[Help!] Best Laptop for £300-400?!

[Conzy]

Hi there!

I've been looking for a laptop for a while now and am ridiculously confused with all the different specifications and models everywhere. I have £300-400 to spend and am looking for a laptop which is more than capable of performing school-based activities and perhaps browser-based gaming. I've currently been looking at HP (I'm from the UK by the way):

http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homel [...] nce=direct
http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homel [...] nce=direct
http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homel [...] nce=direct
http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homel [...] nce=direct

As you can probably tell, I'm clueless with computer specs and am hoping that you can help me find the best laptop in my price range.

Thank you!

P.S. Would prefer a starter edition of Word or something and Windows 7.

 

[WR2]

Hello Conzy;
Your links are all broken.

 

[Conzy]

http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homelaptops/index.php

Are you able to access that site? If so, all the links are the laptops around my price range (click low-high).

 

[WR2]

HP G56-106sa @ £ 349 looks to be pretty good value. Slightly underpowered CPU but has slightly better 3D gaming graphics than others in the same price range. Meets all the general purpose laptop requirements.
Compaq Presario CQ62-235SA also @ £ 349 has stronger CPU but weaker 3D gaming graphics. Also meets all the GP laptop requirements.
Both will have no problems with 2D (flat) browser based gaming (board & card games, etc) and will also do light duty 3D gaming, with the edge to the HP G56.
Those were the only 2 laptops under £ 399 that the site offered up to me.

 

[Conzy]

HP G56-106sa @ £ 349 looks to be pretty good value. Slightly underpowered CPU but has slightly better 3D gaming graphics than others in the same price range. Meets all the general purpose laptop requirements.
Compaq Presario CQ62-235SA also @ £ 349 has stronger CPU but weaker 3D gaming graphics. Also meets all the GP laptop requirements.
Both will have no problems with 2D (flat) browser based gaming (board & card games, etc) and will also do light duty 3D gaming, with the edge to the HP G56.
Those were the only 2 laptops under £ 399 that the site offered up to me.

Thanks very much man!

http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homelaptops/product.php?id=XC214EA&experience=direct
http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homelaptops/product.php?id=VY437EA&experience=direct
http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homelaptops/product.php?id=XF205EA&experience=direct

There are some more for under £400.

 

[WR2]

Those links worked.
Pretty much more of the same performance.
Minor improvements like 3GB RAM vs 2GB, 320GB HDD vs 250GB.
But the underlying CPU and graphics performance is nearly identical.

You'd be hard pressed to notice the difference when using them. Nearly same price = nearly same performance.

 

[Conzy]

Those links worked.
Pretty much more of the same performance.
Minor improvements like 3GB RAM vs 2GB, 320GB HDD vs 250GB.
But the underlying CPU and graphics performance is nearly identical.

You'd be hard pressed to notice the difference when using them. Nearly same price = nearly same performance.

So just to clarify, the HP G56-106sa would be good for doing school work and web browsing, would be able to run games like Habbo Hotel and Travian (I don't actually play those by the way haha, just for comparison) fairly well and would last for a good few years?

 

[Conzy]

These are my current specs by the way:

Operating System
MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T7100 @ 1.80GHz 44 °C
Merom 65nm Technology
RAM
2.0GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 332MHz (5-5-5-15)
Motherboard
Dell Inc. 0WY040 (Microprocessor)
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor @ 1280x800
256MB GeForce 8600M GT (Dell) 44 °C
Hard Drives
156GB Seagate ST9160821AS (SATA) 40 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-T11N ATA Device
Audio
SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC

Not sure if these are any good, but I've been running Battlefield 2 on it and everything!

 

[Conzy]

Urgh, just found some poor reviews on the build quality of the HP.

This one seems to be popping up everywhere, is it better than the HP?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-Satellite-C660-125-Notebook-Processor/dp/tech-data/B0049U3U4K/ref=de_a_smtd

Thanks SO much for the help btw!

 

[Avro Arrow]

I totally agree with Addict. The G56-106sa is the laptop for you. Its ATi Mobility Radeon graphics are superior to the Intel offerings at the same price point. For schoolwork and Internet browsing, the CPU difference will not be noticeable.

 

[WR2]

C2D T7100 CPU and GeForce 8600M GT 256MB graphics. Thats not tooo shabby actually.
Is this new laptop a replacement? or a 2nd laptop in the family?

When you compare your current laptop to the G56-106sa it works out like this:
Passmark CPU benchmarks:
Core2 Duo T7100 @ 1.80GHz = 994
AMD Athlon II P320 Dual-Core =1275

Passmark GPU benchmarks:
GeForce 8600M GT = 283
AMD M880G with Mobility Radeon HD 4250 - 219

The CPU is nice bit of a bump up in processing power. But not a huge bump up.
But the HD 4250 video GPU is slightly less powerful on the HP G56-106sa.
It will probably outperform the old 8600M on video and movie processing, but will fall slightly behind in 3D gaming.

 

[Conzy]

C2D T7100 CPU and GeForce 8600M GT 256MB graphics. Thats not tooo shabby actually.
Is this new laptop a replacement? or a 2nd laptop in the family?

When you compare your current laptop to the G56-106sa it works out like this:
Passmark CPU benchmarks:
Core2 Duo T7100 @ 1.80GHz = 994
AMD Athlon II P320 Dual-Core =1275

Passmark GPU benchmarks:
GeForce 8600M GT = 283
AMD M880G with Mobility Radeon HD 4250 - 219

The CPU is nice bit of a bump up in processing power. But not a huge bump up.
But the HD 4250 video GPU is slightly less powerful on the HP G56-106sa.
It will probably outperform the old 8600M on video and movie processing, but will fall slightly behind in 3D gaming.

Thank you SO much guys and girls, this forum is awesome.

Just a quick update - I've been given £100, possible £200 more to spend on this laptop.

I've just been scouting around and came across http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/business/Dell-Laptops/vostro-3500/pd.aspx?refid=vostro-3500&s=bsd&cs=ukbsdt1&~tab=bundlestab_cus (the second one along, reduced down from £749) and am wondering whether I should get it. Also wondering whether http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/business/Dell-Laptops/vostro-3700/pd.aspx?refid=vostro-3700&s=bsd&cs=ukbsdt1&~tab=bundlestab_cus (the first one for £369) is any good.

Sorry if I'm being a pest!

Yours sincerely,

Conz.

 

[Conzy]

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/business/Dell-Laptops/vostro-3500/pd.aspx?refid=vostro-3500&s=bsd&cs=ukbsdt1&~tab=bundlestab_cus

Is the £389 one any good?

Just really need some quick help guys <3!