I bought this laptop direct from Dell for £379, with free delivery. I had researched laptops on the web beforehand - I knew that I wanted a reliable but basic laptop for my son to take to university with him, and because of this I did not upgrade to a customised colour, bluetooth, a webcam, or any of the other upgrades on offer.

He has now been using it for a month, and is very happy with the performance and applications. It came with a shiny but GREY touchpad an inner casing, thus avoiding the problematic fingermarks that others have mentioned. He tends to keep it plugged into the mains, and so I have not been able to test out the other main complaint of the professional reviews - short battery life.

The laptop came pre-loaded with Vista and Microsoft Works. When I ordered the product Dell clearly indicated on my order confirmation that this did not include Word, but I did not notice until the laptop arrived, and this is a major disadvantage as most people find Word essential. It was fully charged and ready to go when it arrived - it was simply a matter of switching it on and starting to use it. Connection to my router was very easy and internet connection has been stable. So far the laptop has not crashed, slowed down or caused any concern at all.

The 15.6" widescreen is a real plus for online viewing - it seem exceptionally clear. The speaker sound is slightly tinny, but not unusually so for a cheapish laptop. He has invested in some good quality speakers which produce a great sound.

Generally speaking we are very happy with our purchase, but we went into it with no preconceptions - we knew that we were buying a very basic laptop which would not support serious gaming, and did not have luxury upgrades.