I'm currently looking to buy a new laptop for around £500 (that's about $750). I know for that price I'm not going to be able to buy anything capable of doing anything brilliant on the gaming front, but if possible I would like to be able to play most new-ish games, even if I have to have them on low graphics settings.

Now, I've found this laptop for just over £540, which claims to be a gaming laptop, but for that price I'm skeptical of it actually being much use, and I only have a basic knowledge of computer specs, so can someone advise me on what sort of games this laptop can actually play, and if I can get one with better specs for a similar price?

Search for reviews. I can't really say anything about it, cause I don't own it.

I would expect to be able to run games like World of Goo on that laptop and not much more.  You may be able to get modern DX10 games to run, but it will be at the lowest possible resolution and with all details turned off.

What I'm saying is don't expect much from that laptop, it's not a gaming laptop in the sense of the word you have in mind.

Just pay a little more and get a proper gaming laptop. Paying that much for a laptop that may not be able to run the newer games is a little stupid.

I have a Dell Vostro 1500 which I'm very happy with, I've advised other people to buy Vostro's and they haven't had any problems as of yet - It's not fantastic for gaming, but with an upgraded graphics card it might be decent enough.

I bought a XPS M1710 when they first launched.  Great graphics performance, but the sound processor is shit.  It has SigmaTel integratd audio and it's fucking horrible.  Fallout 3's audio is all shit thanks to the pos sound card.  Don't try to go cheap when trying to get a gaming laptop, I've seen a coupld decent ones for around $1800 or so U.S., don't try to spend cheap and expect performance.

"Paying that much for a laptop that may not be able to run the newer games is a little stupid."

After a bit more research, I'm looking at this Acer Aspire 6920G. It seems to have a better processor, better graphics card, bigger hard drive AND a blu-ray drive. It does have less RAM, but 3GB should be enough, and even if it isn't RAM is easy to upgrade. I don't think I'll find a better deal for that sort of price.

Thanks for the advice though guys.