Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo V5505

This laptop is half-decent. It is supplied with a 2GHZ Intel Centrino Duo processor, which provides decent speed, and 2GB RAM, which is just about enough for some good games. Runs Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas fine, though GTA IV refused to run at all. Comes with Windows Vista preinstalled, so, of course, loses one mark for that. The screen is not very good quality. Colours are very limited, contrast is pretty awful, and even on the highest brightness setting it is still quite dim. The trackpad is nice and responsive, and the keyboard is fine. At first glance the casing is quite ugly, but as you get used to it you will find that you start to like the style. Many laptops try to look all sleek and cool, but the V5505 looks a bit more serious and businesslike, like a laptop in a suit, and I like that. Also if you close the lid and cover up the Fujitsu Siemens logo, it looks a little bit like a MacBook Pro, which is a plus. Battery life isn't great, and after a year the battery only holds 80% of it's original charge, so battery degradation is high.

I bought this laptop as a desktop replacement which would allow me to upgrade to Vista and have all the benefits of a portable computer.I chose the V5505 on the strength of it offering a good spec at a low price from a reputable brand. Mine comes with 2GHz processing power and 2GB RAM and with this it runs Vista and most applications very quickly. I have the Virgin Media PC Guard virus checker installed and it still performs well. The only task that I have noticed running slowly is de-fragmenting an external hard drive, but this may well be due to the USB connection standards rather than the V5505.Battery life is pretty good. I always have the screen at full brightness and the battery lasts approximate 1:45 in this condition, and hasn't noticably deteriorated in the 8 months I've owned it.I haven't experienced any hardware related issues with this laptop, and I've been so pleased with mine that I persuaded my wife to buy one too.