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So Many Choices. Choosing a Budget Laptop

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Budget laptops are the new hottest thing in the computer market and giving many manufacturers reason to sweat. Need for mobility has made many users sacrifice the upgradeability and performance of desktop PCs. But laptops have always tended to be expensive. This is often a problem for the average user. And there is a constant demand for good budget laptops that do not cut too much on feature and yet are not too expensive. Key players in the market came out with some many laptops that fall within a limited price ceiling. It is not easy to find out the best cheap laptop as some budget laptops cut down too much on feature.

We will here review some of the available products so that it is easier to choose the best cheap laptop suited to you. What is best for you will of course depend on your needs and preferences but this review will serve as a guide! During this review we will restrict ourselves to the $1000 ceiling.

We start with the Dell Inspiron Mini 10v priced at $279. It has the same chassis as the expensive Dells. Fitted within comes an Intel Atom N270/1.6 GHz, 1GB DDR2 SD Ram, 160 GB 5400rpm hard drive, 10.1 display, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950, and Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP3 with a battery capacity of 24 hr.

Acer compounds some powerful features in a very basic price range in its Aspire 5738,5738PG and 5738DG models estimated at $600, $780 and &800 respectively. The PG or DG comes with Pentium Core 2 Duo Processor, 320GB hard drive, 4GB memory and an ATI Radeon Mobility Graphics card, something most budget laptops miss out. This is enough for most 3D games though not meant for hardcore gaming. It also comes with a touch screen. The DG replaces the touch screen with a 3D display and stereoscopic glasses. The plan 5738 however excludes the screens and the ATI Radeon Card. If feature is a concern many would consider one of these to be the best cheap laptop to buy.

Among the ultra lights we choose the Acer Aspire 3810T and the Asus UL30A ultra light laptop. The Acer has dimensions of 12.2 x 8.9 inches and is 1.1 inches thick and comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 4GB DDR2 Ram, 500GB hard drive and 13.3 inch display weighing 4.5 pounds with adapter. It has 3 USB 2.0 ports, one SD Card slot, stereo speakers, audio jacks and Ethernet, WI-Fi, Bluetooth and DVD burner and is priced at $899.

Comparatively the Asus UL30A is 12.2 x 9.4 inches with a depth of.94 inches and to achieve this super portability sacrifices on an optical drive. Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB (expandable 8GB) Ram, 500 GB hard drive, 13.3 inch display, 3 USB2.0 ports, 5 – in 1 card reader, Stereo speakers, audio jacks, and Ethernet and WI-Fi and is priced at $799.

It offers good performance and compactness the same time.