Gateway Laptop NV51B15U with AMD E-Series

This laptop is powered by the AMD E-Series E-350 processor.  This is a 64-bit processor with two processing cores.  It runs at 1.6 GHz and has 1 MB of cache. This Gateway comes with 4GB of DDR3 memory and can be expanded to a maximum of 8GB.

The screen is a 15.6″ LED backlit high-definition widescreen display with a resolution of 1366 x 768.  This laptop comes with an ATI Radeon HD 6310 graphics system.  This features 256MB of dedicated video memory.  It has support for UVD3 , OpenCL 1.1, OpenGL 3.1, Shader Model 5.0, DirectX 11 and more.

For storage you get a 250 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive rotating at 5400RPM.   The optical drive is a multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support.  The 2-in-1 digital media reader supports Secure Digital (SD) and MultiMediaCard (MMC) formats.

For networking you get a built-in 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN adapter for your wired Ethernet connections.  On the wireless side you can use the standard 802.11 b/g/n adapter. You can use this with the 1.3 MP high-definition webcam with 1280×1024 resolution for some video chatting goodness.

External ports include 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI port for connecting to your HDTV, 1 VGA port for an external monitor, 1 headphone out and 1 microphone in port.

This Gateway laptop comes installed with Genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition.  Other software includes Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word and Excel® only, with advertising. No PowerPoint® or Outlook®. Buy Office 2010 to use the full-featured software, Bing™ Bar, Windows Live™ Essentials.

This laptop measures 15″ x 10″ x 1.34″ and weighs 5.73 pounds.  It has a 6-cell (4400 mAh) Lithium-ion battery.

You can find the Gateway NV51B15U laptop for around $330.

HP Pavilion g7-1167dx Laptop with AMD Phenom II

Powering this laptop is the AMD Phenom II mobile processor (model: P960).  This is a 64-bit, quad-core processor running at 1.8GHz with VISION Ultimate Technology.  It has 2MB of L2 cache, built on a 45nm die and uses 25 W of power.  This Pavilion comes with 4GB DDR3 system memory and can support a maximum of 8GB.

The screen is a 17.3″ diagonal high-definition+ HP BrightView LED display with a resolution of 1600 x 900.  That gives you native support for 720p HD content and an aspect ratio of 16:9.  The screen is driven by the AMD M880G Chipset with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 graphics with 256MB-1917MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory. Shared memory means the system may slow down during graphically intense operations like games.

For storage you get a 500GB Serial ATA drive rotating at 5400RPM.  This is a good size which should have plenty of room for all your movies, music, games and more.  The optical drive is a SuperMulti DVD burner which can handle most disks except for BluRays.  The digital media slot can handle Secure Digital (SD) and MultiMediaCard (MMC) cards.

For networking you get an integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN adapter for your standard wired network connection.  On the wireless side you get a basic 802.11 b/g/n WLAN adapter.  You can use this with the integrated HP Webcam and digital microphone for doing some video chatting.

External ports include 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI port, 1 VGA port, 1 headphone out and 1 microphone in port.  This also comes with a Kensington MicroSaver lock slot.

This laptop comes installed with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition.  Other software includes Free 60-day Norton Internet Security 2011 Subscription, HP Support Assistant; HP Power Manager, HP Setup Manager; HP Recovery Manager, LoJack Theft Protection (Link In Start Menu), Microsoft Office 2010 preloaded (purchase of a Product Key required to activate a full Office 2010 suite), Windows Live Essentials 2011: Windows Live Mail; Windows Live Messenger; Windows Live Photo Gallery; Windows Live Movie Maker; Windows Live Writer; Windows Live Mesh, Cyberlink Power DVD 9 and Cyberlink YouCam BE.

This Pavilion measures 16.22″ x 10.55″ x 1.22″ and weighs 6.05 pounds.  The 6-cell 47WHr Lithium-Ion battery powers this laptop when you can find a plug for the 65W AC adapter.

You can find the HP Pavilion g7-1167dx laptop for around $450.

