What is the best sub-£500 laptop?

jetsetterjoe

Hi all,

I'm not sure if such a thread already exists, but I'm looking for a sub-£500 laptop (or thereabouts). I had a Sony Vaio NW11S for almost four years and it died this morning. I would try to recover it, but in all honesty, I really can't be bothered and for my purposes, the spec really isn't cutting it anymore.

I need something with a good graphics card, as I'll be playing games and I'd like a fairly new build, as in, with the newest Intel processors. No less than 8GB of RAM and an SSD rather than a HDD.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that this is going to cost more than £500, but I'd appreciate it if you could tell me *how* much more and what the best option for me is.

I'm familiar with building PCs, but when it comes to laptops, I've no idea...

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Cisco001

I haven't seen one with delicated gpu with SSD at £500.

If you don't mind cash back, consider this
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_ThinkPad_Edge_E530_1277382.html
Thinkpad are in good quality, and with i5 and GT635, it is a good choice at £500
If you really need 8GB RAM and SSD. You can upgrade it yourself.
Bare in mind you can upgrade RAM and HDD quite easily, but not CPU nor graphic card.

Edit. Novatech seems to have some gaming laptop at around £600 - 700

jetsetterjoe

Cisco001 wrote: »

I haven't seen one with delicated gpu with SSD at £500. For what you mentioned, you would be talking at £800.

If you don't mind cash back, consider this
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Lenovo_ThinkPad_Edge_E530_1277382.html
Thinkpad are in good quality, and with i5 and GT635, it is a good choice at £500
If you really need 8GB RAM and SSD. You can upgrade it yourself.
Bare in mind you can upgrade RAM and HDD quite easily, but not CPU nor graphic card.

Awesome stuff! Thanks for the suggestion.

I hadn't considered upgrading components myself. Are there issues with voiding warranties and such if you open the casing though?

Cisco001

Upgrading RAM is a piece of cake.
But HDD to SDD is slightly harder.

jetsetterjoe

Cisco001 wrote: »

Upgrading RAM is a piece of cake.
But HDD to SDD is slightly harder.

How complicated would replacing the HDD with an SSD be? I've just whacked my old laptop open and as you say, RAM slots are easily accessible. The HDD was easy to access as well though, saying that.

What difficulties would I have replacing the SSD? I'm comfortable with installing OS and drivers etc.

Splott

None. Remove hard drive from caddy, insert SSD into caddy. Put OS installation disc in optical drive and boot from optical drive.

Splott

Really it is easy to clone the HDD. The controller on the SSD drive would take care of it. Just use the cloning software available from the SSD manufacturers website assuming that it doesn't come in the packaging with the drive.

jetsetterjoe

All brilliant advice. I'll be sure to look into it these options. Is there anywhere anyone would suggest getting a laptop suitable SSD from?