial back-to-school supplies: the laptops and other equipment needed for online learning, an Associated Press investigation has found.

phys.org

Just a quick note about that: Amazing as it is considering my countries good fortune, we still have vast household income disparity where a huge percentage of families are struggling financially, forced to make choices, and as electronic technology use has accelerated rapidly over the last 30 years, the gap has widened. Further, our once great public school system, has been picked apart forcing families to pay to cover costs of what used to be school supplied items and programs (E.g. many schools no longer even have gym classes...sporting recreation has been privatized, ultimately excluding those low income families from participating).

So, where under normal circumstances where those folks can get by, use school located equipment, or have a communal computer say...with everyone in a family working, socializing, learning remotely, it's suddenly an imperative that everyone that didn't have, now must have, or be shut out and separated further once again.

It's not just a lack of supply (which due to the political climate has impacted that even more), but the fact that manufacturers already at capacity would have to ramp up production 5x or so (and ultimately end up saddled with mfg. lines that will be shut down after), and even then, when a family must make a choice between a house payment or getting the kids new electronics--even paying the increased internet usage--it makes for a lot of conditions where the overall gap between income levels relating to basic needs, widens all the more.

One solution that is often pushed, is that older equipment be gifted to those without...The trouble is, older electronics use outdated software and do not have the component ability to upgrade to newer software...BUT...people don't write new programs (apps) to work on last year's versions but the latest and greatest (since they have the wherewithal to keep up with equipment). So again, it forces the situation of EVERYONE must keep up, or those that can't--get left, not fall--behind.

Crisis always amplify problems. Unfortunately, it doesn't always mean solutions.

K2

 

[.matthew.]

@-K2- While I only use it on my cheapo laptop, Linux works on almost any older hardware and has more than enough applications available to meet educational needs.

 

[-K2-]

@-K2- While I only use it on my cheapo laptop, Linux works on almost any older hardware and has more than enough applications available to meet educational needs.

That's a good suggestion, now all that needs to be done is to re-educate those folks on how to use Linux, while their instructors and peers use something else, added onto how to use a computer in the first place. I'm not saying it's a bad suggestion, just that it heaps on even more...sadly resulting in folks giving into the separation, and choosing to do worse things to get along.

Anywho, sorry for the derail, but it's not just a matter of less equipment. Back to laptop shortages

K2

 

[Astro Pen]

Dell is a good call anyway. Durable. I still have an Inspiron 7000 from at least 15 years back

 

[.matthew.]

That's a good suggestion, now all that needs to be done is to re-educate those folks on how to use Linux

True, but there's not that much to learn to get the basics down, and frankly re-educating people on how to use open-source software would be good for society in general, and cheaper than even educational licences for mainstream programs. Plus, most of the file types are either the same or compatible anyway (like I can still save in .doc format).

Dell is a good call anyway. Durable. I still have an Inspiron 7000 from at least 15 years back

Good and bad, I remember a few years back when Dell went real shoddy for a while. They seem to be better again now, but I rarely hear praise for much aside from the XPS series (their MacBook priced ones).

 

[hitmouse]

John Lewis seem well stocked for laptops in the £500-700 range. I looked at those last weekend, for no 1 son who goes up to university In the Autumn. He has finally accepted that he does not need a mega games machine, just something portable that can do Word, Powerpoint, stats, internet, and of course remote lectures.

Re: Dell. I have used their Latitude laptops for work for a long time and am impressed by the toughness and durability. My last one lasted 10 years, being pounded daily, ported all over the place. It was only replaced In the end because it got a bit slow to run the latest software (and lack of an inbuilt camera had become an inconvenience.) My current Latitude is good as new after 3 years of heavy use, allowing for some dents and scratches to the case.