Mobile Computing | January 2011 Product Roundup
Laptops for the Price of an iPad

Sure, those tablets are adorable, but for less than $500 you can get a whole lot of computing power and a real keyboard to boot.

This laptop guide is a companion piece to the January 2011 product roundup in the print edition of Campus Technology. All laptops are consumer models released in 2010, and prices are the suggested retail price. Product descriptions are based on manufacturers' specifications; CT has not done any product testing to verify manufacturers' performance claims.

BROWSE LAPTOPS
View All
Processor
AMD
Intel
Single Core
Dual Core
List Price
$379 to $399
$426 to $499
Weight
3 lbs. to 3.9 lbs.
4 lbs. to 4.9 lbs.
5 lbs. to 5.9 lbs.
6 lbs. and up
Screen Size
11.6"
14"
15.6"
17"
Misc
802.11n
CD/DVD Burner
eSATA
Gigabit Ethernet
HDMI
Manufacturers
Compaq
Dell
eMachines
Gateway
HP
Toshiba

eMachines eME442-V133
$379.99
The eME442-V133 comes equipped with a single-core 2.3 GHz AMD V Series V140 chip (512 KB level-2 cache), a 15.6" HD (1,366 x 768) widescreen display, 250 GB internal SATA drive, and 2 GB DDR3 memory. It weighs 6.37 lbs.

Features
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 4250 graphics with 256 MB of dedicated system memory
Networking/Wireless: 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi; gigabit Ethernet
Connectivity: 3 USB 2.0 ports
Display Ports: HDMI, VGA
Optical Drive: CD/DVD±R DL
Card Reader: 2-in-1 media card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard)
Battery: 4 cell lithium ion battery, up to 2 hrs.
Other: 10-key number pad, Energy Star

Software
Operating System: 64-bit Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium


Gateway NV55C03u
$479.99
Powered by a dual-core 2 GHz Intel Pentium P6100 (265 MB level-2 cache per core, 3 MB shared level-3 cache), the NV55C03u offers a 15.6" HD (1,366 x 768) widescreen display, 320 GB internal SATA drive, and 3 GB DDR3 memory. It weighs in at 5.72 lbs.

Features
Graphics: Intel HD
Networking/Wireless: 802.11n Wi-Fi; gigabit Ethernet
Connectivity: 3 USB 2.0 ports
Display Ports: HDMI, VGA
Optical Drive: CD/DVD±R DL
Card Reader: 2-in-1 media card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard)
Battery: 6 cell lithium ion battery, up to 4 hrs., 34 mins.
Other: 1.3 megapixel Webcam; 10-key number pad; multi-gesture touchpad

Software
Operating System: 64-bit Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium


Gateway NV55C35u
$449.99
Powered by a dual-core 2 GHz Intel Pentium P6100 (265 MB level-2 cache per core, 3 MB shared level-3 cache), the NV55C35u offers a 15.6" HD (1,366 x 768) widescreen display, 250 GB internal SATA drive, and 4 GB DDR3 memory. It weighs in at 5.72 lbs.

Features
Graphics: Intel HD
Networking/Wireless: 802.11n Wi-Fi; gigabit Ethernet
Connectivity: 3 USB 2.0 ports
Display Ports: HDMI, VGA
Optical Drive: CD/DVD±R DL
Card Reader: 2-in-1 media card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard)
Battery: 6 cell lithium ion battery, up to 4 hrs., 34 mins.
Other: 1.3 megapixel Webcam; 10-key number pad; multi-gesture touchpad

Software
Operating System: 64-bit Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium