Spec me a laptop

[Kirth Gersen]

I want to get a laptop for my wife. It is only going to be used primarily for surfing and the odd word document. But the thing is that she wants it to be as fast as possible in terms of surfing and starting.

What are the key criteria for such a machine? Or is it all down to broadband speed?

What would you recommend? A Dell 15R seems about right. Her budget is £500 but we could spend more if there a component that can speed things up.

15.6" is all she needs. No big hard drive required.

Ta

 

[Flare]

I'm currently in the same boat as you/your wife but have virtually decided on a laptop. I've sent you a message via trust with a few laptops i've looked at that OcUK do not stock.

 

[Kirth Gersen]

Sorry, but my Trust account has an old email address. Now fixed.

Some more research has got me to one of 3 choices:

Dell 15R. c £429. Good value, middling spec which should give her everything she needs. She would prefer something smaller, and a little less ... Mondeo ish if you get my drift (no offense to Mondeo drivers, I've had 2 - great cars - its just the badge). Comes with basic word and excel with adverts.

Dell XPS. c £650. Probably more than she needs. Great speakers for listening to music which she does. Bit of future proofing with the Core i5, USB 3.0 and 7200 rpm hard drive, so the hardware should not be the bottleneck in the system. Not great looking and a bit heavy. Comes with basic word and excel with adverts. This is the one I would have.

HP Pavilion dm4-1300ea c£580. 13.1" screen and 2 lbs lighter than the Dells. Aluminium and not plastic. Altogether classier affair than the Dells, but still with punch. Core i5 and 7200 drive but only USB2.0. No MS office, and the product key will cost another £80. The wife has got her heart set on this one in terms of looks, but I am worried about screen real estate.

Any opinions/alternatives?