Narrowed down laptop

[castlerock]

I've picked 4 similar spec laptops that i am looking to buy, is there one that could be recomended from these 4?

£537 Lenovo G5070
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-G507...e=UTF8&qid=1448909639&sr=1-51&keywords=laptop

£458 Acer Aspire e5-573
NX.MW2EK.066 | Acer Aspire E5-573 Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2 GHz 8GB 1TB DVD-SM 15.6" Windows 8.1 (64-b - Laptops Direct

Lenovo Z51 £450
Lenovo Z51 Intel® Core™ i5 Processor, 8Gb RAM, 1Tb HDD Storage, 15.6 inch Full HD Laptop 2GB Dedicated Graphics with Optional Microsoft Office 365 Personal - White | very.co.uk

Asus X555LJ £550
X555LJ-DM541H, ASUS X555LJ-DM541H, 6231318 - Save on Laptops

 

[EndlessWaves]

What do you want from a laptop?

If you're after a lot of processing power then consider one of Intel's quad core processors such as the i5-6300HQ. They're available for not much more money, they start just under £600, and will be substantially faster in tasks that can use four cores - double the speed in some cases.

 

[castlerock]

Thanks for the reply. Tbh with you I dont need anything too fancy as I'll only be using it for web browsing, watching movies, and using excel a lot. I wont be playing games on it. I want something that is fast loading has an excellent battery life and has a really good display!

 

[EndlessWaves]

The ones you've linked seem to be the exact opposite of your criteria. They don't have particularly large batteries or frugal processors while none of them come with the SSD required for fast loading. I haven't checked the reviews of the displays, models that start at £300 with lower computing components generally don't have particularly good displays though.

Have you looked at Asus' UX305? It's one of the few lower priced models that spends it's budget in the other direction. An nice high brightness screen, a decent sized battery coupled with a low power Core M processor and an SSD as standard. The trade-offs being less storage space and a processor that's less capable if you do want to do anything demanding with it.

 

[castlerock]

I hadnt looked at that. I was told to get an intel I3, I5 or I7, im guessing the Core M is just as good as an I5!? This pretty much ticks most of the boxes for me tbh. Only 2 drawbacks are the screen size (would have been ideal if it was an inch bigger) and the fact that its only 128GB. Is it fairly easy to replace the hard drive with a 250 or 500?

 

[EndlessWaves]

I hadnt looked at that. I was told to get an intel I3, I5 or I7

For what reason? Given the way you've described you're requirements and desires and the sort of budget you seem to be looking at, it doesn't seem like the more expensive chips would be a very good use of that budget.

im guessing the Core M is just as good as an I5!?

It's got most of the features, although in terms of performance it's slower than the CPUs in the other laptops you're considering. If you want everything to be good that's the definition of a top of the range model and when you're spending half the money you have to compromise somewhere and pick some parts that are adequate. Unless your excel worksheets are very heavy on the calculations it should be sufficient.

This pretty much ticks most of the boxes for me tbh. Only 2 drawbacks are the screen size (would have been ideal if it was an inch bigger) and the fact that its only 128GB. Is it fairly easy to replace the hard drive with a 250 or 500?

I believe it's fairly easy on the UX305 as the whole backplate can be unscrewed from the bottom, see the pictures down the side in notebookcheck's review:
Asus Zenbook UX305 Subnotebook Review

It does only take M.2 drives though, so you'd spend a little bit more than on a comparable 2.5" SSD.

EDIT: You may also be interested in notebookcheck's review of this configuration of the UX305 which has the same screen: Asus Zenbook UX305FA Subnotebook Review

 

[castlerock]

Thanks. You've been so helpful. I am going to post another thread with the exact spec & what I fully want from a laptop. This is just to make everything clear from the off so I don't waste your time or anyone else's really. Feel free to answer me on there if you so wish. ;-)