Spec my a laptop

Hi looking at the best laptop for around £500? .. Just for general use.

Thanks Dave

Any preferences on screen size? Portability ? Need of a CD/DVD drive?

If it's just for 'general use', why not get a chromebook or something? They're cheap as chips and you can get access to everyday stuff like text editors, excel-like programs etc through Google Docs on them, without the need for all of the other gubbins.