Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.

Our daughter is off to university next month and is demanding a new laptop. She needs a basic, reliable, hard-wearing machine on which she’ll write essays and do the usual laptop stuff – without costing a fortune. I know nothing about computers – please tell me what to buy her.

Do you have a problem readers could solve? Email your suggestions tomoney@theguardian.com or write to us at Money, The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU