TBH I find Dell laptops for general use, quite good value, especially the Inspeiron range (once you get rid of all the junk software they insist on loading). Just pay the extra fiver for the genuine windoze disks rather than the recovery stuff they insist on. We use them quite heavily at work, with no problems, unlike some of the other lappys we've had form other sources.
Biggest pricing thing for any lappy is usually the screen size, and weight. Unless the machine is well designed for the ventilation, make sure you get a mobile generation CPU rather than a desktop one. Otherwise you risk frying your legs when you do use it as a lappy!
The killer with Dell is often the post and packing, which can be extortionate.
Just above your price range try this form Dell
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dells...rsinspn_6400_5 incl VAT and delivery that looks a good deal to me. Nice screen size too - It's the one I have for work and I love it. You can save money too by reducing the warranty deal.