Reliable Win 7 laptop for swmbo.

My wife has a rather old hand me down Fujitsu Amilo Si 1520 laptop (2006 vintage), which is ever so, ever so painfully slooooow and it's running my second copy of Windows 7 Pro.

She wants a quick machine but her usage is very limited, checking emails, and a little internet searching plus keeping track of household bills with MS Money 2005 and internet banking.

Most laptops now seem to be Win 8 or 8.1 but I have heard/read various reports on Win 8 being overly complicated and not very user friendly, both are something that I would like to avoid at all costs. She is thinking of paying up to £500 which I think is too much for what she needs it to do.

Any suggestions as to what may be suitable or where I could start looking for something? I haven't a clue about laptop specs and would like something fairly basic but fast and easy to use..........preferably with Win 7 which I have on my PC so have some experience of its workings

There are Windows 7 laptops still available on Amazon.com HP may still have some in inventory as well. Lenovo is another brand that has offered them recently. Many models can be reloaded with Windows 7 Pro if they came with Windows 8. Since you are in the UK, that may be an issue (try Amazon as they are global) but US English will work for you over there. Licensing is the biggie unfortunately.
Just some things to check out. Good luck to you.

Thanks guy's. I will go look at some Win 8 deals. I did look at Amazon UK for Win 7 laptops but those listed seem to be be mostly 'refurbished'.

Thanks Maxie.

A basic graphics card will be fine, anything in colour will do the job and as long as it does not take as long to open a program as it does to boil a kettle also fine.

She is fed up looking at that damned hour glass spinning around and doing nothing while she twiddles her thumbs that has annoyed her and I must say I agree.

No1 it is, now what can she buy me with the other £100 I just saved her

Just searched for reviews of this model, on some it says 2gb ram others 4gb on Curry's 8gb ram. On some 500gb HD on Curry's 1TB. I think a visit is in order to check the specs'

I see they are also offering a refurbished version for £287 or new for £299, no contest.