The best budget laptops - 4 of the UK's finest sub-£499 laptops reviewed

With budgets being squeezed for every penny, it's more important than ever to get the most from your money. With this in mind, we've taken an in-depth look at four of the best entry-level laptops you can buy, offering reviews with everything a first-time buyer will need.

Even we were surprised at just how well specified these laptops are. With capacious hard drives, great usability and high-speed network access on offer, even experienced users will find themselves well catered for.

By putting all four laptops through our rigorous testing process, we can show you which is the best of the bunch, but it's a very tough call. The results may surprise you, but you can feel safe in the knowledge that your money will be well spent, whichever model you choose to buy.

Acer Aspire 5536-643G50Mn laptop
£499 (inc. VAT)
A stunningly usable entry-level media centre laptop that's truly difficult to fault
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MSI VR705 laptop
£499 (inc. VAT)
A strong entry-level media centre, but bettered by rivals in key areas
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Samsung R505 laptop
£427 (inc. VAT)
Despite some minor shortcomings, this is a fantastic entry-level laptop
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Toshiba Satellite Pro P300-1FP laptop
£410 (inc. VAT)
Impressive value and performance, but is bettered by the other laptops here
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Build quality and features
A more in depth look at some of the design features on these budget portables.
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For full details and to find out the best budget laptop, download the entire group test:
High-resolution PDF (12.2MB)
Low-resolution PDF (922KB)

Group test first featured in What Laptop Issue 125