This is a follow-up update on our review of the best laptops that was done a while back. Criteria for brand selection were the most popular online retailers and those that offered the most variety. One main distinction in the value lines of manufacturers is Notebooks vs Netbooks:
Best Value Netbooks:
Best Value Notebooks:
The common features applicable to all of the models described are:
Summary:
The Netbooks are priced on the average about $200 lower than the best value priced Notebooks. The processor used is not as powerful and upgrade possibilities are limited. The lower pricing, smaller size, and weight makes Netbooks a very good choice for students, frugal families, people who already have an external LCD monitor/keyboard/mouse setup, and frequent travelers who are willing to forgo a little performance.
Overall, our pick for the best value among netbooks is the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE-PU27 at $365. Intel’s Atom chip performs well with Windows 7, which comes preinstalled. The approximate $365 pricing, while higher compared to some of the competitive models, is an outstanding value for the full-fledged features (chiclet keyboard, LED backlit display, 0.5TB external storage) & extended battery life it offers. Compared to the performance of notebooks, the processing power and RAM limitations are the major differences, but on Windows 7, with an upgrade to a 2 GB RAM, the setup would amply suffice for most users.
The major manufacturers have very competitive offerings huddled together in the $550-$650 price range. The Toshiba L505-GS5037 & HP Pavilion DV4-2161NR offerings have the latest Intel Core i3-330M chip. The Dell Vostro 1014 uses the older Intel Core 2 Duo T6570 chip and cut a few other corners (Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit instead of 64-bit, smaller hard-drive, etc.) but still failed to keep the price substantially lower compared to the competition. Hence, we cannot recommend it unless you can get it in the $550 price range. The ASUS used a slightly less powerful chip and succeeded in keeping the price below $600. Further, the extended battery life makes it a good choice. Among the major manufacturers, our choice is the Toshiba L505-GS5037 - as we blogged previously, we are not big fans of HP laptops.
Related Posts:
Last Updated: 03/11.
- Netbooks – Smaller Screen (8.9” to 10”), Specializes in mobility and web – light-weight (less than 3 lbs), with wireless capability, but runs on a less powerful mobile processor, and has limited upgrade options, etc.
- Notebooks – Screen size above 13” with widescreen, weighs upwards of 6 lbs, uses powerful mobile processor, and has several upgrade options.
Best Value Netbooks:
| Feature/Product | ASUS Eee PC 1005PE-PU27 | Acer A0532H-2588 | Toshiba Mini NB305-N410BL | HP Mini 210-1030NR |
| Thumbnail |  |  |  |  |
| Best Price | $365.99 | $275 | $346 | $279.99 |
| Store | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com |
| Processor | Intel Atom 1.66 GHz Processor 512 KB L2 Cache, 533 MHz | Intel Atom 1.66 GHz Processor 512 KB L2 Cache, 533 MHz | Intel Atom 1.66 GHz Processor 512 KB L2 Cache, 533 MHz | Intel Atom 1.66 GHz Processor 512 KB L2 Cache, 533 MHz |
| Memory | 1 GB DDR2 SODIMM memory, 2 GB Max. | 1 GB DDR2 Memory | 1GB DDR2, 2 GB Max. | 1GB DDR2 SDRAM, 2 GB Max. |
| Hard Disk (HD) | 250 GB (5400RPM), 0.5TB web storage. | 160 GB (5400RPM) | 250 GB (5400RPM) | 160 GB (5400RPM) |
| Other Feature Summary | 10.1” display; Windows 7 Starter Edition -Preloaded; Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n @ 2.4GHz; Webcam; 6-cell High Density Li-Ion Battery pack up to 14-hours battery life. 3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x VGA port, 1 x LAN RJ-45, 2 x Audio input/output ports, 1 x RJ-45 port, Headphone, Mic-In, and chiclet keyboard. MMC/SD/SDHC flash card slot. Weight – 2.8 lbs. Size - 10.3"x7"x1.4". | 10.1” display; Windows 7 Starter Edition -Preloaded; Wi-Fi 802.11b/g; Webcam; 6-cell 8 hours rated battery pack. Weight – 2.76 lbs. Size - 7.3"x10.2"x1". | 10.1” display; Windows 7 Starter Edition – Preloaded; Wi-Fi 802.11b/g; 6 cell 11-hour battery pack; Webcam; Weight – 2.6 lbs. Size - 10.47"x7.57"x1.43". | 10” display; Windows 7 Starter Edition – Preloaded; Wi-Fi 802.11b/g; 6 cell 9.75-hour battery pack; Webcam; Weight – 2.99 lbs. Size - 10.55"x6.9"x0.9"/1.11". |
Best Value Notebooks:
| Feature/Product | HP Pavilion DV4-2161NR | ASUS UL30A-X5K | Dell Vostro 1014 Productivity Pack with 3GB memory upgrade | Toshiba L505-GS5037 |
| Thumbnail |  |  |  |  |
| Best Price | $619.99 | $599.99 | $608 | $629.99 |
| Processor | Intel® Core i3-330M Processor T3200 (2.13 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) | Intel® Core™2 Duo processor SU7300 (1.3 GHz) | Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6570 (2.1GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB) | Intel Core i3-330M Processor (2.13 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) |
| Memory | 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm); max-8GB | 4GB DDR3 RAM, 2 DIMM, max-4GB | 3GB Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz, 2 DIMM | 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM Memory |
| Hard Disk (HD) | 500 GB (7200RPM) | 500 GB (5400RPM) | 320 GB (5400RPM) | 500GB (5400RPM) |
| Other Feature Summary | 14.1” WXGA Widescreen Display; Intel HD Graphics (up to 1696MB); 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery rated up to 3.5 hours. Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit preloaded. | 13.3" HD LED display; Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD; 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery up to 12 hours battery life. Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition operating system (64-bit) preinstalled. | 14.0” widescreen HD Display w/Anti-glare; Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD; 6-cell Lithium Ion; Windows 7 Home Premium Edition (32-bit) | 15.6” CCFL Widescreen Display; 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery; Windows 7 Home Premium Edition (64-bit) |
The common features applicable to all of the models described are:
- Windows 7 (Netbooks - Starter Edition, Laptops - Home Premium) with pre-installed software (mostly very basic, starter and/or evaluation copies)
- WI-FI Wireless Card.
