My current laptop is the HP Pavilion dv6; my daughter purchased two of these laptops on Black Friday in 2009, after waiting in line at Staples for hours, one for herself and one for me, as an early Christmas gift. Priced at $199.00, this was a steal for this machine and well worth the long wait in line.

This Pavilion model is top of line and looks classy with a dark bronze finish with the signature HP swirl designs. It has a 15.6 inch screen, and weighs about 6 pounds which makes it easy to take just about anywhere. The keyboard on the lap top is full size so it is very easy to type on, unlike the net book that this little prize replaced. The touchpad is the HP ClickPad with the technology to turn it on and off, which is great, because I prefer my trackball and my daughter prefers the touch pad. This laptop is also equipped with a built in web cam, a DVD drive, wireless LAN card, an onboard card reader that reads most of the external memory cards available today, built in speakers along with an earphone jack and a microphone jack. This model has four USB slots, two located on each side, which is great to connect peripheral hardware, such as my trackball or my iPod cord needed to charge my iPod and sync with iTunes. On the inside it is equipped with an Intel Core i3 processor (2.40GHz) and Windows 7 64-bit operating system, which runs any of my frequently used programs superfast. We are both college students and use Microsoft Office programs often, like Word, Excel and Power Point, along with iTunes. The video quality is great, as a long time desk top user I never knew that a lap top could provide this high quality video. I have watched DVD movies on my laptop along with many episodes of my shows from the internet.

Another plus that came with this laptop is the LightScribe technology that allows you to label a DVD or CD by etching the title you select or create yourself right on to the disc, a special LightScribe disc is required to take advantage of this feature. My only complaint with this laptop is the battery life and the AC adapter. The battery is a standard 6-Cell 55WHr Lithium-Ion Battery but it never lasts for more than two hours tops and the AC adapter connections appear to wear over time, sometimes it takes three or four tries to get the AC Adapter to show that is charging the battery, it appears to be a problem with the connection to the computer itself or between the box that joins the two cords. We are in the process of looking into getting the battery in mine replaced or the AC adapter, whatever the charging problem results to be.

Overall a great machine and well worth the money! I would recommend this to anyone.

Today we are going to take a look at three popular Toshiba laptops each with a different price point and purpose. Exact model numbers will be listed followed by the most basic but important stats. Also included for comparison purposes is average price from several popular and reputable websites. After a brief review of the pros and cons a recommendation will be made for each model.

Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5043
Price: $400
The Stats: 15.6″ screen, AMD V120 2.2GHz processor, 2gb DDR3 ram, 320GB HDD, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250, Windows 7 64 bit
The Facts: It’s a $400 dollar laptop, expecting it to do anything other than basic word processing and surfing the web, email etc. is currently unrealistic. That said this laptop does surprisingly well considering it’s minuscule price tag. 2gb of ram is too little in this day and age, thankfully Toshiba has left one ram expansion slot open so when the buyer gets tired of dealing with the low ram they can easily toss in another 2gb stick and call it a day. One of the more recommended cheap laptops on the market.
Recommended for: Basic email and web surfing.

Toshiba Satellite A505-S6035
Price: $1,000
The Stats: 16″ screen, Intel i7-720 QM 1.60 ghz processor, 4gb DDR3 ram, 500gb HDD, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M gpu with 1gb vram , Windows 7 64bit
The Facts: Toshiba actually delivers a laptop at the thousand dollar mark that turns out to be a decent gaming laptop. You won’t be able to play the latest and greatest games at max settings but for the price the performance can’t be beat. As a gaming laptop it is of course able to handle any other basic tasks thrown at it with aplomb. At 6.5 lbs it’s hit’s that middle of the road spot for portable laptops. Still with a shorter than usually battery life and 16″ screen while you could use this as a literal laptop I think of it more as a mobile desktop, something to set up at a desk or table at the airport. While Toshiba earns points for making sure the laptop stays cool they get a negative for the amount of bloatware that comes per-installed.
Recommend for: Budget conscious gamers

Toshiba X505-Q890
Price: $1,700
The Stats: 18.4” screen, Intel Core i7 740QM 1.73GHz processor, 6GB DDR3 ram, 500GB HDD, 64 GB SSD HDD, Bluray Combo Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360 M
The Facts: This is a monster of a computer in laptop form! While you definitely will not be using this beast in your lap for any extended period of time it’s great for setting setting up at your destination and not having to regret leaving a desktop behind. Huge 18” screen will playback your blu-ray movies from the combo drive in full 1080p HD! The 64GB SSD drive will ensure quick boot times and load times of Windows and other essential programs. The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360 M will allow you to play the newest games on high settings with all the trimmings. Other than the size and possibly the price tag there isn’t anything not to like about this laptop and honestly if your even looking at this model neither of those will come across as a negative.
Recommended for: Gaming and desktop replacement.

