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• By Barry Gerber All of these notebooks retail for under $800, except for the Apple MacBook Pro, and all are available as of this writing. Pricing in the portable computing market is volatile — most manufacturers release new models on a quarterly basis, often whether there are changes in hardware components or not. These particular models will be readily available at least through the middle to end of August. So, they are truly back-to-school laptops, and if you want one for that or any other purpose, I suggest you buy one ASAP. If I could, I would have listed only laptops based on Intel’s new Centrino 2 technology. However, most of those won’t hit the market until the same middle-to-late August timeframe. Also, because the new technology will cost more early on, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to buy Centrino 2 laptops for the same price range with the features of the models I discuss here. Check out what the new Managing Editor of Tom’s Hardware, Chris Angelini, has to say about Centrino 2 . While all of these laptops are fine for standard school use, they’re not super-powered gaming machines or heavy duty graphics workstations. If you want something like that, you’ll need to focus on higher-end, super-large, super-heavy notebooks from the likes of Dell, Alienware, Toshiba and the myriad smaller scale manufacturers and vendors out there. Note that, at least for budget notebooks, vendors report battery information in different ways. Some list the number of cells in a battery, while others provide battery capacity numbers in milliamp hours (mAh). Though this is not a hard and fast rule, more cells or more capacity equal longer battery life for notebooks in the same hardware component class. Fortunately, the notebooks in this roundup are very similar in their hardware components; for example, each comes with a read/write optical CD/DVD drive. So, let’s take a look at the six budget laptops I’m recommending for those going back to school this fall. I’ve included specific model numbers and links where available. There were no specific model numbers for the Dell or Apple models, but there are links for these. If you’re hitting this article after mid-August and a specific link doesn’t work any more, try going to the company’s home page and surfing for a similar model. Dell Inspiron 1525 ($799) From its Core 2 Duo T5750 2.00GHz CPU to 3 GB of shared memory and 9-cell battery, the Inspiron 1525 is chock full of respectable mobile hardware. If you’re into color and style, the 1525 line offers a lot to like, whether it’s the basic black model or the black one shown here with cool white racing stripes. (The design is called "Street Pattern" and costs $25 extra.) Also available at the same $25 premium are nine other colors, including Alpine White, Ruby Red, Midnight Blue, Flamingo Pink and Sunshine Yellow. In addition to Street Pattern, there are two other patterned designs: Chill and Commotion. Features: Dell Inspiron 1525 Component Model CPU Core 2 Duo T5750 (2.00 GHz / 667 MHz FSB / 2 MB Cache) Memory 3 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667 MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 15.4" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking up to 802.11g Battery 6-Cell Size (WxHxD) 14.05" x 1.00" front - 1.48" back x 10.08" Weight 5.9 pounds Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 Dell Inspiron 1525 Homepage HP Compaq 6720s PC (KR915UT) ($799) Though it’s far from super stylish, HP’s Compaq 6720s PC (KR915UT) comes ready for work. It has a little less CPU power and memory than the Dell Inspiron 1525, but it matches the 1525 in all other categories. One difference, though, is that the HP comes with Vista Business, which has some features you won’t find in the other five laptops in this guide. Vista Business supports full disk image backup, while Vista Home Premium lets you backup files, but not a full image of your disks. Vista Business also features built-in remote desktop access and the ability to use your laptop to send and receive faxes and images. Vista Business doesn’t support “fun and games features” such as Media Center, so you won’t have as much fun with a Vista Business based laptop, but you’ll be happy with it if you plan to use your laptop mostly for serious work. Of course, Microsoft’s Windows Vista Ultimate retails at only $20 more than Vista Business ($199 vs. $219) and it has everything but the kitchen sink, including all of the features of Home Premium and Business — plus a few of its own, like file encryption (BitLocker). So if Ultimate is available as an option for the notebook you want to buy, I suggest you go for it. I use it and love it on both my notebook and desktop. Features: HP Compaq 6720s PC (KR915UT) Component Model CPU Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5670 (1.80 GHz / 800 MHz FSB / 2 MB L2 cache) Memory 2 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667 MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 15.4" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking up to 802.11g Battery 6-Cell Size (WxHxD) 14.10" x 1.27" x 10.50" Weight 5.5 pounds Operating System Windows Vista Business SP1; XP downgrade media included HP Compaq 6720s PC Homepage Toshiba Satellite L305-S5883 ($799) The version of Dell’s Inspiron featured here and Toshiba’s Satellite L305-S5883 look like clones. If it weren’t for slight differences in size and weight, and possible battery life, I’d suspect they