Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pro V3515 review: Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pro V3515

If your computer requirements are modest and only stretch to the odd bit of email, Web browsing and word processing then you don’t need the latest, greatest kit available.

You can make a considerable saving, especially when you consider machines like the Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pro V3515, which can be yours for just £290 from LaptopsDirect.co.uk.

Strengths
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the V3515 is its sub-£300 price tag — that’s cheaper than a high-end graphics card.

While its processing performance leaves a little to be desired, it’s not bad when it comes to battery life. It managed to keep going for one hour 42 minutes while running Battery Eater’s intensive run down test. Switching to the easier reader test, however, only improved its endurance by 40 minutes to two hours 22 minutes, which is hardly a dramatic increase. Although some components in the V3515 are undoubtedly cheap, the keyboard is actually quite good. It’s bouncy to type on, but not too bad to use for an extended period.

There are also plenty of USB ports available for plugging in peripherals — two on the right and a further two round the back.

Just because it’s at the bottom end of the price spectrum, however, doesn’t mean you have to miss out on useful extras such as integrated wireless networking, as it comes with built-in Wi-Fi, so you don’t need to tie up a USB port with an external adapter.

Weaknesses
Inevitably, compromises have to be made to create a laptop that’s cheaper than a gourmet espresso machine. It’s fairly underpowered in the processor department, with only a Celeron M chip rather than Intel’s beefier Core 2 Duo CPUs. With a clock speed of just 1.6GHz and a meagre 512MB of RAM, it didn’t even manage to achieve a four figure score when running PCMark05, limping home with a miserable result of just 856.