- Graphics Media Accelerator Chipset.
- Lithium Ion 3, 4, 6 or 9-cell battery.
- Wireless 802.11b/g card.
- 10Base-T/100Base-TX Fast Ethernet LAN with RJ-45 connector
- Two or more USB 2.0 ports.
- One or more Audio/Video Jacks.
- Media Card Reader.
- 1-year warranty.
| Machine | Processor | L1 Cache | L2 Cache | Clock Speed | System Bus | Others |
| HP Pavilion DV4-2161NR & Toshiba L505-GS5037 | Intel® Core i3 330M Processor | 3MB Intel Smart Cache | NA | 2.13 GHz | 800/1066 MHz | Hyper-Threading, Virtualization, Speedstep, Thermal Monitor, Fast/Flex Memory Access, Execute Disable Bit. |
| Asus UL30A-X5K | Intel® Core™2 Duo processor SU7300 | 3MB Intel Smart Cache | NA | 1.3 GHz | 800 MHz | Virtualization, Speedstep, Thermal Monitor, Execute Disable Bit. |
| Dell Vostro 1014 | Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T6570 | 64 KB | 2 MB | 2.1 GHz | 800 MHz | Virtualization, Speedstep, Execute Disable Bit. |
| Netbooks | Intel Atom 1.66 GHz N450 Processor | 32KB instruction & 24KB data cache. | 512 KB L2 Cache | 1.66 GHz | 533 MHz | Hyper-Threading, Speedstep, Thermal Monitor, Execute Disable Bit. |
- Hyper-Threading: Thread-level parallelism takes advantage of multi-threaded software.
- Virtualization: Hardware assist for virtualization software.
- Speedstep: voltage & frequency adjustments based on load for power conservation without affecting performance.
- Execute Disable Bit: Hardware assist for virus deterrence.
- Flex Memory: Support different memory sizes to facilitate upgrades.
Summary:
The Netbooks are priced on the average about $200 lower than the best value priced Notebooks. The processor used is not as powerful and upgrade possibilities are limited. The lower pricing, smaller size, and weight makes Netbooks a very good choice for students, frugal families, people who already have an external LCD monitor/keyboard/mouse setup, and frequent travelers who are willing to forgo a little performance.
Overall, our pick for the best value among netbooks is the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE-PU27 at $365. Intel’s Atom chip performs well with Windows 7, which comes preinstalled. The approximate $365 pricing, while higher compared to some of the competitive models, is an outstanding value for the full-fledged features (chiclet keyboard, LED backlit display, 0.5TB external storage) & extended battery life it offers. Compared to the performance of notebooks, the processing power and RAM limitations are the major differences, but on Windows 7, with an upgrade to a 2 GB RAM, the setup would amply suffice for most users.
The major manufacturers have very competitive offerings huddled together in the $550-$650 price range. The Toshiba L505-GS5037 & HP Pavilion DV4-2161NR offerings have the latest Intel Core i3-330M chip. The Dell Vostro 1014 uses the older Intel Core 2 Duo T6570 chip and cut a few other corners (Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit instead of 64-bit, smaller hard-drive, etc.) but still failed to keep the price substantially lower compared to the competition. Hence, we cannot recommend it unless you can get it in the $550 price range. The ASUS used a slightly less powerful chip and succeeded in keeping the price below $600. Further, the extended battery life makes it a good choice. Among the major manufacturers, our choice is the Toshiba L505-GS5037 - as we blogged previously, we are not big fans of HP laptops.
Related Posts:
- Best Values in Netbooks & Notebooks - A Comparative Review (this post).
- Best Value Portable Computers for Students (Laptops, Netbooks, and MacBooks) - A Comparative Review.
- Tablet PCs - A Comparative Review.
Last Updated: 03/11.
good post, thank you.
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