Reccommend me £300-£400....

[Cosmic182]

Hi there

So the other day my long lasting but annoying Sony Vaio laptop packed in working and in need of a new laptop fairly quickly for college, work, personal etc. I have £3-£400ish to spend, My main uses are Music, Internet, Word and just general use, Any pointers towards any reccommendations would be greatly appreaciated

 

[olivier renault]

If you are looking for mobility and battery life, I've found my UL30A very good for travelling (or home). Mine has a SSD in it, so cannot comment on the HD though. But it's ace

pros :
Crisp, bright screen (but, see cons).
Light and slim. Fits in a backpack.
Good keyboard.
Track pad gestures that work (1/2/3 finger clicks, 2 finger scroll up-down / left-right).
Awesome battery life. Truly all day computing easy.
Good wireless.
Doesn't get too hot, warm after a session of I-Player.
Silent, fan not very loud when it kicks in.
Installing a fresh version Win 7 Home Edition and SSD was a breeze.

cons :
Vertical viewing angles very poor.
Mouse buttons awkward, but usable. I use track pad gestures anyway.
Track pad takes getting used to but gets better with time.
Screen lid bends a bit, creaky palm rests.
Glossy screen. It gets reflective, Although I have used it outdoors without much trouble.
sound from speakers not great but usable.
Having problems playing I-Player HD, and 1080p youtubes.
. I think the issue is flash-related, no hardware acceleration and decoding done on SU2300 -> just can't cope.

Also in the same category, Acer 3810TZ.

 

[Cosmic182]

Thankyou will further look into them, been browsing the web and came across the HP G72-110SA

Anyone have any experience with this laptop and any thoughts about it? thanks

 

[olivier renault]

Normally, I woudn't go for cheap HP / Compaqs. Saying that, HP seems to have really stepped up, and I like their new range. Couldn't say without getting my hands on one. But yeah, I'd go either ultra portable, or i3.

 

[Darryl_1983]

I've brought a UL80VT for £385 almost 2 weeks ago from the purples. Seems to be sold out everywhere now. But for the money i don't think it can be beaten. basically the same as the UL30A bit with a 14 inch screen, and a switchable gfx card. The UL30A would probably suit you better, being 13 inch. But i mention it as it is cheap for the same basic spec + a G210M gfx.

 

[DanTheMan]

Have you looked at the Dell Outlet? There's usually a few sub £400 Studio 15 laptops on there. Probably your best bang per buck if you're looking for performance.