Blogger-Worthy Laptops: Comparison Shopping

I'm in the market for the perfect blogger and freelancer's laptop. It must be ultra-portable, reliable, able to contain oodles of research and intervew transcripts and be up to date with the latest office software. My budget is between $500 - $700.

I've done some research, and picked a few to compare:

Named PC Magazine Editor's Choice and touted for "intelligent productivity and dependability"

It is "ruggedized" and tested for real-world use with reinforced hinges and system latches, free-fall sensor hard drive and shock absorber in case it is dropped.

Specs:

• Processor: Intel® CoreTM i3 370M (2.4GHz/3MB cache)
• Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
• Display: 15.6" HD(1366x768) Anti-Glare LED
• Memory: 4 2GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
• Hard Drive: 160GB hard drive (5400RPM)
• Video Card: not listed
• Optical Drive: 8X DVD with Cyberlink PowerDVD™, no media
• Security Software: Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security Services, 30-days Warranty
• Width: 14.61” / 371mm, Height: (front/back) 1.33 inches / 33.8mm , Depth: 9.84” / 250mm, Starting weight: 5.72lbs / 2.59kg (with 4-cell battery)
• 1 Year Limited Warranty and 1 Year Mail-in Service

Not included, but important: Microsoft Office (add $199), Integrated Webcam ($30), a bigger hard drive ($50 for 250GB). Although a CD/DVD RW drive isn't included - USB drives are handy and I have a desktop for other purposes, so that isn't a concern for me.

With a base price of $579, and my bare minimum customizations - my total would be $858.00.Certainly not what I would want to pay for a laptop that I would consider to only meet my very basic needs.

Asus has been increasingly recognized for bargain pricing on reliable laptops. There are several in the price range that I have specified, but I've selected the least expensive of them because it surprisingly meets my needs straight out of the box with the exception of Microsoft Office.

Specs:

• Intel® Pentium® processor P6100, 1066mhz, 2.0ghz, 3mb L3 cache
• 3GB DDR3 memory, expandable to 8GB.
• Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support
• 15.6" LED-backlit high-definition widescreen display
  
• 320GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm)
• Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator HD and HDMI output.
• Built-in 0.3MP webcam
  
• Digital media reader for SD, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick and Memory Stick PRO
  
• 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports
  
• Built-in high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n)
  
• Built-in 10/100/1000 Mbps Fast Ethernet LAN
  
• Weighs 5.7 lbs. and measures 1.4" thin
  
• Long battery life - 4hrs, 21 min
  
• Scratch Resistant Outer
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition operating system preinstalled
  
  

After purchase of Microsoft Office for $199 - total cost will be $678.00

Although it's quite pretty and extremely customizable, I can't get over the notion that with SONY you are paying more for the brand name. Sure their hardware is reputable - I'm just not a huge fan. 

Specs:

• Intel® Pentium™ Dual Core P6100 processor (2.0GHz)
• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
• 2GB (2GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
• Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator HD
• Built in Webcam and microphone
• CD/DVD Player / Burner
• Standard capacity battery
• 5.2 lbs. (with standard battery), 13.60"(W) x 1.07"(H) x 9.39"(D)

Base pricing is $599.00, and again add on Microsoft Office for $199 - total $798.

This series provides several color options and plenty of customization, but to remain consistent let's stick with the base configuration.

Specs:

• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual Core Processor P6100 (2.00 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)
• Intel(R) HD Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 5.75 hours of battery life +++
• 14.5" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768)
• FREE Upgrade to 500GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• HP TrueVision Webcam and Digital Microphone
• Wireless 802.11b/g/n Card
• 5.2 lbs, 1.4 x 13.9 x 9.3 inches

I'm actually impressed - 4GB DDR3 and a 500 GB hard drive in a small and light package.

$529.00 + $199.00 for Microsoft Home & Business = $728 grand total

Toshiba's Website makes researching the perfect laptop for your purposes a breeze. There are so many ways to search! I used their laptop finder to sort and select my requirements.

The finder listed 7 laptops within my price range that met my specifications. Because I'm certain I will want to build on the base, I pick the least expensive: Satellite T235D-S1340RD

Specs:

• AMD Athlon™ II Neo Dual-Core Processor K325
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)*
• ATI® Mobility Radeon™ HD 4225
• 256MB-1405MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory
• 3GB DDR3 memory
• 320GB HDD (5400rpm)
• Sold Separately: Toshiba USB Portable DVD SuperMulti Drive
• 13.3" widescreen
• HD TruBrite® TFT LED display
• Supports 720p content, 1366x768 (HD), 16:9 aspect ratio
• Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel
• Wi-Fi® Wireless networking (802.11b/g/n)*
• 10/100 Ethernet LAN
• Memory Card Reader
• 2-USB (2.0) ports, 1-eSATA/USB (2.0) combo port with Sleep and Charge*
• HDMI output port
• 3.9 lbs, 8.8" x 1" x 12.7"

This laptop configuration is super light and ultra portable without the added bulk of of an optical drive. It's the perfect middle of the road notebook, falling right between a net-book and a laptop without sacrificing performance. Adding Microsoft Office will bring it just over my budget, to $728.00, but with Toshiba's reputation of reliability I don't have a problem with that. 

Note: OpenOffice.org is a great alternative to spending the extra dough on Microsoft Office.  MS Office is the standard, but there is little OpenOffice won't do in comparison.