Mobile Buyers' Guide, December 2009
by Jarred Walton on December 6, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Sub-$400 Laptops
At the bottom of the price spectrum we have laptops that cost under $400. The vast majority of these laptops are going to be netbooks, typically a laptop that's under 12" for the LCD. We're not particularly concerned with that classification, though. Laptop, netbook, or notebook: it doesn't really matter to us. What matters are the features you can get, so let's look at the $400 or less offerings.
Intel Atom Laptops
If you're buying a new laptop for under $400 - and especially if it's $300 or less - you're likely getting something with an Intel Atom processor. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but you should be fully aware of what you're getting. The fastest Atom laptop CPU, the N280, runs at 1.66GHz and offers about the same level of performance as a 1.2GHz Pentium M. Considering 1.2GHz Pentium M laptops were state-of-the-art about seven years ago, we're obviously not looking at lightning fast performance. The difference is that an Atom CPU consumes far less power than any Pentium M; in our testing, the "worst" Atom-based netbook still managed to provide over 5 hours of battery life in typical tasks (with a 6-cell battery), and over 3 hours even for demanding tasks like HD video playback. Netbooks like the ASUS 1005HA can last up to 10 hours on a single charge, making the promise of "all-day" computing a reality.
Netbook options these days typically range from 9.1" chassis designs up to 11.6", with a few 12.1" options. We tend to prefer the larger netbooks simply because they offer a higher resolution LCD. 9.1" and 10.1" LCDs are mostly of the 1024x600 ilk, which can be frustrating with some applications. A few manufacturers have offered 1366x768 LCDs in 10.1" netbooks, but those can be difficult to find. In contrast, all of the 11.6" laptops we've looked at run at 1366x768, which is a good balance of size and resolution, and the 12.1" designs usually have a 1280x800 display.
You will be hard-pressed to find a laptop with more than 2GB for under $400, and Atom-based netbooks typically support a maximum of 2GB RAM (via a single SO-DIMM slot). We recommend getting 2GB if at all possible from the start; with netbooks only supporting a single DIMM, if you upgrade later from 1GB to 2GB, you end up with an extra, "useless" SO-DIMM. A few netbooks include 1GB of RAM soldered onto the motherboard, in which case you can get up to 3GB, but with no 64-bit support there's not much incentive to move beyond 2GB right now.
What would we recommend out of the sub-$400 Atom laptops? One laptop we've tested extensively is the ASUS 1005HA, and it's the best of the Atom netbooks we've used. The overall design and features are pretty typical, but battery life was better than the competition and more importantly, the 1005HA LCD delivered a stellar contrast ratio above 1000:1. It makes a huge difference in the way movies and pictures look, and considering the 1005HA doesn't cost much more than competing options, it's an easy recommendation. There's even a matte LCD version of the 1005HA (the 1005HA-VU1X-WT or 1005HA-VU1X-BK), which is awesome to see (but the casing and bezel are still glossy). So glossy or matte: you get to decide. You can also choose between Windows XP and Win7 Starter, but we'd stick with XP or plan on getting 2GB RAM and running Win7 Home Premium - Starter is a bit too limited for our tastes. It's a shame we haven't been able to find any 10.1" 1366x768 LCDs that offer a similar contrast ratio, as that's the only item on our 1005HA wish list.
There's at least one competing alternative to Atom right now, the VIA Nano, but the only netbook with Nano is the Samsung NC20, which costs over $500. We'll pass on that; performance of Nano appears to be a bit better than Atom, but for the price there are many other options. Also worth noting is that even the smallest SSDs that are worth having cost over $100, so you won't find any good SSDs in this price range. We definitely wouldn't bother with upgrading an Atom laptop to an SSD either - if the increase in performance such an upgrade brings is important, we recommend starting with a CULV laptop instead. That brings us to the other $400 alternatives.
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fyleow - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
The Studio XPS 13 is a better comparison to the MBP than the Studio 14z IMO. The XPS 13 and MBP both have the same screen size, optical drive, and better build quality.JarredWalton - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
It's a different comparison which is more favorable towards the MacBook pricing, but the XPS laptops have always been a premium part. Given the price, I'd actually take the 14z, but some will prefer the XPS 13 with the slot-load DVD.It looks like you get about the same features for the same price, but Dell will get you 4GB plus the ability to upgrade quite a few other parts. I'd imagine the XPS 13 will need the 9-cell battery to match the MacBook battery life.
LCD quality I can't say, since I haven't had a chance to look at either laptop in person. I'm guessing the XPS 13 is better than the 13" MacBook and possibly the 13" MacBook Pro. I know the other XPS laptops have generally had decent LCDs at least.
