Budget laptop reviews

 

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Items to compare	First Previous Showing columns 1 - 9 of 41 Last Next
Select up to 5 items below. Then click the compare button CompareClear	Price ($)	Overall score	Ease of use (50%)	Battery life (30%)	Performance (20%)	PCMark Vantage scores	Weight including battery (g)	Weight of power supply and cordage (g)	Unit dimensions (HxDxW) cm	HDD (GB)	RAM (GB)	Optical drive	Processor type	Screen size (in)	Max screen res	Claimed battery capacity	Average battery life - heavy usage (minutes)	Average battery life - light usage (minutes)	Annual standby energy consumption (20h/d) (kWh/y)	Annual active energy consumption (4h/d) (kWh/y)	Annual energy cost ($)	USB Ports	FireWire 400 (IEEE1394)	eSATA	VGA	HDMI	S-Video	Mini DVI	Bluetooth	S/PDIF out	Recovery disc supplied	Recovery partition	Card reader	Security suite (1yr license)	Carry bag (Y/N)	Operating System supplied	Warranty (years) (C)	Warranty type (D)	Website	Good Points	Bad Points
Dell Studio 1555	1299	77	77	76	78	3248	2608	435	3.8x25.3x37.1	250	3	8x slot-loading DVD+/-RW	Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz	15.6	1366x768, WXGA	56Wh	113	241	7.11823	68.4594	12.85	3	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	8-in-1	N	N	Vista Premium	1	On-site	www.dell.com.au	• Excellent port placement and labelling • Has eSATA connection • Best battery life • Touch-sensitive battery status meter • Excellent ease of use for battery removal/insertion • 3GB RAM available • HDMI port	• Only one-year warranty
Apple MacBook (E)	1649	76	78	74	75	2982	2270	243	2.7x22.7x32.5	120	2	8x slot loading DVD+/-RW	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz	13.3	1280 x 800, WXGA	55Wh	159	224	5.00707	32.7186	6.33	2	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	Mac OS X 10.5.6	1	RTB/PnR	www.apple.com.au	• Stylish design • Excellent data migration and synchronisation • Includes full iLife productivity software suite • Touch-sensitive battery status meter • Cheapest to run	• No multimedia card slot • Only one-year warranty • Only 120GB hard drive • Only two USB ports
Fujitsu L1010	1849	74	74	70	82	3392	2583	431	3.9x25x33.9	250	2	8x DVD+/-RW	Intel Core 2 Duo T8400 2.26GHz	14.1	1280 x 800, WXGA	5200mAh, 56Wh	142	194	6.90872	59.2614	11.25	3	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	4-in1	Y	Y	Vista Premium	2	PnR	au.fujitsu.com/pc	• Excellent port placement and labelling • Two-year warranty • HDMI port • Carry bag supplied • Full version of security suite included	• Very poor ease of use rating for the battery removal/insertion mechanism
Lenovo ThinkPad SL500	1640	74	74	68	83	3462	2839	473	3.9x26x35.8	320	2	8x DVD+/-RW	Intel Core 2 Duo T8600 2.4GHz	15.4	1280 x 800, WXGA	4800mAh, 52Wh	127	191	8.83373	66.2256	12.76	4	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	Y	7-in-1	N	N	Vista Premium	3	RTB/On-site/PnR	www.lenovo.com.au	• Best performance • Three-year warranty • Comes with two spare trackpoint caps • HDMI port	• Slowest mean boot time • Heaviest laptop in this test (2 8kg)
Dell Inspiron 1525	999	73	79	65	71	2783	2767	414	3.7x25.6x35.7	250	3	8x DVD+/-RW	Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 2.0GHz	15.4	1280 x 800, WXGA	48Wh	118	125	6.12835	75.0294	13.8	4	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	8-in1	N	N	Vista Premium	1	On-site	www.dell.com.au	• Best for ease of use• Excellent ease of use for battery removal/insertion • Excellent port placement and labelling • 3GB RAM available • HDMI port	• Only one-year warranty • Relatively short battery life in heavy usage
Acer Extensa 4630Z	1259	71	72	71	68	2613	2434	411	4.2x24.5x33.6	250	2	8x DVD+/-RW	Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 2.0GHz	14.1	1280 x 800, WXGA	4400mAh, 49Wh	144	214	7.27737	47.304	9.28	2	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	5-in-1, 1 x SD	N	N	Vista Business	1	PnR	www.acer.com.au	• Second quickest boot time	• Only one-year warranty • Only 2 USB ports
Hewlett Packard Compaq Presario CQ61-115TU	1196	70	71	68	68	2680	2616	419	3.5x25.2x37.8	320	2	8x DVD+/-RW- LightScribe	Intel Pentium Dual Core T3400 2.16GHz	15.6	1366x768, WXGA	4200mAh, 10.8V	129	188	7.11531	47.304	9.25	3	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	Y	5-in-1	N	N	Vista Premium	1	RTB	www.compaq.com.au	• Has eSATA connection • Excellent ease of use for battery removal/insertion • Excellent port placement and labelling • HDMI port	• Only one-year warranty
Twinhead Slimnote J13S	1599	66	70	59	66	2557	2084	401	4.4 x 22.6 x 30.5	320	2	8x DVD+/-RW	Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2GHz	13.3	1280 x 800, WXGA	4400mAh, 49Wh	108	127	11.30332	62.1522	12.49	3	Y	N	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	N	Y	4-in1	N	Y	Vista Premium	1	ns	www.twinhead.com.au	• Carry bag supplied • Additional warranty period available (requires registration) • Lightest laptop in this test (2kg)	• Relatively short battery life in heavy usage
MSI VX600	1025	63	68	50	69	2754	2545	590	3.3x26x35.8	250	2	8x DVD+/-RW	Intel Pentium Dual Core T3400 2.16GHz	15.4	1280 x 800, WXGA	4800mAh, 52Wh	88	87	10.03312	83.0448	15.82	4	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	4-in1	N	N	Vista Premium	2	PnR	www.msicomputer.com.au	• Two-year warranty • Best rated touchpad from user trial	• Shortest battery life in light usage • Second-shortest battery life in heavy usage
Pioneer DreamBook M761S	1228	63	67	61	58	2196	2597	425	3.7x26.8x35.9	320	2	8x DVD+/-RW	Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz	15.4	1280 x 800, WXGA	4400mAh, 49Wh	65	145	9.31261	66.4884	12.89	3	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	7-in-1	Y	Y	Vista Premium	1	RTB	www.pioneercomputers.com.au	• Full version of security suite included • Carry bag supplied	• Only one-year warranty • Lowest ease of use score • Lowest performance score • No recovery solution supplied – $9 extra for recovery disc • Shortest battery life in heavy usage
CompareClear
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Table notes

