UKH

After some advice.....my laptop is on its last legs and the table is aging....

So for what I need I've decided a flip (or detachable screen but too much) Chromebook ticks the boxes.

Ideally:

13 or 14"

Touch screen - not just stylus

Flip screen

What do folks recommend 

I bought the cheapest one you could get from Curry's about a year to 18 months ago and would describe it as "not brilliant, but usable". It does work for browsing the internet and such, but it's much slower than a decent laptop or something, the battery life is decent though. Basically my lesson learned is that if you want it to be fast and slick then you can't get the cheapest one. I think for sure if you spent the corresponding amount on new laptop though it would be awful.

I had a different one probably almost 10 years ago when they first came out and that was faster than this new one and lasted us years, and that was the cheapest at the time as well.

Could be worth checking if CEX sell any as they do 2 year warranty's on everything and you can return to a store within 14 days if you order online, some of the laptop prices are much, much lower than the "new" price (obviously it varies and it will be used already so you might not like the idea), and disclaimer I've never bought anything from there have just been looking on it recently at laptops. 

I've got a 12 year old ex corporate laptop (HP Elitebook) that's still works fine. 

When it dies I will only get another Elitebook (I avoid Dell due to bad experiences, I may be just unlucky).

They are expensive new. £1000 to £1500, but you can get a second hand one for a reasonable price on eBay or here: https://microdream.co.uk/hp-elitebook-840-g6-laptop-4wg30av-14-inch-fhd-cor...

As they are bought by companies in bulk who often replace laptios after 4 years,m there's a biug second hand market for them.

Link above is a 5 year old model, I'm sure you can get it cheaper on ebay but with more risk. It will run circles around a Chromebook and will not slow down as the years roll on in the same way. Whatever you buy, if second hand, make sure it has an SSD as I find that one factor along has the biggest impact on how responsive it feels on older units.

why chromebook? i'm using a 12.5 inch IPS touchscreen lenovo thinkpad (X270) (,~£150)

If you go the laptop route make sure you get something Win 11 compatible.   I bought a really nice cheap laptop but it can't be upgraded (hence the price I suppose) to Win 11.

I was thinking Chromebook as cheaper alternative. 

Maybe a windows 11 touchscreen 2in1 laptop might be worth looking at

I got a chromebook, touch screen, Acer spin 713, refurbished ~ £300 (about half the price of new) it does everything I need it to and is very fast and I think its great. For general home use its more than enough. I can still use MS web based applications if I need to but Google ones are just as good. 

Windows is for specialist software and for IT department managed stock. 

£600 doesn't seem to tally with the OP's objective of a cheaper alternative... Neither does £300 to me...

Further to my previous comment - the chromebook we bought was in 2022 and was £179 new, that was the cheapest they had, and it's not fast at all (which bugs me endlessly!). Just putting for context of what cheapest is, I'd never pay £600 for a chromebook though - definitely proper laptop territory that, especially refurbished!

That's a pretty narrow way of looking at it. Everything's relative and you must be aware that laptops get waaaaay more expensive than £300, or even £600. In the absence of OP defining what they're comparing to when they say "cheaper", I think £300 is in the realm of reasonable supposition. Paying substantially less than that these days gets you pretty quickly into the realm of false economies where you've saved some money in the short term but you're going to ditch it for something less frustratingly limited in a year or two.

Less than £500

For Web browsing, limited bit of office work and streaming stuff

I have always liked my Asus Chromebooks. I have used them for years as my main computer. I buy all electronics refurbished, usually from back market. They have all been good and I usually have to replace them due to user error (dropped/ got wet etc). 

For me the massive plus of a Chromebook is that it doesn't have Windows slowing it down. They remain as fast as they were from new throughout their lifespan. There's no waiting for the system to load up when you switch it on. Far superior to a windows machine.

I was thinking Acer or Asus. 

Not sure where to even look for refubs, but that does appeal both economically and ethically 

That's in stark contrast to Google's other OS, Android, then...

I only had to replace my windows laptop as work lease them and it had come to the end of its term. Was still just as fast as when I got it. 

(HP Elitebook , have had a few now and they seem well built and reliable)

Would a Macbook Air be in your price range?

probably not - and I believe they aren't touchscreen

Mine is either Acer or Asus, not sure which. Screen is about 13 to 14 inch, flips over to be a tablet or use the keyboard and track pad.

It lives in my van to use out in the field connected to my van WiFi, great bit of kit.