Light Laptops: Popular Powerful Compact Notebook PCs
Sony VAIO P Series PC: 1.4lbs; 1.33GHz Intel CPU; 2GB RAM; 60GB HD or 128GB SSD; Windows Vista; 8" 1600x768 LED lit; 4-hour battery
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• Core 2 Duo 1.3 Ghz • 800Mhz FSB • 802.11b/g/n, Win 7 • 4GB RAM, 500 GB HD • 13.3" 1366x768 glossy • 3.6lbs, 8hr40min batt.
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• Core 2 Duo 1.3 Ghz • 800Mhz FSB • 802.11b/g/n, Win 7 • 4GB RAM, 500 GB HD • 13.3" 1366x768 glossy • 3.74lbs, 10hr battery
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• Core 2 Duo 1.3 Ghz • 800Mhz FSB, Bluetooth • 802.11b/g, Win 7 • 4GB RAM, 320 GB HD • 11.6" 1366x768 glossy • 3.1lbs, 8hr+ battery
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• Intel ATOM 1.66 Ghz • 667Mhz FSB, full KB • 802.11b/g, Win 7 • 1GB RAM, 160 GB HD • 10" 1024x600 glossy • 2.93lbs, up to 9hr batt
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• Core 2 Duo 2.66Ghz • 802.11a/b/g/n Win • DVD-RW • 4GB RAM, 320 GB HD • 13.1" 1366x768 • 3.4lbs, up to 6hr batt
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• Core 2 Duo 2.26Ghz • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard • DVD-RW • 2GB RAM, 160 GB HD • 13.3" 1280x800 • 4.5lbs, up to 7hr batt
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See also:
Computer Hardware
Computer Software
Office Supplies
Intel's Atom CPUs are their most efficient, making them good for netbook PCs with very long battery life. Though they are fairly fast (with 47 million transistors), they consume about 1/10 the power of older CPUs. The VIA Nano line of CPUs are slightly faster, but consume more battery power.
Intel's Core 2 Duo CPUs, and many AMD and VIA CPUs, include 2 CPU "cores" on a single chip of silicon, allowing them to perform symmetric multiprocessing. This results in a much faster machine, particulary for people who like multitasking—running more than one program at a time.
Intel's dual core CPUs also include features carried over from their now passé Pentium M CPU, like a 2MB L2 cache, advanced branch predicting, and "speedstep technology", to give high performance at relatively low clock speeds, thus extending battery life.
Particularly desirable are multi core CPUs with a large L2 cache, a high speed Front Side Bus. As of this writing, Intel offers Core 2 Duo CPUs with up to 6MB of L2 cache, and with FSB speeds up to 1333Mhz. Core 2 Quad CPUs, which have 4 CPU cores, are the most desirable for serious PC users, but also the most expensive.
Intel Product Info
Also consider AMD or VIA CPUs—which are usually at lower prices than Intel's, although they may have somewhat shorter battery life, and recently have not usually been as fast in high-end PCs.
The Intel Centrino name on a notebook PC indicates that it has the Intel mobile CPU & chipset, plus Intel's own built-in 802.11a/b/g wireless networking card. Systems witn Intel CPUs that are not "Centrino" branded are often sold with non-Intel 802.11g or 802.11a/b/g internal wireless networking cards, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Also important on a new PC:
• As many USB 2.0 ports as possible.
• IEEE-1394 (also known as Firewire or iLink; so you can transfer video from your camcorder to edit and burn to CD or DVD)
• HDMI A/V out (or at least an S-Video or composite video-out, so you can play DVDs in your notebook PC and watch them on a larger TV).
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PC Dealers (selling their own brand)
Shop Toshiba
is the place people come to buy Toshiba Notebook Computers & Tablet PC's including the new Toshiba NB205 netbook with full-size keyboard, available in 5 colors and starting at only $329. (their Satellite, Qosmio, and other models are available with Intel Core Duo CPUs, and some with built-in TV tuners), PDAs, Digital Cameras, Projectors and Toshiba brand accessories direct from the manufacturer. Remember to check their Toshiba special offers page, too.
The Official Sony Store (Sony Style)
sells Sony VAIO notebook and VAIO desktop computers, famous quality Sony computer monitors, CD/DVD burners, accessories, and AIBO entertainment robots. They also sell sells Sony electronics from Sony TVs, home theater and video products to portable audio & home audio products (and accessories) direct from the manufacturer. Their inventory includes Sony digital imaging products, like Cyber-shot & Mavica digital cameras and Micro MV, Mini DV, Digital-8, & Hi-8 Sony camcorders plus Video Walkmans, digital photo printers and accessories. Canadians: shop at Sony Style Canada .
The HP Home & Home Office Store sells Hewlett-Packard and Compaq desktop PCs, workstations, notebook PCs, and servers, plus HP printers, digital cameras, and other peripherals and accessories, direct from the manufacturer. You can search with the form below.
Fujitsu PC
offers great savings on Fujitsu LifeBook notebook computers, pen tablet PCs, and accessories, direct from the manufacturer.
