Every now and again, a tech deal comes along that really makes you sit up and take notice. Despite Black Friday being almost a month away, that’s the case here.
British manufacturer Zoostorm is selling its C3350 laptop on eBay for just £149.99. It’s only a £50 discount on the usual asking price, but means you can buy a Windows 10 Pro laptop for under £150. It’s hard to believe you can get Microsoft’s Pro-branded OS on a device this cheap.
However, does this mean you should consider buying the Zoostorm C3350? Absolutely not. In fact, I’d encourage anyone who actually wants to use Windows 10 Pro to stay well clear.
Unfortunately, in its focus on software, Zoostorm has made huge compromises on the hardware side. The C3350 is powered by Intel’s entry-level Celeron N3350 processor, which can handle nothing more than basic usage – certainly no ‘Pro’ tasks. It’s also paired with just 4GB of RAM, generally considered inadequate for modern laptops. Performance certainly won’t be a strong point on the C3350.
Even if you can look beyond these shortcomings, there’s just 64GB of eMMC storage onboard. Operating system files take up a significant chunk of that, leaving very little room for any files and apps. Although it does support expandable storage, you’ll probably be regularly connecting an external hard drive to avoid hitting capacity. Even getting close will cause performance to deteriorate further.
One attraction of buying a Windows 10 Pro device now is the free upgrade to Windows 11 Pro. However, the Zoostorm C3350 doesn’t meet Windows 11’s minimum hardware requirements, so you’ll be stuck on Windows 10 for the rest of its lifespan.
The device does have a few things going for it, especially when you consider its price tag. An attractive jet-black design gives way to a 11.6in, 1366×768 (HD) display, while you also get a decent port selection and dual speakers.
But it’s simply not worth putting up with the C3350’s shortcomings to get there. If you can do without Windows 10 Pro, there are some excellent budget laptops available for just a bit more money.
If you’re still interested in the Zoostorm C3350 for whatever reason, the current price is available at eBay until 11.59pm UK time on Sunday night.
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