Not Necessarily Netbooks: Big Notebooks That Offer Bigger Values
How low can you go for a 15-inch screen? Hewlett-Packard's bare-bones 510 gets us less than $400 at some e-tailers. Sure, it's a positively ancient product, debuting way back in the first half of 2007, and the 1.4GHz Intel Celeron M360 chip isn't exactly on many enthusiasts' wish lists. But you're getting Microsoft Windows XP Home, which has a new lease on life thanks to netbooks, a 15.4-inch hi-def BrightView LCD screen, integrated Wi-Fi, 512 MB of DDR2 memory and a 60-GB hard disk, as well as an optical drive -- something missing on a lot of netbooks. And did we mention the HP 510 is less than $400?
Price: $399
Dell is keying in on value with its new Inspiron 1525. This surprisingly tricked-out laptop is available for less than $500 in a basic configuration. For less than a lot of vendors are asking for netbooks " we're looking at you, Sony " you'll boot up Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic on a 2.3GHz Intel Celeron 560 processor and look at it on a 15.4-inch LCD screen. The Inspiron 1525 has a CD/DVD writer, up to 4 GB of memory and up to 320 GB of storage. Options include beefing up the horsepower with an Intel Core 2 Duo chip, an integrated Webcam, Blu-ray, Bluetooth and facial-recognition software.
Price: $450
Toshiba showed up at January's Consumer Electronics Show with a very affordable new notebook -- the Satellite L305-S5921. How affordable is this Satellite? We're talking between $1,500 and two grand cheaper than its Portg and Qosmio brethren. What do you get for such a low, low price? More than you might think -- a 15.4-inch display, integrated Wi-Fi, 2 GB of RAM and 160 GB of hard disk space. And how about a dual-core Intel Pentium chip clocking in at 2.16GHz? This laptop is earning rave reviews from NewEgg.com users, and for good reason.
Price: $450
Dell takes us out of Intel Celeron and Pentium territory and pumps up the Core 2 Duo volume with this small-business-oriented 15-incher. The Vostro 1510 has a 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5670, runs on Vista Home Basic and weighs 5.73 pounds. The reason it's priced less than $500? Dell has knocked nearly $200 off the $678 list price in its efforts to get SMBs' attention.
Price: $479
We've seen prices for Lenovo's budget 15-inch ThinkPad slashed from more than $600 to less than $500 at some online outlets. This basic SL500 configuration comes with a 2.0GHz Intel Celeron 575 chip, Windows Vista Home Basic and a 15.4-inch WXGA VibrantView display. Memory and storage specs are pretty attractive, too -- the value-oriented SL500 has 1 GB of DDR2 memory and a 160-GB hard disk drive. Visuals are powered by Intel's Graphics Media Accelerator X4500.
Price: $499
The KS158UT SKU is one of HP's best values in its popular 550 Notebook PC lineup. With a 15.4-inch display and powered by a 2.0GHz Intel Celeron, this number gets the job done for less than $600. Windows Vista Home Basic is the OS, and other specs in the basic configuration include 1 GB of memory and 160 GB of disk space. The KS158UT delivers up to four-and-a-half hours of unplugged performance.
Price: $589
Another in Toshiba's new Satellite L305 series is the S5933, which features the same 15.4-inch screen and 2.16GHz Intel Pentium dual-core T3400 chip as the less-expensive S5921, but jacks the memory up to 3 GB and the hard disk up to 250 GB. Intel GMA 4500M graphics round out the basic configuration.
Price: $589
Acer has the biggest share of the netbook market, but it's no slouch at making full-size notebooks either. Take the Aspire AS5735-6694 -- this is a very powerful package featuring a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 chip and a 15.6-inch display, plus 4 GB of memory and a 250-GB hard disk. We're generally seeing this particular model priced a bit less than $700 at the usual sources, but look out for deals -- OfficeMax recently knocked about $100 off the price listed below.
Price: $680
Hewlett-Packard and Advanced Micro Devices had CES attendees buzzing about the new Pavilion dv2 and Pavilion dv3 magnesium-encased laptops that HP calls "Entertainment Notebook PCs." These slim, light laptops immediately take their place in the ultrathin notebook category popularized by Apple with the MacBook Air, but at category-killing sub-$1,000 prices. The 12.1-inch Pavilion dv2, pictured on the left, features AMD's Athlon Neo platform with discrete graphics, weighs 3.8 pounds and has hard drive options up to 500 GB. HP will make it available in April for about $700 in a basic configuration. The 13.3-inch Pavilion dv3 is available now for about $100 more, and is a bit more robust at 4.35 pounds while packing AMD's Turion Ultra X2 hardware.
Price: $699 (dv2), $799 (dv3)
How is it that Sony can make a full-size Vaio laptop PC that's less expensive than its recently released $900 Vaio Lifestyle netbook? We're not sure, but the 15-inchers in the Sony Vaio NS series are a lot more powerful than their netbook siblings for more than $100 less -- and they retain that ultracool fabric-like textured chassis that has won the Vaio brand so many fans. Start with a 2.16GHz Intel Pentium chip, a 250-GB hard disk and 4 GB of RAM, add Windows Vista Home Premium and a Blu-Ray drive, and you can see the appeal of this sleek machine.
Price: $780
Fujitsu's Lifebook A1120 notebooks sneak in at less than $800, and while the specs are similar to competitors' slightly less-expensive products, with this laptop you're getting a slightly bigger 15.6-inch screen and some extra Microsoft software to go with the Windows Vista Home Premium OS. Plus, disk space is ample at 320 GB, and the 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip is ready to handle just about any task you throw at it.
Price: $799
Another offering from one of the notebook up-and-comers, the MSI GX630-028US is powered by a dual-core 2.0GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 mobile processor and features a 15.4-inch display, 250 GB of hard disk space and 4 GB of memory. The light show is what make this inexpensive number a real head-turner -- try Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics on for size.
Price: $800
Lenovo's most recent additions to its IdeaPad Y Series laptop lineup includes the small, thin and light IdeaPad Y450, which features a 14-inch display and is configurable with up to 500 GB of hard drive storage space and up to 4 GB of DDR3 memory. This 4.6-pound unit is built on an Intel Core 2 Duo chip and the GM45 chipset. With Nvidia graphics powering the light show, the Y450 will deliver 3.5 hours of battery life, and that goes up to 4.5 hours with the integrated UMA configuration. Lenovo's three Y Series additions were unveiled at CES and are set to go on sale in March.
Price: $829.
Acer makes our value list again with its Aspire AS6530-5753 model, a 16-inch beastie with a 320 GB hard disk and 4 GB of memory. This laptop's insides are an AMD affair -- from the 2.2GHz Turion X2 Ultra ZM-82 CPU to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics that enhance your viewing pleasure on your so-not-netbook screen.
Price:$849
It was tough, but we knew if we looked hard enough, we'd find a sub-$1,000, full-size mobile tablet PC. The HP Pavilion tx2635us has a 12.1-inch screen, and with prices dropping for this still fairly fresh product, it makes the cut as the real deal. AMD's 2.2GHz Turion X2 ZM-82 chip, ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics, a 320-GB hard disk and 4 GB of RAM round out the specs -- and without breaking the bank, you'll be swiveling away in no time.
Price: $999