Which laptop for under £400

Buster_Danog

My friend gave me a list of laptops that she had seen on the internet but they seem to vary in the specs, and I am not sure what the difference in performance would be between them. She definitely doesn't want anything that is on the slow side.

I am not convinced that she needs a larger hard drive than 160gb, unless Vista takes up loads of room or something. I have already dismissed an Acer Aspire 5720 based on bad reviews. Here is a list of some she gave me to look at. I'd appreciate any advice.

Sony Vaio NR38 E / Pentium Dual Core T2390 1.86GHz / 2GB / 160GB / 15.4'' / DVD-SM / Vista Home Premium / Laptop / Notebook £393.73 http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/482129/SONY-VGN-NR38E/tab/specification

Toshiba 15.4" screen laptop featuring Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, 120GB hard drive, Windows Vista Home Premium and built-in webcam. £349 http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/474126/TOSHIBA-SAT-L300-18D/tab/specification

Samsung 15.4" widescreen laptop with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB memory, 250GB storage and Windows Vista Home Premium. £379.99 http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/484920/SAMSUNG-NP-R60/tab/specification

SJames_3

There isn't a great deal between them, but personally I'd go for the Samsung, followed by the Toshiba. Both have a faster processor than the Sony, but the Samsung has more than double the HDD space over the Toshiba and slightly better graphics performance.

I'd better mention, though, that although the Samsung HDD is larger, it is likely to be slower than the Toshiba's HDD (4200rpm, as opposed to 5200rpm), so maybe if capacity isn't a priority the Toshiba may work out better for you because most laptop HDDs are slow as it is.

Also, I'm only going by a quick look at the specs, rather than makes and models, so if you haven't already (sounds like you have) it'd be best to Google for some reviews before making a final choice.