Hi Scott
I got the parents a Dell Inspiron 15R i think it was for £400. The specs were amazing for the money, Core i5 processor, 500gb hard drive and even a dedicated graphics card instead of the build in intel rubbish.
If flys along, so much quicker than my old one, i was tempted to swap it!! May be slight overkill for what you need at present, but it will still be good in a few years time which is important.
Got it from here. Their service was amazing. Constant emails about packaging, tracking numbers, delivery times etc. I would really recommend them.
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/