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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

Dell Inspiron 14
$499.99
The G42T sports a dual-core 2.3 GHz Intel Pentium T4500 (1 MB level-2 cache per core, 800 MHz frontside bus) and comes equipped with a 14-inch (1,600 x 900) display, 250 GB internal SATA drive, and 2 GB DDR2 memory. It weighs in at 4.96 lbs.

Features
Graphics: Intel 4500MHD
Networking/Wireless: 802.11g Wi-Fi, 10/100 LAN
Connectivity: 3 USB 2.0 ports
Display Ports: VGA
Optical Drive: CD/DVD±R DL
Card Reader: 7-in-1 media card reader (Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Secure Digital High Density, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, xD Picture Card)
Battery: 9 cell lithium ion battery, up to 8 hrs., 10 mins.
Other: 1.3 megapixel Webcam

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


Dell Inspiron 15
$399.99
Dell's base Inspiron 15 model sports a single-core 2.2 GHz Intel Celeron 900 processor (1 MB level-2 cache, 800 MHz frontside bus) and comes configured with a 15.6" (1,366 x 768) LED display, 250 GB internal SATA drive, and 2 GB DDR3 memory. It weighs 5.5 lbs.

Features
Graphics: Intel X4500HD
Networking/Wireless: 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, 10/100 LAN
Connectivity: 3 USB 2.0 ports
Display Ports: VGA
Optical Drive: CD/DVD±R DL
Card Reader: 7-in-1 media card reader (Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Secure Digital High Density, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, xD Picture Card)
Battery: 6 cell lithium ion battery
Other: 1.3 megapixel Webcam; HD audio 2.0; one year LoJack for Laptops standard theft protection

Software
Operating System: 64-bit Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium; Roxio Burn 1.0

Dell Inspiron 15R
$499.99
The Inspiron 15R base model sports a dual-core 2.4 GHz Intel Core i3-370M processor (3 MB cache) and comes equipped with a 15.6-inch 720p HD LED display, 320 GB internal SATA drive, and 3 GB DDR2 memory. It weighs in at 4.96 lbs.

Features
Graphics: Intel 4500MHD
Networking/Wireless: 802.11g/n Wi-Fi, BlueTooth 2.1+EDR, 10/100 LAN
Connectivity: 3 USB 2.0 ports
Display Ports: VGA
Optical Drive: CD/DVD±R DL
Card Reader: 7-in-1 media card reader (Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Secure Digital High Density, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, xD Picture Card)
Battery: 6 cell lithium ion battery, up to 4 hrs., 2 mins.
Other: 1.3 megapixel Webcam; HD audio 2.2; one year LoJack for Laptops standard theft protection

Software
Operating System: 64-bit Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium; Roxio Burn 1.0

Dell Inspiron 17R
$499.99
The Inspiron 17R base model comes equipped with the largest display in our sub-$500 laptop roundup, a 17.3-inch (1,600 x 900) screen. It runs on a dual-core 2 GHz Intel Pentium P6100 (265 MB level-2 cache per core, 3 MB shared level-3 cache) and comes equipped with a 250 GB internal SATA drive, and 2 GB DDR3 memory. It weighs in at 6.67 lbs.

Features
Graphics: Intel HD
Networking/Wireless: 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, 10/100 LAN
Connectivity: 3 USB 2.0 ports; 1 combo eSATA/USB 2.0 port w/sleep and charge
Display Ports: HDMI
Optical Drive: CD/DVD±R DL (optional Blu-ray player)
Card Reader: 7-in-1 media card reader (Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Secure Digital High Density, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, xD Picture Card)
Battery: 6 cell lithium ion battery, up to 3.8 hrs.
Other: 10-key number pad; 1.3 megapixel Webcam; Energy Star

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


Dell Insprion M101z
$429.99
Powered by a single-core 1.7 GHz AMD Athlon II Neo K125 chip with 1 MB level-2 cache, the Insprion M101z offers an 11.6" HD (1,366 x 768) widescreen display, 250 GB internal SATA drive, and 2 GB DDR3 memory. It weighs in at 3.44 lbs.

Features
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200
Networking/Wireless: 802.11n Wi-Fi; 10/100 LAN; BlueTooth
Connectivity: 2 USB 2.0 ports; 1 combo eSATA/USB 2.0 port w/sleep and charge
Display Ports: HDMI, VGA
Card Reader: 7-in-1 media card reader (Secure Digital, SD High-Density, SD High-Capacity, MultiMediaCard, xD Picture Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro)
Battery: 6 cell lithium ion battery, up to 6.5 hrs.
Other: 1.6 megapixel Webcam with integrated digital microphone

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