Basic gaming laptop for 11 year old
Hi, I'm looking for recommendations for a very basic laptop for my 11 year old.
LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE
Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:
Located in UK, budget up to £900 GBP
Are you open to refurbs/used?
New only
How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?
Cheaper, heavier, noisier all ok. Laptop will be used plugged into mains 99% of the time. I would like the best performace I can get for my budget though.
How important is weight and thinness to you?
Not important at all. Gaming laptops are naturally chunky and it won't be carried around much.
Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.
15.6" seems the sweet spot.
Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.
Very light gaming - Minecraft, Roblox etc.
If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?
As above, Minecraft and Roblox will be most of the gaming. Settings will be the highest the device can support - it's for an 11 year old with no knowledge of tuning game quality settings etc.
Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?
Nothing specific
Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.
I purchased an Asus TUF 15 for his older brother 3 years ago (i5-12500H, 16GB RAM, RTX3050) which has worked out fine, I'm looking for a slightly more modern version of this.
Posted Feb 25, 2026, 9:03 PM UTC