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In would look into old workstations with decent grapchis cards.
They are super sturdy, so toddler proof, reliable, usually have good repairability and upgradability and can be found cheap. I'll let someone else fill you in on what specs you want since that's a long note.
Minecraft can be quite demanding, the minimum specs are a bit misleading.
If portability is not a real requirement, a desktop may be cheaper, but once you add monitor/keyboard etc that can defeat the savings somewhat. But you can also keep/upgrade the parts independently, which will be cheaper in the longer term.
At your budget, you want to be looking at second hand. New gaming laptops at staples are starting around $800. There are probably second hand bargains to be had, just look for anything with an Nvidia or AMD graphics card, and as much RAM as possible (minimum 8gb, ideally 16gb or more). Upgradable RAM might be good, but its very rare on laptops now.
I cant help on the second hand market, but perhaps its worth tasking your son with doing the research?
The specs required for these games is low, fortunately. Cheaper gaming laptops typically go for twice your max budget. Looking for a used laptop is the way I would go with the budget. I have the specs for fortnite below, but keep in mind, these are the minimum expectations not what you should get. I would search for something with 1.5-2x these specs if you expect your kid to have the laptop for more the 3-4 years and the demands of future games.
https://www.chillblast.com/blog/fortnite-pc-specs-requirements-2024
CPU - Core i3-3225 3.3 GHz. GPU - Intel HD 4000 or AMD Radeon Vega 8. Memory - 8 GB RAM. Storage - 30GB available space
Minecraft can be pretty RAM/CPU hungry, especially if you want it to be playable. I can't speak to fortnite, but usually a games "minimum" requirements are not going to result in a enjoyable experience.
It might be better to save money for a better laptop than to buy a min spec laptop that cant really play the games
You're definitely going to want a second hand laptop if you're spending 300 quid. Best bet is to look on eBay. Pick a GPU (off the top of my head, maybe a 970 or 1050) and search for those. Then check each result and start comparing. It's a nightmare trying to see if the CPU is any good. I usually check it on passmark every time
Your budget is too low.
Only Fortnite and Minecraft? Rather than a gaming laptop, you can buy him the ROG Ally handheld instead and save some money. Even the Steam Deck will do the job (make sure you get the 512 GB or 1 TB version, 64 and 256 GB are limited)
Does it have to be a laptop? Idk what a quid is because i only use real american dollars since i value my freedom, oh say can you see, but i do know desktop pcs are a much better bang for your buck, buck being dollar because thats what money is called. 1776. There are some cheap used, hopefully american made, laptops that could run fortnite and minecraft tho. Just a good idea to be a bit future proof if you can. Signing off from the land of freedom, where eagles fly high.
Yeah, it has to be easily portable so he can go to his friends.
Gotcha. Well in that case id look at the used market. I'm not a fan of recycling personally as i prefer to blow up all my obsolete garbage on the 4th of July every year, but i guess in this case it could work for you. The games you listed aren't from America so im not familiar with their exact hardware reqirements, but i do know the Lenovo Thinkpad T480 is very popular here in the land of the free, and it may be able to run both altho not extremely well id imagine. There is a version with a dedicated GPU that would definitely be able to run them, but its a bit more expensive even used. With your budget the integrated graphics will be the one you go with. Maybe if you find some oil in your backyard we could buy it from you for pennies on the dollar at gunpoint and make up the difference?
GeForce now?
A chromebook i3+8gb + amazon luna