Can anyone recommend the best value for money laptop on the market today? And where to purchase?

I do not have the money for a Mac, so have been looking at the Toshiba & HP.

I looking for processing speed, memory & battery life.

Any recommendations.

While I'd also look further for specific reviews etc. this site is great for looking for the best prices.

Edit: Gets updated all the time - laptop list looks a bit short today, but when I looked the other day there were loads of them. Keep checking back.

There are a lot of cheap laptops out there and there isn't really a lot of difference between the different brands. You just figure out the approximate specification that you want and then look for the cheapest model that meets that spec. Do not purchase an "extended warranty" and expect it to last for about 2 years.

You should be aware that the cheapest laptops are usually made with "desktop" components instead of the more expensive low power "mobile" components - this means that they tend to be large and heavy and have very poor battery life. They are great if you only ever use them at home and they are in fact just a "desktop replacement" that is easy to move around. They are not particularly satisfactory if you are going to carry them around a lot.

The two major things that make laptops expensive are long battery life and light weight - either one of those will add to the cost - if you want both it will add a lot to the cost.

There are a lot of machines in the $600 - $700 range that will give you decent performance but most of them are still in the "desktop replacement" category when it comes to weight and battery life.

Costco...they don't carry a huge range but you can rarely beat their prices. They also have a no fee 90 day return policy...I don't think any other retailer comes close to that.

ASUS have some really cheap and cheerful netbooks on Amazon. I'm thinking of getting one just to browse the web on the couch.

Here's one for $320.

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-1005HA-VU...1069044&sr=1-3

I have an Acer netbook I use when travelling. Again Costco is the place to buy...try it for up to 90 days and if you don't like it take it back and get a full refund.

having never owned any of these things, what's the difference between a netbook and a laptop? Just the size? I've only really heard about Netbooks recently and wondered about getting one.

Wait till you get to the US and get a mac, http://store.apple.com/us/browse/hom...ro?mco=MTE4NDY and free shipping.
I love my Mac.

Sorry I just realized you are already here, save your money and get a Mac anyways

I've got the 1000He version of that, and it rocks...realistically gets 5-6 hours battery life in real usage, but if you switch the bluetooth/wifi/camera off and don't play movies on it you do get it up to the 8 hr mark...watching a movie gets about 4 hours out of the battery....and the power adapter is pretty small and doesn't weigh a ton.

It's nice that it comes with a case and restore discs unlike the acer one where you have to burn your own set.

Definitely get the memory upgrade as it doesn't void the warranty and takes two mins to install and only costs a couple bucks.

netbooks are small, 10" or less screen size....laptops are larger, more power sometimes and more a desktop replacement for some....or ball melters for others

You missed the bit where the OP was asking for good value for money and not costing much money...

Macs are lovely, but they are massively over priced for the spec.

thanks

You get what you pay for.

Not really....the after care is great, but only realistically if you have a mac store nearby and the build quality isn't any better to anything else out there.

The OS is nice and simple for the average user, dual boots great, but there's a lot that's not that great about it too.

I have a Gateway, went in looking at HPs and Toshiba and this came in cheaper at the time (2 years ago). Since then think prices have gone down, but it does prove not to be a brand snob.