There you have it, three very different notebooks on sale from one reputable company. Something for everyone and even if none of the three Toshiba models covered in the article quite meet your needs the reviews can still give you a good place to start from. Decide which model closest meets your needs and then check out other laptops from that model line. Happy shopping!

Step one. Decide exactly what are you looking for.

What kind of user are you ? Do you want a computer just for working with text (reading text messages, creating and editing documents, answering emails etc), or do you want to make software, design graphic and use your laptop for gaming. If you want a computer that is capable of running the newest games or if you are a professional graphic designer, then you’re probably should buy a more powerful, new computer instead trying to find a cheap one on sale. But even if that’s the case, you can always try your luck. There is a chance that you will find an almost brand new laptops for sale. Many people in the world are chasing „what’s fast and what’s new” that constantly buy new hardware and look to practically give away the old one.

Step two. Find a laptop sale on the Internet, alternatively in the ads.

The most popular and the most recommended units are usually displayed on the front pages of those directories. Often they are the best purchase, but sometimes you can find a pearl at the bottom of a mud puddle. A little digging pays off, especially when you are a little more advanced than a average user and you know exactly what you are looking for. If you’re ready to do some personal evaluation, you may even want to consider buying a used unit. The last step revealed in this article provides information on how to buy a used laptop. If you are not the „know-all-about-computers” type, and you’re still wondering what’s what in the computer business, contact the salesman or laptop producer for details on the model that you like. In step three I cover some general hardware tips on what to look for in a good laptop :

Step three. Decide which components suit your needs.

Look for a unit that exactly matches your dream laptop, or at least a unit that is the closest equivalent. The most important things you should consider, in order, are :

CPU and cooling: I recommend Core Duo. It would be perfect for most tasks. While a single processor may be enough for word-processing and internet browsing only, buying a laptop with Core Duo will give you the comfort of working with most up-to-date applications, including some games. Laptops of the Core Duo family have two processors mounted on the motherboard. Those processors split similar tasks and are perfect for multitask systems such as Ms Windows XP. Two or more processors gives you warranty that the operating system runs smooth and saves you loads of time.

Now cooling is extremely important. If you plan to buy a used one, be sure to ask the previous owner if the computer needs extra cooling (sometimes the little-built in fan is not enough). If the laptop suddenly goes off without a warning, it’s a good sign that it’s overheating. If you plan on traveling with your laptop often – buy a computer with a decent cooling. There are also external laptop cooling pads available, but the’re not too handy, so they’ll do well for home users only.

Memory and disk space: Memory is crucial to the multitask operating system such as MS Windows. Each application you run at a given time takes a bite out of memory. If you open many windows and applications at once and often, don’t even think going below 2GB on your laptop. As for disk space – make sure, you will have enough for your needs. 80 GB is a must, and if you like to gather files or download tons of pictures, look for double the space.

Graphic chipset/card: If you work with graphics or still want to play some games, you don’t want to buy a laptop that has an integrated graphics card. Trust me on this one. A integrated card uses up the system memory and is not as fast as stand-alone cards. If you want faster graphic cards invest in a laptop with Geforce or any other card that has those two: a accelerator on and it’s own memory chipsets on board.

Battery life: The longer the battery life, the better. With Core Duo average battery life lasts for about 3,5 hour. That is pretty decent. To prolong the life look for a laptop without the unnecessary components ( For instance – you save a lot of energy when you turn off wireless network adapter, so if you don’t need one, look for a pc without it on board. Alternatively you can buy a pc with a button that let’s you conveniently turn the WN feature off )

Look for these extra features that might be crucial to you; sound card, wireless network adapter, on-board internet camera, touch pad or stick and so on. Make sure the weight, shape and size of the unit suit both your room and your personality. 

Step four. Chose your laptop model and compare the prices.

