Which laptop for <£400?

monkentage · 5 Dec 2008 at 20:11

1- Toshiba L300-11V Laptop

AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core Processor TK57
(1.9GHz, 1600MHz, 512KB Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium
2 GB memory
160GB hard drive
ATI Radeon X1200 shared graphics
15.4" TruBrite Widescreen Display

£371

2- Dell Inspiron 1525

Intel® Pentium Dual Core Processor T3200 (2.0 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 cache)
Vista® Home Premium
LCD 15.4" Widescreen WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
HARD DRIVE 160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Integrated Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator X3100
DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)
6-cell battery.

£390

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks.

.Sean · 5 Dec 2008 at 20:34

If you plan on gaming, you'll need a dedicated GPU tbh. I'm also looking for a lappy <£400 and I've been checking out various Vostros, etc.

At the very least I need WoW to work :<

Anyway, I prefer the look of the Inspiron tbh.

jbloggs · 5 Dec 2008 at 21:17

I have the Dell Inspiron 1525, basically the same specs as the one you have listed, very pleased with it, the Intel T3200 processor is better than the AMD dual core you have listed in your first suggestion.

As a laptop for general usage the Inspiron 1525 is very good (I think), however, if you specify what you are going to use it for (ie. gaming etc), you will get better suggestions with that in mind.

Also have a look at the Dell Studio 15 range.....

Shadows1990 · 5 Dec 2008 at 21:48

Hi monkentage, looking at those two specs, I would have to go with the Toshiba. This is based on the fact that it has a dedicated GPU and if you want to get more performance out of it in the future, you can upgrade the components (CPU, HDD, RAM). Usually companies don't offer the ability to upgrade the GPU.

Clairvoyant · 5 Dec 2008 at 22:02

Just got 2 of these for my folks (£341 each online reserve from that indian food place)

Nice little Lappys, but when I set them up they did not install any wi fi drivers, so had to get them off windows update (cable).

monkentage · 6 Dec 2008 at 19:29

Thanks for the replies.

jbloggs said:
I have the Dell Inspiron 1525, basically the same specs as the one you have listed, very pleased with it, the Intel T3200 processor is better than the AMD dual core you have listed in your first suggestion.

As a laptop for general usage the Inspiron 1525 is very good (I think), however, if you specify what you are going to use it for (ie. gaming etc), you will get better suggestions with that in mind.

Also have a look at the Dell Studio 15 range.....

It's just for general use such as internet for my dad. He showed me the Toshiba specs and i thought they were good for the price except the processor which is why i looked up the dell.

I'll look into the studio 15 but what advantages does it offer over the Toshiba for general basic computer use?