Notebook computers are finally a good deal for most home users, thanks to a vigorous price war that has lowered the cost of fully featured models below $1,000 for the first time.
Apple Computer, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba–the major manufacturers that target the consumer market–are all offering sub-$1,000 notebooks this spring.
For many years, notebooks were too expensive in comparison to desktop systems and skimped on too many features.
No more. While desktop PCs are still less expensive, the gap has closed dramatically: A good entry-level desktop PC with monitor runs about $600 to $700, while a nearly comparable notebook is now about $900.
The most recent price war, which started late last year and gained intensity this spring, has pushed prices down by an order of magnitude. The old and lame models are now in the $600-to-$800 range, after taking into account the inevitable mail-in rebates, while the models in the $800-to-$1,000 range offer everything most home users will ever need.
Here’s just one example, based on advertised prices as of May 27: Hewlett-Packard’s ZE4315US, at $899 after rebates. The notebook offers a 15-inch color LCD screen, AMD Athlon 1800 processor running at 1.5 gigahertz, 256 megabytes of random-access memory, 30 gigabyte hard drive, and combination DVD-ROM/CD-RW optical drive.
This isn’t the latest and greatest in every category, but more than enough for such home computing tasks as Web browsing, digital photography, electronic mail, collecting digital music and instant messaging.
Competitors are offering equally good deals. Exact comparisons can be difficult, however, because manufacturers change their model lineups every three to four months and further confuse the picture with rebate offers that sometimes only endure for a week or two.
There’s also a new entrant in the field: a start-up company named Averatec (www.averatec.com) based in Foothill Ranch, Calif. In April, Averatec shipped the first “thin and light” sub-$1,000 notebook, the Model 3150.
Most sub-$1,000 models are so-called “desktop replacements” or “desknotes,” weighing seven to eight pounds–too heavy to carry all day in a briefcase or knapsack. Since most home users don’t regularly take their notebooks on the road, the extra weight isn’t a problem.
The lightweight class, where notebooks typically weigh three to five pounds, usually starts at $1,500.
Yet Averatec’s 3150 costs under $1,000 and weighs only 4.3 pounds.
There’s a bright 12.1-inch LCD screen, AMD Athlon 1600 processor running at 1.3 gHz, 256 mb of RAM, 30 gb hard drive, DVD/CD-RW combo drive, built-in 802.11b Wi-Fi wireless networking and Windows XP Professional. The similar model 3150H for $949 lacks only the built-in Wi-Fi and substitutes Windows XP Home for the Pro version.
The 3150 performed well on informal tests, including smooth playback of the James Bond movie “Tomorrow Never Dies” on DVD.
On the down side, the 3150’s keyboard was spongy and some important keys–such as the Backspace key–were in unfamiliar spots that make touch typing difficult. Waves of heat also came through the 3150’s metal and plastic skin. All modern notebooks run hot, especially thin and light models, but the 3150 could double as a George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine.
For most home users, who don’t need a thin and light notebook, full-size sub-$1,000 models are still the best deal.
Most models are fully featured. Be sure to get at least 256 mb of RAM; some deeply discounted notebooks come with only 128 mb. And hold out for a DVD/CD-RW drive so you can watch DVD movies and record, or “burn,” CDs; some models offer only DVD-ROM drives that read CDs but can’t record them.
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Built-in Wi-Fi is a nice extra, but isn’t mandatory; you can always add Wi-Fi through a $50 adapter card.