The best laptop for £450-£500 which is Core2Duo...

MarkB1983_2

Hi, i'm after the absolute best for my money for no more than £500. Basic criteria include:
1) Intel Core 2 Duo
2) Less than 17" screen
3) Dedicated graphics if at all possible

I like the look of a lot of the Dell's, some Inspirons and Vostro laptops look particularly good, but i'm getting frustrated with their inability to provide me with a delivery date (that doesn't keep changing).

I know money won't go as far at the retailers, however i've seen a laptop at Comet that seems fairly reasonable..

http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=407160

When comparing this to the similarly spec'd Dell Inspiron 1520 it seems pretty competitive. It has on board graphics which aren't ideal but a high processor speed when compared to others they sell.

How does this laptop look for the money? Does anyone else have any suggestions for up to £500? Also has anyone had any experiences (good or bad) with Fujitsu? Thanks :-)

MarkB1983_2

Another Fujitsu that seems a good buy

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/133387

Any thoughts?

imagia

Both those laptops are pretty good value, but for the 10% off Dell voucher code that can be had here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=650897&highlight=dell+10%25

If you can wait for it, you'll get a brilliant deal.

You can take the 1520 and with the discounts they're offering and that code, get a Core 2 Duo 2Ghz, 2 mb Ram, with a 7200 rpm hard drive for £454. That's impressive.

Or you can take the Inspiron 1720 and get a Core 2 Duo 1.5Ghz, with a normal 5200rpm hard drive, 2 gb Ram AND your 17" screen if you wanted, for just a few quid more.

You'll need to pay a fair bit more to get a dedicated graphics card though, or you'd have to compromise on the other components.

Check out this one too:

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3477577/Acer-Aspire-5720-Core-2-Duo-T5250-1-5GHz-2GB-80GB-15-4-DVD-SM-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook/Product.html

MarkB1983_2

imagia wrote: »

Both those laptops are pretty good value, but for the 10% off Dell voucher code that can be had here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=650897&highlight=dell+10%25

If you can wait for it, you'll get a brilliant deal.

You can take the 1520 and with the discounts they're offering and that code, get a Core 2 Duo 2Ghz, 2 mb Ram, with a 7200 rpm hard drive for £454. That's impressive.

Or you can take the Inspiron 1720 and get a Core 2 Duo 1.5Ghz, with a normal 5200rpm hard drive, 2 gb Ram AND your 17" screen if you wanted, for just a few quid more.

You'll need to pay a fair bit more to get a dedicated graphics card though, or you'd have to compromise on the other components.

Check out this one too:

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/3477577/Acer-Aspire-5720-Core-2-Duo-T5250-1-5GHz-2GB-80GB-15-4-DVD-SM-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook/Product.html

That is absolutely superb, £50 off with that code you sent me! It most certainly is worth the wait, however is it really worth upgrading to the faster hard disk drive? What difference does the extra RPM make? How about upgrading the battery to a 9 cell, is that likely to make much difference? Thanks again!

imagia

MarkB1983 wrote: »

That is absolutely superb, £50 off with that code you sent me! It most certainly is worth the wait, however is it really worth upgrading to the faster hard disk drive? What difference does the extra RPM make? How about upgrading the battery to a 9 cell, is that likely to make much difference? Thanks again!

The higher RPM means accessing files is faster, so this should increase performance. Whether or not the difference is noticeable is another thing I'm probably going to go for it because you only need to add £30 (which you need to get the 10% discount), but you may want to spend the money elsewhere.

The 9 cell upgrade looks good. If you plan on taking it away from mains power a lot then that should improve how long the battery lasts. Check out what Dell says about it and then use a pinch of salt!

By the way, make sure you get cashback if you buy. 5% (topcashback) off will sweeten the deal even further.