Best Budget (Dell Inspiron 1300) |
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 Just because you want a portable PC doesn't mean you have to pay a premium. Prices have really fallen and you can now pick up a budget laptop that is more than adequate for less than £400. |
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But where you don't want to cut corners is on choosing a reputable brand, particularly as budget computers often appeal to those who have little technical expertise. This is why we have gone with the safe route of choosing a Dell.
Dell has won loads of awards for offering good value for money and excellent reliability. This year alone it has won awards for value from computer magazines including Computer Shopper, Computer Buyer and What Laptop? It has also picked up praise for support and reliability from PC Pro, What Laptop? and Computeractive, to name Dell's most recent successes.
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 This reputation means you can buy with confidence even if you aren't spending the earth. As each laptop is designed online, it's hard to recommend a specific model, but the entry-level model in its Home Essentials range, the Inspiron 1300, caught our eye. It was a version of this that won the What Laptop? award for Best Value Notebook.
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More than Enough |
Features do change, but what the Inspiron 1300 has to offer for just £329 is more than enough for what most us do on our home computers. Notebook Reviews website says: "The Dell 1300 [is] a fine notebook for general usage . . . if you're looking for a cheap solution for a portable PC so you can work or surf the web from the couch, or have a cheap PC in the kids' room, then the 1300 is fine".
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 Of course you won't get a cutting-edge computer at this price and you won't be able to use it to play games (other than solitaire or the like), but for a first laptop for a teenager it's perfect.
It uses a 1.6GHz Celeron processor, not the fastest on the market by a long shot, but it's enough for simple tasks like word processing, surfing the net and the like. It has 256MB of memory a 14.1in screen and a 40GB hard drive. It does have a CD writer, but can only play DVD discs.
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WHY TO BUY
- Cheap and reliable
- Good for teenagers |
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| TYPICAL PRICE - £330/$500 |
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