There are services online which help you decide, which model to purchase considering the price. Portals like Bizzarre.com or Pricegrabber.com let you compare the price of a particular units in different stores and in places like Amazon. Additional research pays off.

Step five. You want to buy a used laptop ?

Make sure, that the offer is safe and the computer you want to buy is still in good shape. It would be great if you could personally visit the person selling the laptop to check, that everything is in order, that the computer is perfectly intact and there is no parts missing. Check the keyboard. Turn it on and make sure that every component is working, including the sound card and graphics card. Also, you might want to rent a laptop. For your current situation, it may be the best decision.

If you don’t have the leisure to visit the seller personally, ask, if you can take the computer for a try first. If want to take it, ask if you may return it later in case anything wrong pops up. Check, if the computer is still on warranty(when you buy an used unit, be prepared, that it may no longer be on warranty). Also make sure, that there is a good computer service in your area that can do some maintenance for your new laptop in the future (make sure, that the service will accept the computers brand you’re about to purchase)

That about covers the topic. Last piece of advice would be: if you want to buy anything, and you don’t know much about it, don’t hesitate and ask your more experienced friends for advice. They’ll be glad to help.

They are great for entertainment through games and video websites also. The portability of laptops can mean that you could easily take them with you on business trips and vacations. If a person could rent one then they could have them for their vacation without having to spend all the money to purchase a brand new laptop.

While it is an advantage to be able to rent them there are a variety of things that a person should look for before renting a laptop. What the laptop can do in relation to what the person wants in a computer is the first.

A few examples would be if it is fast enough for people who want to surf the internet or if the graphics are good enough for people wanting to play video games. Secondly, people should look for what software is included with the laptop like anti-virus, word processing software, and internet access. If any of the preloaded software is subscription based, the length of the prescription should be looked at. Battery life and durability are always key factors when looking at a laptop for anyone for any reason.

When renting one the return policy and warranty would be helpful information also because they would need to be sufficient enough to cover standard usage problems. The price will definitely be a determining factor, whether it is contract price or annual rental fee. Other conditions of the contract like late fees, length of the rental, deposit amount, and conditions on the amount of the deposit to be returned and when are all necessary pieces of information before making a decision on a rental.

Lastly, the condition of the product upon return should be known. If it has to be in too good of a condition, like practically unused, then it would not be good to rent. Some good places to rent them at would be major electronics stores like Best Buy and RadioShack, rental places like Rent-A-Center and large department stores like Wal-Mart and Target.

Update: One of our readers, Larry Laven, sent us this list of things to remember when renting a laptop.

1. You will need have at least three references for most rental stores do not check credit to verify identity. But they will call the references to make sure you are who you say you are and how long they known you also most rental stores will have you complete and sign off on a contract that will bind you to certain conditions if the laptop is ever damage or stolen or if you make lapse in payment.

2. Know what kind of laptop you are going to rent. There are now Laptops and “Net books” and by that it means smaller lighter laptops that is not equipped with a DVD-Drive and not built to be the fastest but to be used for its portability and to quickly access the internet, uses USB devices to save data(IE usb flash drives) and not be used as a workhorse. Do a laptop comparison before renting.

3. Good to know how long you will be using it. Some rental stores charge by the week and others will charge you monthly and now some even let you rent by that day, so if you just need it for two weeks make sure you ask the customer service agent if there is a option to rent it weekly.

4. Decide if you do want to rent to own, some popular rental stores will give you the option to “rent to own” whereas you making rental payments to the purchase of a future laptop if you do like the laptop you are renting.

5. check out if the customer service agent has a laptop that you can test out before you rent the actual laptop, that way you know what you are getting and if that particular laptop is your style then you can choose that model or ask to test out a different one that suits you.

Reader Question: What tips would you give someone who wanted to rent a laptop?

When netbook was first introduced in 2008, it came with just enough processing power to handle non-CPU extensive tasks such as web browsing, email checking, and document processing. This has however changed over the years. The quality of netbook keeps improving. Netbook manufacturers like Asus, Acer, Dell, and Toshiba continue to release new netbook models with better specs and design over the years. Now it has come to a point where a netbook is almost as capable as a standard laptop — some of them even have enough horse power for gaming and high definition movies playback!

