Budget Laptop/Netbook Recommendations

manu2009

Hey, looking for a new laptop or netbook on a tight budget. Would appreciate any recommendations. Trying to find something with good battery life.

Budget: Less than 400e, ideally around the 350e mark.
Screen: 15.6" or less
Intended use: Internet browsing, ms office
Features: HDMI out, USB 3 and Bluetooth a bonus
Battery life: 5 hours +

Have been looking at 10.1" netbooks because of the price but realistically I think the screen size will be too small so have been looking at 11.6" ones.

Heres what ive been looking at:

Acer Aspire One 725 11.6" - £279.99

Toshiba C850 15.6" - £269.99 + £10 Delivery

Asus 11.6 Inch Asus Ultra Portable Laptop - €349.99

Just wondering what your thoughts are and if you have any other recommendations.

Thanks in Advance.

Torqay

Do not touch the AMD C-60 or the Celeron. 350 yoyos should get you at least an Intel Pentium B9XX processor.

from Argos:

15.6" Sammy, Pentium B950, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD & HDMI, €360

15.6" HP, Pentium B940, 4 GB RAM, 750 GB HDD, HDMI & webcam, €360

manu2009

Thanks for the reply.

The main thing im looking for is battery life, thats why ive been considering the lower spec models and the netbooks.

The samsung would be perfect for general use but the battery is only 2-3 hours.

The HP seems to be out of stock everywhere and don't think the battery life is great in it either.

Torqay

Well, the AMD C-50 is significantly slower than the Intel Atom N2600 you'll find in regular netbooks these days. And they are sluggish enough already on Windows 7 Starter, never mind the full fledged Windows 7 Home Premium you will get with 11.6" netbooks.

areyawell

Id go for
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5087028/Trail/searchtext%3ELAPTOP.htm
or
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5085570/Trail/searchtext%3ELAPTOP.htm

Battery life in cheaper laptops seem to get terrible after a couple of months if constantly charging and discharging the battery. Seem to be okay in netbooks though but they'll drive ya bannans, screens are just far too small. A tablet could be another option

Torqay

areyawell wrote: »

Id go for
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5087028/Trail/searchtext%3ELAPTOP.htm
or
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5085570/Trail/searchtext%3ELAPTOP.htm

That makes two of us...

manu2009

Ya wouldn't be worth getting the asus because of the C-50 processor. Theres not really many options when it comes to 11.6" netbooks and I think the 10.1" ones will just annoy me because of the screen size.

I don't think i'll find anything with decent battery life in the price range, ino they get a lot worse after time but i use the laptop so much that if the battery life was only 2-3 hours i may aswell just leave it plugged in all the time which would be annoying.

Torqay

manu2009 wrote: »

I don't think i'll find anything with decent battery life in the price range

Not really, at least nothing that makes for comfortable working with MS Office. Some of the Acer Timeline series offer excellent battery life (500-600 Euro probably) or Ultrabooks (800 yoyos and beyond).

With a very low budget, your best bet is a Sandy Bridge Pentium (the B9XX series with integrated HD 3000 graphics has a TDP of 35W max) laptop and a few quid extra spent on a spare battery, if you really need the mobility.

manu2009

Ok, just made a quick decision and bought this.

Ino the processor isn't the best but hopefully it will just be ok for internet browsing and general use.

I bought it mainly because of the price, portability, battery life, non-gloss screen and i like samsungs.

manu2009

manu2009 wrote: »

Ok, just made a quick decision and bought this.

Ino the processor isn't the best but hopefully it will just be ok for internet browsing and general use.

I bought it mainly because of the price, portability, battery life, non-gloss screen and i like samsungs.

4 hour battery life from a user review on amazon - not great...
those amd chips are not very power efficient.

Torqay

glasso wrote: »

4 hour battery life from a user review on amazon - not great...
those amd chips are not very power efficient.

I'd say they're not very efficient at all at all, the E-450 Fusion APU benchmarks slightly better than a Dual Core Atom, never mind a Sandy Bridge Pentium:

manu2009

I got the battery information from here. It says 6 hours on Saveonlaptops aswell.

And ino the processor benchmarks, but the one it has isn't bad for a netbook.

Torqay

manu2009 wrote: »

It says 6 hours on Saveonlaptops aswell.

These are the manufacturer's claims, 2 hrs less in real world scenarios are not uncommon. Or do you intent use the laptop with the display dimmed to the max, WLAN off and sound muted?

See, I'm sure one can drive a Ferrari Testarossa on 25 MPG, but it will take a helluva lot of fun out of it...

seems like the one on amazon may have a smaller battery than the one on the review site. it's hard to make out though so not sure... best of luck with it - hopefully you get the bigger battery.

manu2009

glasso wrote: »

seems like the one on amazon may have a smaller battery than the one on the review site. it's hard to make out though so not sure... best of luck with it - hopefully you get the bigger battery.

Ya just had a look there and it does, the battery from the review is this one. At least its not too dear and I could buy it if the one it comes with isn't lasting long enough.