Group test: what's the best budget laptop?

5. Acer Aspire V5-571

• Reviewed on: 6 September 12
• RRP: £499 inc VAT
• Rating:

The Acer Aspire V5-571 is very much a budget choice. Its quite-usable battery life, competent screen and generous dimensions make it a workable choice for a portable machine, but you may pine for more power with challenging computing tasks.

4. Lenovo IdeaPad S205-1038

• Reviewed on: 13 September 11
• RRP: £340 inc. VAT
• Rating:

If you’re after something that’s easy to carry around but has enough power to deal with tasks beyond the everyday then the Lenovo IdeaPad S205-1038 is well worth considering.

3. Samsung RV511

• Reviewed on: 31 May 11
• RRP: £534.05 inc VAT
• Rating:

The Samsung RV511 is a well specified laptop that provides plenty of the features and certainly most of the performance you can expect of any laptop under £1000. Build quality is also fairly solid, if a bit chunky and plasticky feeling. It’s a well-rounded package and certainly worth short-listing if you’re shopping for a no-frills laptop under £500.

2. Toshiba Satellite Pro L850-11U

• Reviewed on: 20 September 12
• RRP: £500 inc VAT
• Rating:

The Toshiba Satellite Pro L850 lacks the pace of some budget notebooks, and the screen and input device are trimmed to the budget price. Triumphs for the Satellite Pro include its large hard drive and usable speakers, while battery life proved quite usable too. For a business on a budget, it will handle the basics.

1. Acer Aspire V3-571

• Reviewed on: 7 September 12
• RRP: £450 inc VAT
• Rating:

The Acer Aspire V3-571 laptop is a great example of just how much can be achieved within the constraints of a severely limited budget.