Looking for a laptop for university...and have literally no clue what I'm looking for

CBorders

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Hi, this is my first post here, so sorry if its in the wrong place.
Basic story is that I'm looking for a laptop to take to university with me in December. I'm planning on studying Maths with Economics, so I won't be relying on the laptop for too much 'specialist' programmes.

The main functions I want it to have really is to be quick, be able to handle multiple programs and webpages open at once, and I'll also be using it for Skype-ing home and for (light) TV and film viewing. I very much doubt there'll be any gaming.

I would like a 15-15.6" screen, and preferably a numeric pad on the keyboard - although I will forgoe this for speed/reliability.

I DON'T want a HP or a Samsung. I've had bad experience with Samsung, and I strongly dislike the touchpad mouse on the HPs that are in my budget - in my opinion the roughness is vile. I currently have a 5-year old Acer Aspire 5920. Not entirely sure if I'd want another Acer.

The aforementioned budget is absolute maximum £500. Realistically, I love to only spend around £400.

I've been looking around, and I'm really not sure about what exactly I'm supposed to be looking for. Is an Intel I5 processor really worth an extra £100ish than an I3 considering my rather basic needs?

I'm going to include some links of laptops I've looked at, but other suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance for any advice, and sorry for the long (and probably very boring) post.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-G570-15-6-inch-Laptop/dp/B005TPRWN4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
I've seen a slightly lower spec (smaller harddrive and memory) version of this in PC World and loved it, but I've never heard of the brand, and people I've spoken to seem to doubt it.

Dell Inspiron 15R Either 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i3-2350M processor (2.30 Ghz, 3M cache) or 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i5-2450M processor (2.50 GHz, 3M cache) with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.10 BUT I'm not really sure which out of the two to go for.

This one also looks good, but lacks the numeric keyboard, Inspiron 15 (1545) Laptop Details | Dell UK 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i5-2450M processor (2.50 GHz, 3M cache) with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.10. (I also haven't seen this one in the flesh).

Again, thanks! Look forward to reading your responses!
 
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The Dell Inspiron 15R is a good choice - you can get the Core i3 for £399 here:

http://www.dmxdimension.com/recommend/N00N5537

The Core i5 is another £50 and I don't think you will benefit from the incremental performance:

http://www.dmxdimension.com/recommend/N00N5540

Hi - thanks for the reply, but those links are taking me ot the Inspiron15, which I have decided against as I really want the numeric keypad.

I was looking at this Buy Toshiba Satellite C660-2EV Laptop, Intel Core i5, 2.4/3GHz, 6GB RAM, 640GB, 15.6", Black online at JohnLewis.com which seems decent, but again I'm not sure.

I love the look and feel of Samsung, but have been let down by a smartphone (although to give them credit the customer service is excellent). What are their laptops like?
 

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