Best laptop for under £500?

[Randomthoughts]

smn159 said:

Soooo..... which laptop should I buy then?

Pick one you like the look of, choose one with a spec that fulfils your requirements, and enjoy it. They're all much of a muchness.

[Jinx]

Pop to dell outlet - pick up a nice looking one within your budget (don't forget to add VAT) (oh and do a quick search for a free delivery code) and bob's your uncle.

[Polariz]

I'm a fan of both the Dell's and Lenovo's, so would recommend either.

Having had several brands of laptop over the years for IT/Professional use, what I most like about Lenovo is that after several years of use they tend to look less tatty than your average sprayed-silver Asus/Acer/HP etc. I'm always happy to go for a second hand T or X series Lenovo from eBay, knowing that it'll look reasonably smart and work great several years down the line. They do have a bit of a geek-chic to them but the unashamed plastic-ness isn't for everyone. The construction of the plastic does tend to be a bit nicer on a Thinkpad T or X series, than your consumer grade G series.

If Windows is your thing, over an Apple second hand device, I'd really recommend a touch screen when going with Windows 8. For that budget I'd probably do something like this Lenovo 15 Flex: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-15-6-inch-Touch-Con... (You didn't mention screen size so I just went with something around that price point).