Nothing beats a cheap and cheerful laptop computer. Let's face it, the point of buying a laptop in the first place was so that I could work anywhere, but ever since I laid out a middle-sized fortune on the Mac G4, it has really become more of a home computer. I am so precious about it that I won't let it leave the house lest I forget it on the Tube, nor will I allow food or beverages within a 5-mile radius of it.
Just as I have a second pair of shoes that I keep in my bag for actually walking any kind of distance in, I realised I needed a second laptop for actual use as a laptop.
At this price, the Acer Aspire 5315 is the computer I can afford to be cavalier with. I bring it with me everywhere willy-nilly without having to worry about whether it is going to be nicked or if I’m going to spill my Starbucks all over the keyboard.
It has an 80-gig hard drive, 1-gig RAM, Intel Celeron Mobile processor, Vista Home Basic, DVD writer, and a 15-inch widescreen display. I saved 60 quid off the usual asking price, and they also chucked in a laptop bag, Norton virus protection, a cordless optical mouse and a 1-gig USB storage stick. All this, and it was cheap as chips.

| Merchant | Title | Price |
![]() | ACER ASPIRE 5315 | £369.99 |