£500 Laptop Suggestions?

Level1Techs INBOX.deb
1

Hey, im looking to see if anyone has any suggestions for a fairly cheap laptop. The one i currently use for uni is dead, i start back in 2 weeks, and have limited funds.

It will be mostly used for programming (in Eclipse, Arduino stuff), and your usual word processing.

Im not bothered about OS, going to throw Win7 on it.
Would like it to have an intel chip (i5 if possible).
I dont care if its haswell.
>= 4GB Ram
=> 500GB storage
A nice keyboard would be a plus.

 

Any help will be appreciated.

2

http://www.novatech.co.uk/laptop/range/novatechnpron1542.html

If you dont mind going over the 500 quid mark and spending a little more for an SSD you could get this:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/laptop/range/novatechnfinityn1404.html

I highly recommend novatech. You can choose not to have an OS so you get better hardware for the price. Even if you get an OS from them they don't come with a shit ton of bloatware like they do with most other companies.

 

Also a couple more I would recommend;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-350V5C-15-6-inch-Laptop-Silver/dp/B009SJCX5Y/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1378400542&sr=1-3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-15-6-inch-Integrated-Graphics-Windows/dp/B00AW6ZKJI/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1378400781&sr=1-5&keywords=i7

The last one is over budget but it has an i7 in case you want one.

3

If your looking at i5's you should be looking at AMD a10 laptops you will get the same cpu power and you will also get A faster GPU. you can also over clock the A10 CPU in the OS regardless if the bios is locked.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-NP355V5C-A0GUK-Quad-Core-A10-4600M-Accelerated/dp/B00CLNIP88/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1378403434&sr=1-2&keywords=amd+a10

On that note if you need CPU power go with the i7 listed above.

4

Go with DELL outlet laptops.......some example of what deals you can get in your budget. 

XPS 12 Convertible Ultrabook (£493.90 - £569.39)

  • PS 12 Convertible Ultrabook
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-3317U (1.70 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.60 GHz)
  • Windows® 8 Pro
  • 8 GB Dual channel DDR3 Memory
  • Hard Drive: 256 GB Solid State Mini Card
  • Display : 12.5" FHD (1080P) True Life WLED Touch Screen Display
  • Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000
  • Windows 8 Professional (64 Bit OS)
  • Wireless: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 and Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Card
  • Battery : Primary 6-cell 47W/HR LI-ION
  • Internal Qwerty Backlit Keyboard

 

XPS 14 Ultrabook (£465.03)

  • XPS 14 Ultrabook
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-3337U (3M Cache, up to 2.7 GHz)
  • Windows® 8 Pro
  • 4 GB DDR3 Dual Channel 1600MHz SDRAM Memory (1 DIMM)
  • 32GB mSATA3 SSD for Minicard Slots
  • 500 GB SATA II Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
  • Display : 14.0 Inch HD+ (900p) True Life Infinity Display with Skype Certified Hi Def Webcam
  • Windows 8 Professional (64 Bit OS)
  • Wireless : Killer Wireless-N 1202 Card
  • Battery : Primary 8-cell 69W/HR
  • Internal Backlit Keyboard
  • Palmrest

Inspiron 15R - 5521 (£420.11)

  • Inspiron 15R - 5521
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-3537U (4M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz) with 2GB AMD HD 8730M Graphics
  • Windows® 8
  • 8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz Memory (2 DIMMs)
  • 1 TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
  • 8X DVD+/- RW Drive
  • Display : 15.6in High Definition (1366X768) Touch WLED
  • Windows® 8 64bit (Englilsh)
  • Wireless :  Intel Centrino Advanced-N 2230 (2x2, a/g/n) + Bluetooth
  • LCD Back Cover : Silver
  • Battery : Primary 6-cell 65W/HR
  • Internal Qwerty Keyboard