Quick opinion on Laptop required...
 

Just looking in PC world at £400-£500 lappies.

Looking at http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computi...37492-pdt.html

And

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computi...37568-pdt.html

Will the i5 be that much better in terms of speed?

Just need a lappy to run Office and basic internet stuff.
What else should I be looking at around this price?

Thanks for the solid input so far :D

I don't know a lot about laptops but have spent some time this afternoon and have looked a bit harder. From the research I've done it looks like the above links have older processors.
We are now looking at machines with i5 6th gen processors which can be had for £300-£400 taking into account that Office is going to cost £90 or there abouts which will knock us into the £400's
I would really like an SSD but don't think it will happen with this budget as 256gb would be a minimum requirement.

Can you stretch to any more - might have an ideal suggestion for you :)

the i5 would be a minium in my mind - i3 is ok but the i5 will always be better

8GB is the min on memory and you are right an SSD would be better

Screen res is a bit low for a 16" in my opinion

and these are not portable at 2.4kg

Office - goto to office365 on line and get cheaper options
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/micr...g8UaAldV8P8HAQ

The new laptop will need to put in a good innings as the Samsung NC10 it replaces is now pushing 7 years old and is compromised on its 7" screen, HD space and still running XP.
As 365 is a yearly subscription, I would rather pay once for Office as it will be cheaper in the long run.
I don't mind pushing the budget but would find it hard to justify given what it will be used for.

I wouldn't buy anything computer wise from Curry's/PC world, they are massively overpriced for starters.

Check out the Dell Outlet, generally you'll get a lot more for your money

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/(S(pr0hy...fh1&l=en&s=dfh

I appreciate that but are they not all refurbs?

People sometimes get the wrong idea about refurbs.

A refurb in a lot of cases is a customer return with nothing wrong with it, a customer may have ordered a PC but then had a change of mind when they received it and sent it back for a refund, they may have also accidentally ordered the wrong spec and realised this when it arrived and again they returned it. A company is not allowed to re-list an opened box item as brand new even though it maybe brand new, they have to relist it as a refurb.

Sometimes a return can be for something that had a minor fault, Dell just replace the part and check it like they would check any new computer, also a return can be for missing accessories, Dell put the missing accessories back ino the box and list it as a refurb. Some may have minor marks on the plastic, if you look on the left of the Dell Outlet page their is a separate section for scratch and dent systems which most of the time are really minor scratches.

You can't go wrong really as you get a full Dell warranty, ive had refurbs in the past from Dell for myself and a mate, when they arrived you would have thought they were brand new, they probably were.

Also look at ebuyer.

I would certainly choose an i5 over an i3..and I have both.

Also, I'm NOT a fan of ACER, since my acer 'puters haven't been particularly long-lived, and when they do go, the repairers compalin that they don't use standard parts, so are difficult and expensive to repair.

I now like ASUS: http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/asus-co...-criteria.html

The top one has a £100 trade in too.

All input taken on board.
Dell is a consideration. Looking closely at an i5 Lenovo from CCL online at the moment. Will probably look to buy an SSD for around £70 to make a damn quick £450 lappy :thumb:
Any Lenovo experience in the house?

.....off to sniff on Ebuyer :D

Thanks for the input everyone. I ended up with this :thumb:

Looks a good price.

i have Lenovo with work T420T and they just sent me the new Helix.

All i,ll say is they last, but rule of thumb for Laptops is for me anyway Core I5 or higher 8 gig ram or more and a MUST is SSD drive...

As for the cheapness, youll probably be hindered by the VGA card so no gaming as this price point.

The Helix i have is a new core M with SSD and 8 GB ram, and its pretty slow, it does have 12 hr batt though but slow as hell LOL :(

Currently on HDD but am aware that an SSD can be had for £70 or so.
Is it easy to clone the HDD across to the SSD then just swap the drives?

Yes, there is software available or buy a hdd cloning machine