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Laptop Reviews

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One of the challenges of finding timely laptop reviews for the current crop of computers is the proliferation of brands and models. The hunt is further complicated by the many configuration options and the fact that some manufacturers use the same model name for PCs with entirely different hardware configurations.

Also, manufacturers update their systems frequently (sometimes with only minor or cosmetic changes), so it can be tricky to keep up with the latest laptops even with obsessive reading of laptop reviews. That said, laptops in the budget price range have enough features in common to enable us to rely on the laptop reviews we found to draw some reasonable conclusions about how well the laptops on our list perform.

Laptops General Performance.

Cheap laptops may not have the latest and greatest hardware, but they still get the job done. Laptop reviews indicate they're perfectly capable of handling everyday tasks, such as email, web surfing, creating office documents, and the like. Our picks for good and best cheap laptops handily meet these criteria.

In particular, laptops with second-generation Intel CPUs impress reviewers with their speed. The Lenovo IdeaPad V570 1066A9U proved to be a real screamer in testing by PCMag.com. With a second-generation Intel i5-2410M and 6GB of RAM, the IdeaPad V570 is loaded with powerful hardware that impresses reviewers. Although this computer, like any budget laptop, isn't designed to run the latest 3D games, users posting laptop reviews at Best Buy say it can run popular older games such as Starcraft and World of Warcraft without any trouble. The Toshiba Satellite L745-S4210 uses Intel's second-generation i3-2310M, which powers this system effortlessly. Laptop reviews from experts and users say the L745-S4210 runs smoothly and provides a lot of power for its relatively low cost.

The basic version of the Dell Inspiron 14R, like the Toshiba Satellite, uses the Intel i3-2310M CPU, but users and experts are not as impressed with the Dell's performance, according to laptop reviews. The system seems to run a little slow compared with other, similarly equipped PCs, which one user at Amazon attributes to an excessive amount of "bloatware" (extra free and trial software that laptop manufacturers pre-load on PCs). Still, laptop reviews indicate the Dell runs fast enough to handle simple PC tasks such as web surfing and document creation without too many hiccups. The performance of the Dell Vostro V131 will depend on the specific configuration you choose. The Vostro is available with a variety of CPUs, from a very cheap, low-powered Intel Celeron processor to a much faster, more powerful Intel i5-2410M. Naturally, the better the CPU, the better the performance -- and the higher the price.

The HP Pavilion g6-1a69 uses a first-generation Intel i3-380M CPU. Almost all users and expert reviewers describe this laptop's performance as pretty good but not great. It handles email, web surfing, and other common PC tasks well enough, but don't expect it to be especially snappy, laptop reviews say. The Gateway NV55C38u is equipped with a Pentium P6200 dual-core CPU and only 2GB of RAM, so it's not likely to outperform the other laptops we looked at. Still, it's the cheapest computer among our picks, and users posting laptop reviews are satisfied with its performance, especially considering its bargain price.

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HP 2000z
Dell Inspiron 14R
Gateway NV55C38u
HP Pavilion g6-1a69
Dell Vostro V131
Lenovo IdeaPad V570
Toshiba Satellite L745-S4210

Samsung RV511-A01

 

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