Need 12"->14" postable laptop. 500~ budget

Alanstrainor

Hey guys, looking for some advice here. This is for a family member, she's looking for a laptop to do her thesis on. The requirements are as follows:

Size: This will need to be portable enough to bring to college daily, but usable over the entire day, hence my idea of 12" min screen size and 14" max.
OS: Windows 8 is fine, as is 7 if there's any left. No preference really.
Performance/Specs: This machine does not have to be a power house, it will be Word/Internet and movies. No need for an SSD, and given the budget its out of the question.
Budget: 500 quid or there abouts, she would pay more for a better machine.

Now, she says she needs a DVD/CD player, however I'm going to convince her otherwise, I reckon shoe doesn't actually use it. I always like Lenovo and Asus, Dell wouldn't be out of the question either. I would have an issue with Acer, but I'm fairly open to most brands.

Anyone have any ideas?

bmm

I looked at a good few laptops today in PCWorld. There wasnt a huge range but if i had to pick one it would have been the Acer Aspire V5, it's 400 yoyo and felt snappy for the spec. Screen looked sharper than many others and it weighs 1.4kg so light. Just one option.

Alanstrainor

Cheers, very reluctant to go with Acer I've repaired far too many over the years!