[Probes]

I'm after a laptop, bit out of touch with specs etc for pc's these days. I need on for the following:
Basic internet, a bit of music downloading
Running Cubase or similar music production/editing software
Running Solidworks & Autocad
Decent screen size

and that is about it really. Would like to get something new but second hand is possibility. Budget is around £300.
Any advice from super geeks gratefully appreciated. 

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Cripes you don't want much do you! Music and 3D design are only second to video editing for needing lots of grunt and RAM. For £300 you'll be lucky to get an i3 processor when you really want an i5 at least.

Personally I wouldn't go second hand as spec drops so fast once its 2 or 3 years old it's not really worth much. Refurb is always an option for a bargain, Dell has a good refurb store (that I regularly mention  ) but you can find a bargain on there if you keep an eye on it. They sometimes have free delivery offers but I doubt they will around Xmas.

Still stretching your budget already but this gets you an i5 for around £350 delivered
http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&puid=880a7457

Cheapest i5 laptop currently on Ebuyer is £400 with less RAM and smaller hard drive than the one above, and this comes with Win8 which you may want to avoid! 
http://www.ebuyer.com/410424-toshiba-satellite-pro-c850-1eq-laptop-pscbxe-01400een

Shame you haven't got a bit more to spend as this is a lot of machine for £600
http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&puid=47aada23

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

You do have to be quick on there, both now sold. More similar here...
http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=7&c=uk&cs=ukdfh1

[tomtom]

Do a search on here - as me and Lagers identified the optimum times (there seem to be) where things get put on the Outlet store.. (sorry I can't remember..)
T

[lagerstarfish]

4pm ish is when the new Dell Outlet stuff starts to appear - having been watching for a couple of weeks, I scored one with an i7 processor for £410 delivered - Mrs Starfish's Christmas present, so don't tell her


she doesn't need a processor like that 

[slackline]

 

I picked up a bargain of a laptop (Asus Zen UX21e Ultrabook )as its was a warranty return/repair from dabs.com.  Bit hit and miss, but if you know what you're after (I did) it might save some pennies (saved a third on the retail price, £500 instead of the £750 they were listed at around the time I bought it). 

Aside from me busting the pin on the power supply its been perfect no problems.

[Probes]

Ah nice one chaps, that dell store looks like a good option. Yeh I guessed I was asking for a lot for 300. Can go a bit extra if it looks like it'll do the trick.
My biggest unknown is getting something that'll cope with just plugging in a sound card. The set up i used to use, which was a mates used firewire and we had an 8 channel mixer that plugged straight in. I was hoping to get something with 4 channels, and plug through the usb.. I assume the above laptops will be fine with this?

[Probes]

O and the next thing is solid works and the acquisition off   

[Probes]

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&puid=b905b434

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&puid=bbd4b18b

Spotted these 2, i5 or i7 and 1gb or 2 gb graphics looks the only difference... the cheaper one looks pretty sweet to me..?

[Probes]

Turned up trumps with the dell outlet, cheers for the  . An Insp15 with i5, 6gb ram, 1 tb drive, hd 4000 graphics, windows 8 for 330. 

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Good work, that's a bargain.