came from the same source. I have used Toshiba laptops for years; the only thing that has ever given me trouble is the disk drives, and in that I am not alone. I don’t mean in having problems with Toshiba’s laptop drives in specific, but in having troubles in general with notebook drives. Until fairly recently, laptop disk drives were quite vulnerable, because they could be damaged easily if a laptop was dropped even a few inches. Newer mechanisms that lock a drive’s heads over an area of the disk that contains no data have helped prevent some disasters, but problems still exist. The new solid state drives promise much better protection against dropping, but they’re still quite expensive and they just might drain more battery power than similarly-sized magnetic disks. What to do? See my discussion of backup in the section on HP’s Compaq 6720s PC (KR915UT). Features: Toshiba Satellite Pro L305-S5883 Component Model CPU Core 2 Duo T5750 (2.00 GHz / 667 MHz FSB / 2 MB Cache) Memory 3 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 15.4" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking up to 802.11g Battery 4000 mAh Size (WxHxD) 14.2" x 1.30" front - 1.48" back x 10.08" Weight 5.7 pounds Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 Toshiba Satellite L305-S5883 Homepage Apple MacBook ($1099) The MacBook is the lowest cost product in the Apple laptop lineup, and the one we’re looking at here is the very lowest model in the MacBook line. If you haven’t been following Apple computers for a while — though I can’t imagine how you could have missed this — Apple has gone over to the devil and now uses Intel products in its Macs. The MacBook under the microscope here has both a solidly performing Intel Core 2 Duo T8100, and the same Intel X3100 Graphics Media Accelerator used in the other laptops included in this roundup. However, compared to the other five notebooks presented here, the MacBook is both more expensive and includes lesser hardware in some areas. The CPU is fine and the laptop has some enviable multimedia capabilities such as a DVI output. However, it comes with only 1 GB of memory, the disk drive has a capacity of just 120 GB, and unlike the other five laptops, the MacBook’s display is two inches smaller. On the plus side, the laptop does include 802.11n wireless support, but the good stuff isn’t worth the premium price. So, what’s up? As I note at the end of this piece, much of the extra cost of Apple products must be going into providing the very best customer and technical support in the business. So, as usual, you pay your money and you make your choice. Features: Apple MacBook Component Model CPU Core 2 Duo T8100 (2.10 GHz / 800 MHz FSB / 3 MB Cache) Memory 1 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667 MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 13.3" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 120 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking up to 802.11n Battery 5200 mAh Size (WxHxD) 12.78" x 1.08" x 8.92" Weight 5.2 pounds Operating System Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.2 or greater Apple MacBook Homepage Sony VGN-NR460E/P and VGN-NR460E/L ($749) These two Sony VGN models are almost exactly the same. The only difference is in the colors the two come in: Textured Nightfall Blue (VGN-NR460E/L) and Cherry Blossom Pink (VGN-NR460E/P). These two laptops clearly offer a set of one-for-the-boys and one-for-the-girls alternatives. Although the Sony VGN-NR460E/P and VGN-NR460E/L models feature slightly less impressive CPU, memory and hard disk options than the Dell Inspiron and Toshiba laptops, there is still some basic value to be had here. However, the $50 lower price of the Sonys hardly makes up for the hardware differences. To be fair, after knocking Apple, I should note that Sony charges a premium compared to most other computer manufacturers. Unlike with Apple, though, I find it difficult to understand what the company does with the premium: it’s not known for world class customer service. Sony is offering back to school bonuses with some of its laptops, including the two VGN models featured here. Check the company’s website for details. Features: Sony VGN-NR460E/P and VGN-NR460E/L Component Model CPU T2390 (1.86 GHz / 533 MHz FSB / 1 MB L2 Cache) Memory 2 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667 MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 15.4" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 200 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking up to 802.11n Battery 4800mAh Size (WxHxD) 14.2" x 1.20" front - 1.50" back x 10.6" Weight 6.3 pounds Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 Sony Vaio VGN-NR460E/P Homepage Sony Vaio VGN-NR460E/P Homepage Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 - 77582CU ($779) The IdeaPad line includes Lenovo’s more consumer-oriented laptops. These contrast nicely with the still very successful ThinkPad line of business laptops inherited, at least in name, from IBM. Like the Sony models, Lenovo’s Y510 - 77582CU comes in a bit less expensive than the Dell and Toshiba models, and with slight less heft on the hardware side. Again, the $20 difference between the Y510 - 77582CU and the Dell and Toshiba can’t be explained away by Lenovo’s use of lower performance hardware. Assuming efficient component purchasing, manufacturing and sales/distribution practices, the company is making more on the Y510 - 77582CU than either Dell or Toshiba are on their products. However, unlike