Canadian shoppers can link to Lenovo Canada to buy ThinkPad, IdeaPad & ThinkCentre PCs (formerly from IBM, they have been sold by the Chinese company Lenovo—founded in 1984—since May, 2005). The Lenovo S12 netbook, with a 12.1" 1280x800 display, is of great interest because the larger display allows more of web pages (or apps) to be seen than smaller netbooks. The S12 is now available with Nvidia's Ion chipset, providing about 10x faster graphics performance, and with up to 3 GB RAM and a 320 GB hard drive.
Computer Hardware Shops (that also sell PC systems and software)
Founded in 1984, CompUSA , with about 225 stores in 90 metro areas, in 2008 was acquired by Systemax, an NYSE-traded corporation which also owns Tiger Direct .
Both CompUSA and TigerDirect carry a very similar inventory of over 50,000 identically-priced items, including notebook computers (Core 2 Duo models from Toshiba, Sony, HP-Compaq, Gateway and Acer), monitors, motherboards, CPUs, PDAs, networking gear, accessories, gaming supplies, digital cameras, consumer electronics, plus more than 2,000 software titles, and DVD & VHS movies. CompUSA and TigerDirect both have a 30-day return policy (see websites for details) and both do ship internationally (but accept wire transfers only for international orders).
Because they are both owned by Office Depot, Computers4SURE and Tech Depot
both carry nearly identical merchandise at nearly identical prices. The prices are low, and the inventory includes over 60,000 products: computers of all kinds, and everything you need to go with them. They ship only to the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They CAN ship to PO Boxes and APO/FPO addresses. You can also order computer gear directly from Office Depot itself, but their computer inventory is not as extensive as that at TechDepot and Computers4SURE.
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Best Buy
is a retailer of
personal computers
, consumer electronics, entertainment software and accessories, with over 800 retail stores throughout the US. Most items can be returned up to 30 days later for a full refund, and to avoid shipping charges and receive a refund more quickly,
you can return items to any Best Buy store.
Buy.com
carries a full range of PC products, including notebook PCs with 802.11g Wi-Fi, 512MB ram, 40GB HD, and a DVD burner for under $800 (Averatec 5400). Notebook brands they carry include Sony, IBM, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, Averatec, and Acer. As of this writing, they offer
free shipping on many items. No credit card? Buy.com now
accepts payment via PayPal.
PCMall
is a computer products superstore with more than 1.3 million customers, from individuals to large corporations. They carry almost anything you might be looking for, including Lenovo ThinkPad Notebook PCs with
Core Duo CPUs and
802.11g wireless networking. They also carry countless other desktop & notebook PCs, as well as peripherals and software.
Founded in 1989 in Walnut, California,
MWave
sells new notebook & desktop PCs, computer components (including hard drives, memory, and flat panel monitors), peripherals and electronics (including mp3 players) at low discount prices to a customer base of over 3 million users.
Discount and Closeout Computer Hardware Shops, & Used Computers
If it's electronic,
OnSale!
has it on sale, including digital cameras, iPods, computer systems, and peripherals.
Computer Geeks
specializes in providing computer-related excess inventory, manufacturer-closeouts, and high-demand computer components and peripherals at highly-discounted prices to tech-savvy, "Geeky", consumers. All of the products sold on their site are in stock, ready to ship, and include a warranty.
Surplus Computers
offers discounts on many hardware and software items, like Western Digital hard drives and 20 GB mp3 players. Surplus Computers is located in the heart of Silicon Valley next to San Jose International Airport in a 30,000 square foot warehouse, no more than 15 minutes from the headquarters of Intel, AMD, Quantum, Applied Materials, Maxtor and others from whom they purchase manufacturer and corporate excess, overstock, and slightly obsolete inventories in huge quantities to maximize the savings to you. Many of their offers come with
free shipping.
Based in the UK, and established for over 15 years, with four retail locations,
Morgan Computer (UK)
are one of Europe’s leading dealers in surplus, end-of-line and refurbished computer equipment. Mainland UK delivery is charged at £10 (ex VAT) - £11.75 (inc VAT) per order.
Mac, PalmOS, Linux, Mobile
More than 1.3 million individuals, home offices, small businesses and large corporations rely on
MacMall
to deliver the Apple-Macintosh products they need. MacMall offers a 30-day return policy on selected items based on manufacturer return policies otherwise all purchases are final. Ground shipping is available throughout the 48 contiguous states, overnight is the only shipping method available for orders that must ship on Saturdays, or to Alaska and Hawaii. They do not take online orders for international addresses or APO/FPOs.
The
Official Palm Store
is the place to find
Palm Centro Smartphones,
Palm Treo SmartPhones
, and
Palm TX,
Zire and
Tungsten handhelds direct from the manufacturer, including free software and free shipping. They also sell designer accessories, Palm expansion cards, and PalmOS software. You can search for PalmOne handhelds, software, and accessories with this form:
This page now only features shops that sell complete computer systems. For other computer hardware, see:
Computer Hardware