Drag0nFire - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Thanks for the article. Clearly a lot of thought went into the recommendations at each price point.For future reviews, I was wondering if it might be practical to do a review of tablet technology? I evaluated the options a few years ago and decided it wasn't worth it. But Win7 brings some exciting new opportunities...
Thanks!
jabber - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Got mine delivered a few weeks ago. 1.3Ghz CULV works a treat, really slick and teamed with 4GB of ram, a 320GB 7200rpm HDD and a Geforce 105M grahics it zings. Joy of joys it has a decent sized screen and a DVD burner. Ran it yesterday at work for 7 hours and it still had 2 hours+ left to run when I got home.Playing Eve online I get around 40FPS at high quality settings and 60+ at mid settings.
CULV is the way to go.
Mk4ever - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Since their release, I haven't heard a word about them at Anand's.Do you hate them? Are they stealth to your radar?
The HP Smart Touch tx2 has a lot of features that are not available on anything else. And afaik, it still has the best IGP/GPU on a Tablet PC.
Popular, cheapest tablet, small size, good balance of performance/options...
Are you willing to look into it?
JarredWalton - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Thanks for the comment. Tablets are certainly something to mention, and I'll see about updating post-conclusion tomorrow.Personally, I've never been sold on the tablet concept. I've used a couple and came away unimpressed... it's not a feature I feel I need. So yeah, I pretty much overlooked the category.
Getting the price down is certainly a bonus, and the tx2z is about the cheapest I've seen for a tablet. I'm not sure if having a better GPU really makes a difference, but the HD 3200 is certainly 2-3 times faster in graphics tests than the GMA 4500MHD. For under $1000 for a reasonable configuration, it looks good for those that want a tablet PC.
At least one review (CNet) for the tx2z says that the tablet input is sluggish, and battery life is mediocre with the default 6-cell battery (around 3 hours). The 8-cell battery can get about 5 hours of battery life, but it juts out the bottom of the chassis and that's not a good feature for a tablet IMO.
At present, I don't know that there's much more to be said. If HP offered to send one, I'd look at it, but they haven't sent much of anything to us (the HP Mini 311 came direct from NVIDIA).
Mk4ever - Monday, December 7, 2009 - link
All the points you mentioned are absolutely valid. I'll add some points from my experience.I decided to get a small notebook with good IGP a bit more than a year ago. My best option was a ATI 3200 IGP, and I wanted a 12' notebook max. My only option at the time was HP tx2510us. It was a tablet. I didn't like that fact, but it was my only option. It was offered for around $950 back then.
The tablet part turned out to be a great bonus indeed, that I can not overlook in a future purchase. I still rarely use the touch, but it is really useful when using Adobe Illustrator, and for commenting on word documents or solving math problems without a calc (to train my lazy brain) or taking notes. Also flipping the screen alone adds to the portability of the PC, as you can handle it easier when you are standing up or walking, or even wanna read a pdf or a file like how you would hold a book while reading.
The thing is, for the price, the flipping screen and the touch part can be considered as a free bonus. It can be really useful. If you don't like it, simply don't use it, and it is still a great notebook.
I agree with the abysmal battery life, but to tell the truth, and from my experience, it is in line with what most low/midrange laptop batteries offer. And my battery life saw an improvement with Win7.
The HP tx series is popular. When my friend got me my tablet (I live in Middle east where the model wasn't available, he bought it for me from Circuit City or Wall Mart I guess), he told me he saw 2 other people buying the same tablet at that moment. Reviews of how convenient it is for guys in colleges fill the internet. They like the portability of it with the screen flipped to take notes during lectures.
Also, HP tx2 series is especially interesting to review for 2 reasons: One of the few that support multi-touch ( Windows 7 finally supports that feature, and I guess it's worth reviewing this feature on a Technology website, whether it's bad or good, so we know what to expect), and because it has an AMD Turion Ultra, which I haven't seen reveiwed on Anadtech ( it should at least be compared to regular Turions, to test energy savings and battery performance claims to say the least, don't you think?)
I hope you will consider reviewing an HP tx2, if you get the chance.
JarredWalton - Monday, December 7, 2009 - link
Thanks for the feedback. Multi-touch on tablet might make it more useful, though I honestly don't like the idea of touching my screen... fingerprints, bad! :) I've actually tried (several times) to get a laptop with a Turion Ultra. Now I'm looking for Turion II Ultra. I'm hoping AMD can help out, but HP I think is one of the few currently making laptops with Turion II Ultra CPUs, and the big OEM thing can be a problem. We'll keep at it, though....MrMom - Sunday, December 6, 2009 - link
Any matte screens available for under $1k? All this glossiness makes my head hurt!IlllI - Monday, December 7, 2009 - link
here http://www.photodon.com/c/Standard-Custom-Sizes.ht...">http://www.photodon.com/c/Standard-Custom-Sizes.ht...don't limit your options just b/c of the screen