Sony, according to a number of independent assessments of tech support offered by different research organizations, Lenovo has figured out how to use those extra bucks to provide technical support at a level of quality that makes it second in the industry behind Apple. Features: Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 - 77582CU Component Model CPU Core 2 Duo T5550 (1.83 GHz / 667 MHz FSB / 2MB Cache) Memory 2 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667 MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 15.4" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 160 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking 802.11g Battery 6-Cell Size (WxHxD) 14.10" x 1.14" front - 1.42" back x 10.30" Weight 6.49 pounds Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 Lenovo IdeaPad - Y510 Homepage What To Buy You’ve probably already noticed the similarity of these six laptops: even the Apple MacBook has a lot of the same hardware components as the other models. Except for the MacBook, all of the computers are also similarly priced. So what does the extra you pay for the MacBook buy you? Well, there might still be a bit of Apple snobbery appeal in the price, but one of the main benefits of Apple products is the company’s strong customer service reputation. No other company scores as high as Apple in this area in surveys by reliable, well respected consumer-oriented research organizations. Does this mean that Apple always provides great service, or that other companies never do it right? No way. Right now, as an iPhone owner, I’m following a very interesting set of forum threads that are seriously questioning the ability of the new iTunes-iPhone OS 2.0 to handle synchronization between the iPhone and Microsoft’s Outlook email, calendar and contacts software — and Apple’s attitude about fixing the problem. And, I have to say that I’ve had very good service from the other manufacturers whose laptops I’ve covered here. I recommend that you select your back to school laptop based on your own interests and needs. If performance is your main concern, go for the laptops with the fastest components. Here, your choice is pretty much limited to CPU speed, though the differences in CPU performance among the laptops presented here are going to be quite minimal anyway. If you’re a serious, work-oriented player, go for the Vista Business operating system. If you want to play or mix work and play, Vista Home Premium or Ultimate are for you. If you’re concerned about running out of disk space with all the new and exciting things you can store on your laptop these days, then go for the biggest hard disk. But remember that the more capacity you have, the more content you have to back up. So, think about getting an external drive and either using the notebook’s operating system itself to backup your notebook, or find some software and maybe even an online backup service to save all that good stuff to another place. If you’re a design hound, then select from the variety of styles and colors available for at least some of the notebooks presented here. From the racing stripes and rainbow of colors available for the Inspiron 1525, to the hot pink and electric blue colors Sony has dreamed up for its Vaio models, there’s plenty for you to choose from. Finally, don’t think you have to buy the configurations in this article. As you may have noticed if you surfed to some of the company site links above, they offer a lot of configuration options, both more and less expensive. Fiddle around a bit to see what might be best for you. Whatever you do, buy that laptop now and avoid the late August and early September rush...

• The Apple Mac Cost Misconception

  Note: This isn’t a guide to evangelize and convert people from Windows to Mac OS X. It’s a guide to give people options. If you’re happy with what you’ve got, great! But if you’re interested in alternatives read on. After my first article on Macs and OS X, there were several readers who just down right bashed Macs for pricing and OS X without solid reasoning or legitimate hand’s on experience of Macs. So this is a follow-up. Let’s get straight to the point. Tom’s Hardware isn’t about being a "PC fanboy." It’s about finding the best hardware, revealing up and coming tech and debunking predetermined notions. That begs the question, especially here: what’s so special about a Mac anyway? Here’s the short answer: nothing really, just some very elegant aluminum chassis designs. The key, is the operating system. Even still, let’s settle this issue about price. In a recent comment, someone came up with an analogy that a Mac isn’t really a BMW, but rather a Hyundai dressed up in a nice exterior. One problem: Hyundai’s don’t have nice European car exteriors. And to generalize it this way shows the lack of willing to understand the core of the Mac: it’s operating system. Because that’s really what it’s about. But for the sake of these first few pages, let’s leave Mac OS X out of the picture for now. Let’s just see where Apple comes in on hardware. In terms of hardware, there’s nothing really special about a Mac aside from elegant designs, be it a Mac Pro or MacBook Pro, that makes it incredibly more worthwhile than the PC equivalent. And there’s no doubt that you can get an equally equipped PC, or build one yourself, for less money. In fact, I mentioned this in my previous article, although some people seemed to have completely missed the page where I complained about Apple’s outrageous prices altogether. However, building a PC to do the same isn’t the point, because you can always buy a cheaper car to get you from A to B. Instead, let’s see what you can get for $2000, from Apple and from others. For $2000, do you really get much less? Let’s take a quick look at some of Apple’s competition and their pricing structure compared to Apple’s: We went to Dell’s website and picked out what Dell indicated was a serious gaming laptop. We also took the XPS model that was priced the same as the baseline MacBook Pro. Let’s take a look at the results. Apple vs. Dell Price Comparison $1999 MacBook Pro$1999 Dell XPS M1730 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo 2 GB of RAM2 GB of Shared RAM NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256 MBNVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT with Shared MB 200 GB HDD200 GB HDD 15.4-inch LED LCD17-inch LCD 1440x9001920x1200 Dual-Layer DVD BurnerDual-Layer DVD Burner 802.11n Wi-Fi802.11g Wi-Fi Bluetooth Built in WebcamBuilt in Webcam Backlit KB with Ambient Sensor        Optical Audio Output/InputSPDIF through Dongle Dual-Link DVI OutputDual-Link DVI Output Remote MagSafe PowerStandard female/male Jack 5.4 lbs10.6 lbs 1 inch thick2 inch thick For the most part, the two systems are comparable, indicating that at least for a laptop, Apple’s pricing fits in line with comparable hardware. Certain things like shared memory for graphics leave some performance desires for the XPS, but the XPS has a strong leg up on the MacBook Pro with the larger screen size. Apple’s MacBook Pro has several small advantages over the XPS, mainly with the MagSafe connector and it’s nearly take-for-granted use. I have seen several incidences where people have tripped over or through someone else’s MacBook Pro power cord and the MagSafe design literally saved the laptops from flying. The biggest differences are the screen size, weight, thickness, and shared memory. For absolute performance, the screen size won’t matter here, but the slow shared graphics memory on the XPS will. For a laptop that Dell indicates is a gaming machine, shared memory is a disappointment, as graphics is an important area for 3D gaming. For another comparison, let’s look at the MacBook Air to VoodooPC’s Envy 133: Apple vs. VoodooPC Price Comparison $1799 MacBook Air$2099 Envy 133 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo 2 GB of Shared RAM2 GB of Shared RAM Intel GMA X3100 Shared RAMIntel GMA X3100 Shared RAM 80 GB ATA HDD80 GB HDD 13.3-inch LED LCD13.3-inch LCD 1280x8001280x800 External eSATA Super Multi Drive 802.11n Wi-Fi802.11n Wi-Fi BluetoothBluetooth Built in WebcamBuilt in Webcam Backlit KB with Ambient SensorBacklit KB with Ambient Sensor DVI OutputHDMI MagSafe PowerStandard female/male Jack 3.0 lbs3.37 lbs (with SSD) 0.16 to 0.75 inch thick0.70 inch thick iLife ’08 SuiteNo software package At this point, the Envy is $300 more expensive than the MacBook Air. Although the Envy 133 does include an external optical drive, tacking on Apple’s quite expensive $99 MacBook Air SuperDrive to the purchase of the MacBook Air still leaves a $200 gap. Bottom line: Macs aren’t "way more" expensive than PCs. So where do things get really hairy with Apple? Upgrades. Apple really stabs you in the face when you’re upgrading your Mac. All goes well when you want to buy a base system, but as soon as you want to add options, be prepared to be murdered. I’ll talk about this later. Let’s take a look at desktops.

• The MacBook offers an excellent design for the money.  The unibody construction is second to none, and Apple has done its homework with component selection, choosing best-of-breed technologies such as the Nvidia GeForce 9400M. While the lack of FireWire is disappointing for those who already own external HDDs with IEEE-1394 connections, or own low-latency FireWire external audio boxes for multitrack audio recording, we would rather have seen eSATA as the option for high-speed external storage. Nonetheless, the MacBook offers a robust notebook in Apple's entry-level product category. It’s worth comparing the MacBook against the Dell Inspiron 13 and Dell XPS M1330. Dell Inspiron 13 Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz with 3MB L2 cache (+$179) 13.3” LCD with 2MP camera (+$29) GeForce 8400M GS 128MB (+100) 2 GB RAM (+$0 free promo) 802.11n (+$25) Bluetooth (+$20) 56W-Hr battery (+$30) $1,024 The Dell is 0.1 GHz faster, has FireWire and ExpressCard 54, and is $275 cheaper than the MacBook. The MacBook adds the LED backlit screen, the aluminum unibody chassis, a faster GPU (44.8 GFLOPS vs. 54 GFLOPS), the multitouch trackpad, a thinner 0.95” thickness versus 1.5”, a weight savings of 0.4 lbs, support for DVI and DisplayPort, Gigabit Ethernet, digital S/PDIF audio in/out, and of course, the Mac OS X operating system. Dell XPS M1330 Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz with 3MB L2 cache LED backlit display (+$125) 4 GB RAM GeForce 8400M GS (+$100) Bluetooth (+$20) $1,244 system (after $400 instant savings). The Dell is 0.1 GHz faster, has FireWire and ExpressCard 54, an 8-in-1 card reader, is 3.97 lbs and is $55 cheaper than the MacBook. The MacBook adds the unibody chassis, the faster GPU, the multitouch trackpad, a thinner 0.95” thickness versus 1.33”, Gigabit Ethernet, and of course, the Mac OS X operating system. Ed.: Keep your eyes peeled for Part 2 of Alan's MacBook review, which sees Tom's Hardware test and compare the first Hacked Mac on a Mac against the OEM software installation.