09-10-2014, 07:10 PM
Right lets get looking... im writing this as i look through ebuyer. My first thoughts are that £150 is not a lot and I doubt you will find anything more than a dual core for that money. What have you currently got? Dont want to get anything worse than that! Also what kind of form are we looking at?
Im going to go with what I presume you want... £150, around 17inch screen, and enough processing power, graphics and memory for browsing, office and at a push the retro emulators. Should be fine for stuff that old. So what im thinking is dual core, whatever graphics we can get, and if possible 4GB of memory. As for harddrive space probably around 160GB. Anything more is a bonus but you can always swap it at a later stage for a bigger one. Operating system wise... windows 7 if possible as 8 is terrible.
*starts looking*
This is instantly a struggle as things tend to start after £200 as a minimum. A lot of these offers have cash back so if you have something to trade in then i guess that helps... but for £40 or so probably worth selling elsewhere to get more...
1- Lenovo B50 -http://www.ebuyer.com/645880-lenovo-b50-laptop-mca28uk - £200
![[Image: 621591-645880-800.jpg]](http://img.ebyrcdn.net/621591-645880-800.jpg)
So this has a dual core running at about 1.9GHZ (Q4,2013). It has 4GB of memory which is great and a 320GB HDD which is good. Its a slim form and has a 16" screen. Its running windows 8.1 but looks like you dont have much of a choice here. Its 64bit at least so should be okay. It reviews well at 8.1/10 so this would be my first choice. Only weights 2.15KG and it has a DVD drive which a lot of the small form laptops wont have. 5 hours battery life and if the other lenovo devices are anything to go by then you can get bigger batteries. Mine lasts for about 7 hours!
2 - Toshiba Satellite Pro C50-A-1MM - http://www.ebuyer.com/639630-toshiba-sat...e-038041en - £200
![[Image: 635355-639630-800.jpg]](http://img.ebyrcdn.net/635355-639630-800.jpg)
This is the only other real player in the price range. Its got a older intel celeron processor (Q3,2013) which uses more power so is less efficient than the other. Its dual core too and runs the same 1.9GHZ speed as the other. Again its got 4GB of memory but this time a 500GB HDD. Exactly the same screen and resolution as the Lenovo.
*Verdict*
Everything for this price is going to be pretty much the same but the Lenovo is the better option here. It has a more modern and efficient processor. They both probably have the same graphics which i would describe as 'limited'. Both are essentially business brands of laptops. The Toshiba has more hard drive capacity but as I say you can swap this out. What may be the case here is that although the Toshiba has more storage it will be slower to access it.
I recommend the Lenovo. It looks a lot sleeker and having used one for the past year I can say that the build quality is great. Look at the keyboards on both of them. The toshiba looks matted and cheap. The lenovo looks shiny and if its the same keyboard as mine (which it does look like it is) then its a pleasure to use!
You arent going to get a lot for your money but I would suggest this is the best youre going to get.
Im going to go with what I presume you want... £150, around 17inch screen, and enough processing power, graphics and memory for browsing, office and at a push the retro emulators. Should be fine for stuff that old. So what im thinking is dual core, whatever graphics we can get, and if possible 4GB of memory. As for harddrive space probably around 160GB. Anything more is a bonus but you can always swap it at a later stage for a bigger one. Operating system wise... windows 7 if possible as 8 is terrible.
*starts looking*
This is instantly a struggle as things tend to start after £200 as a minimum. A lot of these offers have cash back so if you have something to trade in then i guess that helps... but for £40 or so probably worth selling elsewhere to get more...
1- Lenovo B50 -http://www.ebuyer.com/645880-lenovo-b50-laptop-mca28uk - £200
So this has a dual core running at about 1.9GHZ (Q4,2013). It has 4GB of memory which is great and a 320GB HDD which is good. Its a slim form and has a 16" screen. Its running windows 8.1 but looks like you dont have much of a choice here. Its 64bit at least so should be okay. It reviews well at 8.1/10 so this would be my first choice. Only weights 2.15KG and it has a DVD drive which a lot of the small form laptops wont have. 5 hours battery life and if the other lenovo devices are anything to go by then you can get bigger batteries. Mine lasts for about 7 hours!
2 - Toshiba Satellite Pro C50-A-1MM - http://www.ebuyer.com/639630-toshiba-sat...e-038041en - £200
This is the only other real player in the price range. Its got a older intel celeron processor (Q3,2013) which uses more power so is less efficient than the other. Its dual core too and runs the same 1.9GHZ speed as the other. Again its got 4GB of memory but this time a 500GB HDD. Exactly the same screen and resolution as the Lenovo.
*Verdict*
Everything for this price is going to be pretty much the same but the Lenovo is the better option here. It has a more modern and efficient processor. They both probably have the same graphics which i would describe as 'limited'. Both are essentially business brands of laptops. The Toshiba has more hard drive capacity but as I say you can swap this out. What may be the case here is that although the Toshiba has more storage it will be slower to access it.
I recommend the Lenovo. It looks a lot sleeker and having used one for the past year I can say that the build quality is great. Look at the keyboards on both of them. The toshiba looks matted and cheap. The lenovo looks shiny and if its the same keyboard as mine (which it does look like it is) then its a pleasure to use!
You arent going to get a lot for your money but I would suggest this is the best youre going to get.