1 January 2007 11:00 GMT / By Stephen Patrick

Notebook prices have dropped so much in recent months that you can now find machines with a decent specification at a fraction of what they were a year ago.

Even so, you need to be wary of some as they offer than you think. Thankfully, that isn’t the case with the Fujitsu Siemens AMILO Pi 1505, which for the asking price of £499 (inc. VAT) offers the latest in processing power and is a great machine into the bargain.

Powered by an Intel Core Duo T5050, this is a budget priced processor but as it’s dual-core it’ll more than handle anything you want to do on a notebook. You only get 512MB of memory so if your budget will stretch to it, opt for 1024MB, as you’ll really see a power boost. The hard drive can hold up to 100GB of data, which at this price is impressive too. We’ve been using the machine for a while and have found it to be great for most things, as long as you don’t need to edit video footage that is, as we found this something of a time consuming chore.

Weighing in at 2.7kg, you’ll find weight is reasonable, largely due to the use of a 15.4-inch screen. It comes with a glossy coating so images look great – ideal if you want to watch DVDs or edit photos on it. You can use it on the move with ease, as we got over four hours from regular use. We expect this machine will be used by students and those on a budget, so being able to be used anywhere is an advantage.

Away from the main specification, things are equally impressive for the price. The build quality of the machine is sold and while the keyboard isn’t the best we’ve used – there is a degree of rattle as you type that can be annoying – it’s well-spaced and sits well with the chassis. Network connectivity is a mixed bag. Fixed Ethernet connections run at 10/100 Base-T speed, while 802.11a/g wireless means hotspots can be accessed at high-speed in the UK and abroad.

It’s being sold in this country by Staples, so you can go along to one of their superstores and check it out for yourself (or order online) and we suggest you do. That way, you can check out whether you like the keyboard and possibly grab a version with a little more memory.

Verdict

It’s not very often that you come across a machine that offers genuine value at a bargain price. The Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pi 1505 is definitely one of those machines.

It may not be the most powerfully built but at this price it offers more than we were expecting.

Even if it was slightly more expensive, we’d still think it worth the price.

Score

Review Recap

Made by

Fujitsu-Siemens

Price as reviewed

£499

The good

Great spec, great price, good battery

The bad

Keyboard rattles, basic graphics

Quick verdict

With dual-core CPU, this is one of the most powerful budget machines we’ve seen and it’s a pleasure to use

Score

Winner

• Shop - Fujitsu Siemens

Recommended articles