1. Price Price paid in May-July 2009, will vary with changes to specification.
2. Ease of use (50% of overall) based on three different, specific user types: a Choice tester, average users and professional users.
3. Battery life (30% of overall) based on one test, simulating heavy usage when using the battery as the power source.
4. Performance (20% of overall) based on the performance of benchmark software, a user panel for the display screen.
5. PCMark Vantage score This is the raw benchmark score and is only included in this table as a point of comparison for future laptop tests.
6. Specifications Weight (including battery) combined weight of the laptop with the battery installed; Weight of power supply and cordage total combined weight of the power cables used to power the laptop; Unit dimensions the size of the notebook (mm); HDD (GB) the capacity of the included hard drive in gigabytes (GB); RAM (GB) the amount of memory included, in GB; Optical drive the type of optical disc drive and it’s location; Processor type the processor type and rated speed; Screen size (in) the size of the screen, measured diagonally in inches; Max screen res is the maximum supported screen resolution; Battery type the laptop’s battery capacity rating, in milliamp hours (mAh) and Watt hours (Wh) where applicable; Average battery life (heavy usage) the laptop’s operating time under heavy usage, measured in hours and minutes; Average battery life (light usage) the laptop’s operating time under light usage, in hours and minutes.
7. Energy use Based on the average usage scenario of 18h/d standby and 6h/d active, calculated at 17c KWh.
8. Features USB ports the number of USB 2.0 connections; FireWire whether the device has a FireWire 400 (IEEE 1394) connection; eSATA whether the device has an external SATA connection; VGA, HDMI, S-Video, Mini DVI types of video connections for external monitors and their location; Bluetooth for wireless connection to other Bluetooth devices; S/PDIF out digital audio connection to other devices; Recovery disc including Windows and other bundled software; Recovery partition similar to a recovery disc, but located on the hard drive; Card reader the type of multi-format memory card slot. Common formats include Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Secure Digital (SD), MultiMedia Card (MMC), xD-Picture card (xD) and CompactFlash; Security suite (1yr) whether or not a full security suite with one-year licence is supplied; Carry bag whether or not a carry bag is supplied; Operating System supplied which operating system ships with the laptop (Windows Vista Basic, Business, Premium or Ultimate, or Mac OS X); Warranty (years) length of warranty; Warranty type limited parts and labour warranty, whether Return to base (RTB), Onsite, or Pickup and return (PNR).

• [A] As tested. Some specifications may have changed by time of publication.
• [B] Some features may be offered as options.
• [C] Consumers are advised to check the conditions of the warranty period before making a purchase e.g. 3yr warranty = 1st yr parts and labour, 2nd and 3rd yrs parts only.
• [D] Optional upgrades may be available for warranty type, check with the supplier.
• [E] Performance and battery benchmarks were conducted under Windows Vista. Battery performance may be better under Mac OS X, based on the results of our power usage testing.
• [F] Three year warranty available at no extra cost — first year parts and labour, then labour only 
— requires registration.
• ns = not stated.