Better laptop for £350?

Dingleberry88 · 27 Dec 2008 at 14:30

So my Auntie and Uncle are looking for a laptop.

All they want it for is browsing the net and watching DVDs, so it doesn't have to be anything special, though I'd obviously like them to get the best they can for the cash.

As they want to play DVDs, that unfortunately rules out netbooks (lack of DVD drive), and a decent sized screen would be good (no bigger than 15" though).

Integrated graphics would be preferred for longer battery life (as it won't be used for games at all).

So far the best I've found seems to be a Dell Inspiron 1525 with the following spec for £350 delivered:

Intel® Celeron Dual Core Processor T1400 (1.73Ghz, 533 MHz FSB, 512 KB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 - English
15.4" Widescreen WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display
Integrated Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator X3100
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)

So is there anything else I should be looking at?

Moonrise · 28 Dec 2008 at 00:29

I haven't looked around for a cheap laptop recently, so unfortunately I'm unable to recommmend an alternative and with £350 your options for a new one will be limited. The spec you quoted seems very reasonable for the price and the Inspiron 1525 does get very decent reviews.

However, please be aware that most of the cheap Inspiron 1525's I have seen are supplied with a 4 cell battery as opposed to a 6 cell one. Therefore you might want to check this out if battery life is important to you, because with a 15.4" screen a 4 cell battery will not last too long between charges ( 2 1/2 hours?).

Sneaky Peaky · 30 Dec 2008 at 00:02

Dell 1545 - on sale at £399 at loads of places and much better spec

Dingleberry88 · 31 Dec 2008 at 22:35

Moonrise, thanks for the headsup - I'll be sure to check the battery size, though it looks to be 6 cell, at least on the Dell site.

Cheers Sneaky, I'll have a look at the 1545.

david25 · 1 Jan 2009 at 15:29

Try the Lenovo Lenovo 3000 N500 Pentium Dual Core T3200 2GHz, 250GB HDD 2GB RAM, 15.4" TFT, DVD±RW, Vista Home Premium for under £350

Jono · 1 Jan 2009 at 20:43

Anyone know what graphics chip the £399 1545 has (and/or screen res) 1280x800 is arse

Moonrise · 2 Jan 2009 at 13:08

Dingleberry88 said:
Moonrise, thanks for the headsup - I'll be sure to check the battery size, though it looks to be 6 cell, at least on the Dell site.

Dingleberry88, yeah the version of the 1525 on the manufacturer's website clearly states 6 cell battery so you should be ok there. It's £369 though including delivery and has no webcam (if thats important).

David25's recommendation looks a good find and is advertised with 6 cell battery and webcam £350.

Moonrise · 2 Jan 2009 at 13:10

Jono said:
Anyone know what graphics chip the £399 1545 has (and/or screen res) 1280x800 is arse

On manufacturers website video controller is GMA X4500HD and has a 15.6" widescreen display with a resolution 1366 x 768. This means it has an aspect ratio of 16:9 (same as a widescreen TV) and not the usual laptop/monitor ratio of 16:10 (1280 x 800 etc). Quite a few manufacturers seem to be offering this ratio on some of their new laptops/monitors.

If you buy the 1545 from the high street then be aware it's specification states 4 cell battery with 2 hours life.

Brum Man · 2 Jan 2009 at 14:19

Any idea why the retailers sites state the screen size as 15.6" but Dell state it as 15.4"? From the reviews I can see 15.6" looks the correct size.

david25 · 2 Jan 2009 at 15:27

Moonrise said:
Dingleberry88, yeah the version of the 1525 on the manufacturer's website clearly states 6 cell battery so you should be ok there. It's £369 though including delivery and has no webcam (if thats important).

David25's recommendation looks a good find and is advertised with 6 cell battery and webcam £350.

I've just got the N500, for £343 you can't complain. The build is good, with good documentation from lenovo.com for changing ram and bits, it has a restore partition and a mic for no wires skype or msn.

Its gets 3.5 on the vista mark thing and drives a 32" telly very nicely.

Moonrise · 2 Jan 2009 at 20:01

Brum Man said:
Any idea why the retailers sites state the screen size as 15.6" but Dell state it as 15.4"? From the reviews I can see 15.6" looks the correct size.

Inspiron 1525 has the 15.4" screen

Inspiron 1545 has the 15.6" screen

The 1545 is a new model which I cannot find advertised on the Dell site yet, though it is available on the high street and will probably replace the 1525 model. Only Dell info I can find on the 1545 is this tech doc