Of course, there are some features that a netbook still cannot compete with a standard laptop. For instance, a netbook is lack of optical drive, having a lower-end CPU, and comes with smaller screen and keyboard. But as a netbook user, I can tell you that these “limitation” actually give some advantages to the netbook. Here’s how:

• Lower-end CPU: Most netbooks today are using the Intel Atom CPU. While it’s not as powerful as the processors that other mainstream computers are using, it’s more energy efficient and thus providing better endurance. The Asus Eee PC 1005PE, one of the netbook with the best endurance, can provide up to 14 hours of battery life!
• Lack of optical drive: There are two benefits for not including an optical drive in a netbook. First, it drives the netbook’s price lower; and second, the netbook is lighter. You can always get an external optical drive when you need it.
• Smaller keyboard and screen: This makes the netbook more portable and incredibly easy to be carried around.

Now comes to the most important question: which netbook is the best? There’s no exact answer for that. Asus is good at creating netbook with great endurance; Toshiba has the best keyboard design; while Acer is well known for their competitive netbook price. In terms of popularity though, Acer does seem to be one step ahead of the rest — affordability is still the most important factor in this era of economic crisis. Just look at some Acer netbook deals online, and you will be surprised by how cheap these mini computers can be!

If you are like me, you probably don’t have a whole lot of money to spend on a new laptop. If you don’t get caught up in all the different features, there are some good quality, very cheap laptops on the market.

I highly recommend buying a laptop from a brand that you are familiar with. You can find brand name laptops that don’t cost much more than no-name brands, but you’ll have much better luck when you need to find a part for your laptop.

If your main purpose for the laptop is to check emails and use the internet, go for less memory. When the salesman says you must have 3 GB of memory, explain what you need the laptop for. Hard drive is another issue when looking for cheap laptops. A high capacity one is not needed if you’re browing some sites and answering a few emails each day.

To save money on a laptop, it’s very important to spend time thinking about what you will be using it for. If you will be using it on long trips, a laptop with a longer battery life will help a great deal. What size of screen do you want, the smaller they are , usually the cheaper they are. Do you want a bulky laptop or one that is slim and light in weight? Are you starting college and looking for deals on cheap laptops for students? Will it be used by your kids, your spouse or just yourself? These are all things to consider before shopping.

Pick and choose which features are most important to you because you will not get everything in a low priced laptop. Just remember the features that should be the most important are the ones that are almost impossible to change, or would be very expensive like the screen size, the design, the hard drive, the weight of the laptop, CPU etc. Cosmetics like memory, the battery, and DVD player can all be changed in the future and added for a low cost. If you are looking for the best cheap laptops, make a list of all the functions you will be performing before you shop. This should give you a good idea of what you need.

Another possibility is to consider a refurbished laptop. I don’t know much about them, but I know a few people who own one and they’re all very satisfied with their purchases.

Just do a little bit of research before shopping at a very cheap laptops sale, and always remember if you buy the older model there’s a good chance you will get it a whole lot cheaper than the newer one.

Update: One of our readers, Joe L. Allen, submitted his picks for five of the cheapest laptops on the market today:

1. The current leader in the low price laptop market is the Acer Aspire One at about $275. Originally a much smaller unit, the Aspire One now has a friendlier 10.1 inch display. Although this reviewer laments the passing of Windows XP Home (available on earlier models), Windows 7 Starter is an acceptable substitute on in-stock Acers currently sold.

2. Toshiba’s mini NB255-N240 Netbook PC shares much in common with the Aspire One. Both are netbooks; both also have the same display size, memory capacity, and hard drive capacity. The Toshiba has a slightly different Intel Atom N455 processor. How to choose? The tactile feel of the keyboard can make a huge difference. A buyer would be wise to try both keyboards if possible.

3. The ASUS 10.1″ Eee PC is a netbook very similar to the Aspire One. It has 1 Gigabyte of memory, a 10.1 inch display, a 160 Gigabyte hard drive, and Windows 7 Starter. The 6-cell lithium-ion battery in the ASUS is an excellent advantage that this model has over the Aspire One, the latter having a battery capacity of only half that of this ASUS.

4. The Silver Acer Netbook PC, is very similar to its earlier cousin, the Aspire One. The Silver One doubles the Aspire One’s battery capacity, however, opting for a 6-cell battery. This makes the Silver competitive with the ASUS. Another advantage of the Silver is a third USB port. For these two benefits, you will likely pay more for the Silver than the Aspire or the ASUS. Much of the issue comes down to price, especially if you don’t need the second port.

