Laptop for uni: £300-450

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

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Hi all. Been tasked with choosing a laptop for my brother for when he goes to uni soon. Budget is £300-400. Screen needs to be 15", possibly a 13" or do you think that might be a little on the small side?

Doesn't need anything fancy, just your standard web browsing and word processing. Battery life is quite important but not essential. Just a general all rounder really. May have to do some video editing but definitely nothing hardcore so maybe a few gig of RAM and a 250GB hard drive should do.

So far the Toshiba and Acer laptops seem to keep cropping up, no idea if they're any good though. List so far:

Toshiba Satellite T130-13Q 13.3" Intel Single Core SU2700 1.3 GHz, 3GB DDR3, 320GB £334 - Might be a bit slow and too small, but good battery life and nice and portable

Toshiba Satellite Pro L450-17L 15.6" Intel Celeron-M 900 2.2GHz, 2GB DDR3, 250GB £339- Cheapish 15", not sure if the Celeron is much cop though?

Acer Aspire 5542-504G50Mn 15.6", AMD X2 M500 2.2 GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB £399 - More of a heavy hitter but I don't know about the battery life

Also seen a Toshiba Satellite Pro C650-18E (Intel Celeron 900 2.2GHz, 320GB HDD, 2GB RAM, 15.6" HD LED TruBrite, Intel GMA 4500M) @£391

And an Acer Aspire 5732Z (15.6", Intel Pentium Dual Core T4400 2.2GHz, 3GB RAM, 250GB HDD) @£359

Thoughts on any of the above? Or another one to look for?

Thanks.
 
if you're willing to look refurb check out the dell outlet.

you could easily pick up a i5, 4gb 15" laptop for the upper limits if you look around.
 
-Exodus- said:
if you're willing to look refurb check out the dell outlet.

you could easily pick up a i5, 4gb 15" laptop for the upper limits if you look around.
Click to expand...
What's the downside of the outlet? Obviously the machines have been fixed in some way, but do you still get a warranty and all the normal bells and whistes?
 
mpledge52 said:
What's the downside of the outlet? Obviously the machines have been fixed in some way, but do you still get a warranty and all the normal bells and whistes?
Click to expand...

they are usually just laptops people have returned within 30 days or something. they go back on the production line to get checked out and you still get the exact same 1 year warranty as you would if you bought new.

i got a 17", i7, 4gb, 500gb one for £540 inc delivery, just have to keep checking as the good deals are picked up fast.
 
I need to find one also for a neighbour and its the different Processors each laptop seems to come with. You have Turion X2 RM-74 or P320, T4500 and P6000's on some laptop's.

Too many choices these days and its just a headache. Can anyone tell me the difference?
 
I'm thinking of getting the Acer Aspire 3810TZ. Can be had for around £350
Spec:
Screen size - 13.3 in - 1366 x 768
Processor - Intel Pentium SU4100 - 1.3 GHz
RAM - 4 GB
Hard Drive - 320 GB
Only weighs 1.6kg
 
Ok I've spoken to my brother and we've ruled out anything smaller than 15" so it must be 15".

Some good deals on the outlet atm but only if you don;t mind pink and blue ones! Still think I'd prefer a normal retailer just for piece of mind.

Leaning towards the Toshiba's as the Acer's battery life is reported as up to 2.5 hours which is pretty poor really.
 
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Some friends had similar requirements so I've been on a hunt for a bargain. Have bought them a HP G62-105SA:

Intel Core i3 Processor i3-330M
Integrated Intel HD graphics
15.6" 1366x768 LED screen
3GB DDR3 RAM
320GB HDD @ 7200rpm
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
802.11 b/g/n Wireless LAN (with one key press on/off)
Optical drive (SATA): LightScribe SuperMulti DVD±RW with Double Layer Support
Altec Lansing speakers
3 USB 2.0, 1 HDMI connector, 1 VGA port, 1 RJ45 ethernet connector, 1 headphone-out, 1 mic-in
Webcam with Integrated Microphone; VGA
5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro or xD Picture cards
6-cell 47WHr Li-Ion battery
Weight 2.5kg

A reasonable spec for £400 in store at some Sainsburys.

It looks a bit dull but is pretty solid. The matte finish is fingerprint free. The keyboard is plain and old fashioned but firm with well weighted keys. Note that this doesn't have a number pad, so if you're big on numerical data entry look elsewhere. However, the lack of number pad makes the layout ideal for wording and browsing - the trackpad is central and the various scroll keys fall under the right thumb. Sharp front edge (why?) could dig into wrists at certain angles. Screen is typical current glossy LED - a great, bright picture in the sweet spot but falling away quickly off axis. Speakers way better than my Vaio.

After a fresh Windows install to wipe the bloatware (recommended after recovery disks are burned) it has a good turn of speed. It runs quietly but not silently, and it doesn't get hot in normal use. Haven't tested the battery yet (it did well in this month's PCPro mag).

I'm more impressed with this unit than I expected to be. It's still a budget laptop so isn't going to set any records or any hearts on fire. Longterm experience notwithstanding, this is a good effort, especially for the money.
 
mpledge52 said:
Ok I've spoken to my brother and we've ruled out anything smaller than 15" so it must be 15".

Some good deals on the outlet atm but only if you don;t mind pink and blue ones! Still think I'd prefer a normal retailer just for piece of mind.

Leaning towards the Toshiba's as the Acer's battery life is reported as up to 2.5 hours which is pretty poor really.
Click to expand...

You won't get battery life at that price. Either a ultra mobile 13'' with a CULV and effective 6 hours+ battery, or a 15'' home laptop, with DVD and i3-330m with effective 3 hours battery life. What you gain in processor power and screen size, you lose in battery capacity.

That G62 looks more and more interesting, especially for the price.
 
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