Dell Inspiron 15z
From £659
Dell's Inspiron series has served us well over the years, and the company has now updated its Inspiron 15z model with Windows 8 and a 720p touchscreen. It strikes a reasonable balance between affordability and performance and the option to customise your order gives you even more freedom when buying.
The price we've quoted gets you an Intel Core i3-3217U processor running at 1.8GHz and backed with a more than capable 6GB of RAM. There's also 500GB of storage space accompanied by a 32GB mSATA SSD that's responsible for booting Windows 8 as fast as possible.
The Inspiron 15z also features the DVD optical drive that's becoming something of a rarity for laptops these days. If you've still got programs and data on CDs then this will no doubt be an important choice for you.
The other reason we're recommending the Inspiron 15z as a business laptop is that the build quality is first class and very reliable. The silver aluminium chassis is understated and free from unwanted flexing or rattling. You'll also find the keyboard and trackpad are very comfortable to use for extended periods of time.