Over the past few months I have used several laptops. Here are my thoughts. These range in size and type from a 10.1″ netbook to a 17″ full sized desktop replacement.
Samsung N220 10.1″ Netbook: If you are looking for the perfect gift for a college student, teenager, spouse, or other loved one that is constantly on the go, consider a netbook. Everyone wants one these days because they are small, easy to fit in a bag or purse and convenient. The right netbook can make a person a lot more productive than usual. You can whip it out while waiting to see the dentist, waiting for the train, riding the train, just about anywhere that a large laptop is not practical.
One nice netbook is the Samsung N220. Although it has a 10″ inch, the way it’s made make it seem smaller. It is the perfect size for carry around at all times and it won’t add much weight to your bag at just under 3 lbs.
Pros
- Large 250gb Hard Drive
- Great, sturdy design
- 802.11bg/n
- Built-in Bluetooth
- Integrated Webcam
Cons
- Maxed out at 1gb of RAM
Great netbook for anyone who wants something small and light to take with you for general computing.
The Samsung N220 can be purchased for $350 from Amazon.com.
Toshiba Satellite T235-1345RD: I recently wrote a full review on this one after using it for a couple of months. Though this one is only a little larger than a netbook, it is packed full of power for lots of computing tasks. The T235 is built on AMD Vision technology.
I have been able to do video editing, photo editing, video conferencing and more on this computer.
As stated in the full review, I have started taking it just about everywhere with me instead of my netbook. I can get a LOT done with it that I might have to otherwise put off until I got home.
This is also one of the best looking little computers I have seen in a while. I have red, but there are other colors available such as black and white. And I think that I saw blue out there somewhere.
Pros
- Very attractive design
- Long battery life
- Light weight
- Great, full specs
Cons
- No real cons that I can note. As stated in my review, I have a sleep mode problem that I am certain can be fixed with some tweaks and an update.
The Toshiba Satellite is available for $599 from Amazon.com.
Dell Inspiron N7010 (aka Inspiron 17R): This is my new powerhouse. This laptop is FULLY PACKED. And I don’t use that term lightly. When I read the specs
on this one, I almost drooled on it. This is the machine to get if you are replacing a desktop, or need a computer fully capable of handling heavy graphic design or photo editing, movies, music, and more.
Specs (may vary by model and vendor where purchased)
- Processor: Intel Core i5 CPU M460 @ 2.53GHz
- RAM: 6GB (upgradeable to 8gb)
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics
- HD: 500GB Hard Drive
- Blu-Ray + Dual Layer DVD burner
- HD SRS Premium Sound
Pros
- Great specs, fully loaded and ready to go with everything you need
- Very fast
- Built-in Wimax – which I was able to call and get hooked into my Comcast Mobile Internet account. Now I can connect from that computer without needing the USB Wimax Adapter
- Built-in Intel Wireless Display technology – Used along with the Netgear Push2TV adapter to display your laptop on your TV wirelessly.
Cons
- Short battery life
- The Windows Experience Index (no, most folks don’t care about this) shows that they skimmed on the graphics a bit. The graphics bring the score down to only 4.5 when it should probably be much more on a laptop this powerful.
Overall, great, powerful machine that won’t disappoint.
The Dell Inspiron 17R can be purchased from Amazon.com ready to go in various varieties for between $899 – $999. Or, you can configure one yourself on Dell’s website starting at $499.
Disclosure: The Samsung was loaned to me for a trial period to do this review. The Dell was provided by Intel. The Toshiba was provided by AMD. No compensation was received for this post.
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