Attention, K-Mart Shoppers (Laptops for Less Than $1000)
If a good sale sets your pulse racing, we have a blue-light special for you. Today you can get a very good laptop for less than $1000.
In years past, if you wanted a bargain laptop, you had to sacrifice. Cheaper systems used to be feature-poor, and you were almost guaranteed to be stuck with a slow processor, minimal memory, a small hard drive, a read-only optical drive, and a weak battery. But these days, you typically get a reasonably quick CPU, a good amount of memory, a fair-size hard drive, a more-capable optical drive, and improved battery life. Right now, you can expect 256MB of RAM, a 30GB hard drive, and a combination DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. The latest bargain notebooks come with fast mobile Athlon XP-M or Mobile Celeron processors that have improved number-crunching capabilities--and, of course, will handle word processing and Web surfing, and will play DVD movies with ease.
The typical sub-$1000 laptop weighs 6 or 7 pounds and has a touchpad window as a pointing device, a top-shelf lithium ion battery, and integrated Wi-Fi for going online without wires. The screen measures either 14.1 inches or 15 inches, plenty big enough for most tasks. It bundles the small business-oriented Windows XP Home Edition operating system and some office applications (typically Microsoft's Works package or Corel's WordPerfect suite). All in all, not a bad haul for the small amount of dough.
In late August, one of the least-expensive notebooks we found at the major manufacturers' Web sites was Dell's Inspiron 1000. Configured with a 2.2-GHz Mobile Celeron processor, a 14.1-inch screen and a CD-RW/DVD combination drive, we got a price of $819. Wi-Fi isn't integrated but is provided in the form of a PC Card that you insert in a slot on the side of the notebook.
The only serious compromise is the older-technology nickel metal hydride battery. NiMH batteries tend not to last as long on each charge as newer-technology lithium ion batteries, don't hold a charge as well in storage, and do need to be completely drained before recharging every so often to help maintain battery health. However, you can add a lithium ion battery for $99 more. If you're worried about battery life, look for a laptop with a modular bay that can swap in a supplemental battery.
Dell's Web site offers more information about the Inspiron 1000.
Hewlett-Packard offers a large selection of sub-$1000 laptops, including several with rare (for this price range) 15.4-inch wide-screen displays. The extra width can be useful for opening more windows at once or watching DVD movies. In late August, HP's Pavilion Zv5000t notebook, configured with Windows XP Home Edition, a 2.8-GHz Intel Celeron processor, a 15.4-inch WXGA display, 256MB of RAM, 60GB hard drive, DVD/CD-RW combo drive, integrated 802.11b/g wireless networking, and a lithium ion battery, cost $998. (A $50 mail-in rebate was also offered.)
For more information about the Pavilion Zv5000t, check out HP's Web site.
Laptops that cost $1000 or less are usually missing a few features. Here's what you may not find in your bargain notebook:
- Top performance
- Light weight (less than 6 pounds)
- Big screens (15 inches or larger)
- Sophisticated ports, such as ones for connecting the notebook to a TV
- Media card slots for sharing data with your digital camera or PDA
- High-end multimedia features, such as good audio and volume buttons
- The Windows XP Professional operating system with its extra security features
Also, don't forget to leave at least $30 or so in your budget for a basic USB memory key for copying files. Few laptops under $1000--or at any price, for that matter--still come with that old storage standby, the built-in floppy drive.
For more tips on buying a sub-$1000 laptop, check out "Notebooks Tempt as Prices Drop."
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