5. Be on the lookout for a newer Aspire One model. Slightly more expensive than the Intel Atom-equipped Aspire One netbook, the newer model (about $350) features an AMD processor with more cache and DDR 3 memory. If you are interested in a more robust Acer Netbook and are willing to pay $50 to $100 more for that power, the Aspire One with it’s AMD Athlon processor is the one to seek out.

Question for our readers:
What was the cheapest laptop you ever bought and were you satisfied with it?

1 – HP Pavillion dv5t

The dv5t features an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, up to 4096MB DDR2 System Memory, NVIDIA GeForce Go graphics available and 15.4″ diagonal WXGA BrightView Widescreen. It only weighs 5.5lbs Starting price $1100.00. This is one of the best HP laptops on sale.

2 – Dell Studio 15

 Our Dell Studio 15 review : This screen is just 15.4″, it’s OS is Windows Vista® Home Premium, 2.00GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, with 3GB of memory. CD/DVD burner, 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 video card. As well as a 56 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell). Starting price $749.00. It’s one of the better cheap Dell laptops on the market today.

3 – Lenovo ThinkPad T61

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T9300 (2.5GHz 800MHz 6MBL2), genuine Windows Vista Home Premium, it’s screen is only 14.1″, Hard Drive 160GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm with Disk Encryption, 2 GB PC2-5300 Memory, 9 cell Li-Ion Battery. Starting price $1082.00

4 – Dell XPS M1530

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor ,Genuine Windows Vista ® Home Premium Edition,Size: 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive, 2GB memory, 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS, along with a 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery. Starting price $999.00

5 – Sony VAIO FW

It’s screen is 16.4″ makes it great to watch DVD’s and Blu Ray discs. Weighs only 6.4lbs, Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium . Capable to hold 400GB hard drive, 4GB RAM and a 2.80GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. A battery life of five and a half hours. Starting price $1059.00

6 – Toshiba Satillite A305/A300

AMD Turion™ X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor RM-70, 4GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz SDRAM, 320GB hard drive, a 15.4″ display screen. Starting price $899.00

7 – Lenovo ThinkPad T400

2.0MB Intel® Core™ 2 duo processor, Genuine Windows Vista ® Business Edition, The T400 has 14.1? display screen, up to 320GB of hard drive, and 8GB RAM, The unit weighs quite a bit less than most at 4.7lbs. Starting price $1130.00

8 – Dell XPS M1330

2.0MB Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor, Genuine Windows Vista ® Home Premium Edition, It comes with built-in camera Standard Display with 2.0 Megapixel Webcam, 2GB of memory,Size: 160GB 5400RPM Hard Drive, Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 video card. Starting price $949

9 - HP pavilion dv6700t

The HP Pavilion dv6700t Entertainment Notebook PC delivers a 15.4″ Brightview display, dazzling new high-gloss design, Intel’s Core Duo processors and the option to upgrade to an Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS graphics card with 256MB dedicated video memory. The weight is up there at 6.3lbs Starting price $899.00

10 – Dell Insprion 1525

1.0M/2.0GHz Intel® Celeron® 550, Genuine Windows Vista® SP1 Home Basic Edition, 15.4 diplay screen, 1GB memory, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 video card. Starting price $499

Update: This review was submitted by our reader Brandon A.

To date, I have purchased an HP G60-610CA Notebook, a Toshiba Satellite A660, and a Lenovo IdeaPad 12 Intel Atom N270 Laptop, and the Lenovo model was the cheapest of the three. Having said that, it also ran just as good as its peers (meaning the two other laptops I have purchased), and quite frankly, performed significantly better than I had ever expected. With an inexpensive price tag of only $350, I didn’t expect outstanding results or anything of the sort, but I was pleasantly surprised. I bought this laptop for basic internet browsing, instant messaging, and basic document work, and I found that the 1 GB of RAM and 160 HD more than met my needs. Is it the fastest and most powerful laptop on the market? No, absolutely not. Is it a very capable model that will certainly satisfy most, if not all, consumers? Yes, it will. The Lenovo IdeaPad 12 Intel Atom N270 Laptop is lightweight, compact, and durable, and quite frankly, a steal amidst other high priced competitors.

Reader Question: What is the best deal you’ve ever gotten on a laptop and what brand was it?