Acer Aspire AS4339-2618 Laptop with Intel Celeron

This Aspire is powered by the Intel Celeron (model: P4600) processor.  This is a 64-bit, dual-core processor running at 2GHz.  It has 2MB of Intel SmartCache and was built using a 32nm process.  It uses 35W of power.  This laptop comes with 2GB of 1066MHz DDR3 memory and can support up to 8GB.

The screen is a 14″ LED-backlit LCD high-definition widescreen display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 and CineCrystal technology. The screen is driven by the relatively low powered Intel HD graphics chip with 128MB of dedicated graphics memory and DirectX 10 support.

For storage you get a small 250GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive rotating at 5400RPM.  This is about the smallest and slowest drive you’ll find in a laptop these days.  The optical drive is a multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support and records up to 8.5GB of data or 4 hours of video using compatible DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL media; also supports DVD-RAM. The media reader supports Secure Digital (SD) and MultiMediaCard (MMC) formats.

For networking you can use the built-in 10/100 Fast Ethernet LAN adapter with its RJ-45 connector for easy wired web connections.  On the wireless side you can use the integrated 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN adapter.  You can use these both with the 0.3 MP webcam with microphone for some video chatting goodness.

This Aspire comes installed with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition.  Other software includes Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Reader 9.1 and more. Microsoft Office Starter 2010 also included (product key card required for activation; sold separately).

External ports include 3 high-speed USP 2.0 ports, 1 VGA port, 1 headphone out and 1 microphone in port.  This Aspire does not have an HDMI out port.

This laptop measures 13.7″ x 10″ x 1.3″ and weighs 4.9 pounds.  The laptop can last up to 3.5 hours on the standard battery.

You can find the Acer Aspire AS4339-2618 for around $280.

HP Pavilion g4-1104dx Laptop with Intel Pentium

The Intel inside is the Pentium B940 processor.  This is a dual-core, 64-bit processor running at 2.0 GHz.  It has 2 MB of cache and was built using a 32nm process. This laptop comes with 4GB of memory and can be expanded to a maximum of 8GB.

The display is a 14″ LED high-definition display with BrightView technology.  It has a resolution of 1366 x 768 which gives you a 16:9 aspect ratio.  This gives you the ability to watch 720p HD content natively.  The screen is driven by Intel HD 3000 graphics.  This is an integrated graphics solution which offers up to 1696 MB of shared graphics memory.

For storage you get a 320 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive running at 5400RPM.  Not the best drive out there, but what do you expect at this price.  The optical drive is a multiformat DVD +/-RW/CD-RW drive.  The multiformat media reader supports Secure Digital and MultiMediaCard (MMC) formats.

For networking you can use the integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet LAN adapter for your wired network connections.  On the wireless side you can use the built-in 802.11 b/g/n adapter.  Pretty standard fare there.  You can use those with the built-in webcam and microphone for Hangouts on Google+.

External ports include 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI port, 1 VGA port, 1 microphone in and 1 headphone out ports.  This laptop also features an HP Imprint Finish with a pewter color.

This Pavilion comes installed with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition (as does just about every other laptop on the market).

This laptop measures 13.4″ x 9.1″ x 1.2″ and weighs 4.7 pounds.  The lithium ion battery pack provides up to 6 hours of unplugged power.

You can find the HP Pavilion g4-1104dx laptop for around $350.

HP Pavilion g6-1b79dx Laptop with Intel Core i3 Processor

This laptop has a Intel Core i3-370M processor. It’s a 64-bit, dual-core processor running at 2.4 GHz.  It has 4 processing threads and 3MB of cache.  It was built on a 32nm process and uses 35W.  This laptop comes with 4GB DDR3 memory and can be expanded to a maximum of 8GB.  That’s enough memory for multi-tasking apps.

The screen is a 15.6″ High-Definition HP BrightView LED display with a resolution of 1366 x 768.  The screen is driven by Intel HD graphics with up to 1696 MB of shared video memory.

For storage you get a 500GB  Serial ATA hard drive rotating at 5400 RPM.  The optical drive is a Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support.  The digital media card reader supports Secure Digital and Multimedia cards.

For networking you get an integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN adapter for all your wired networking needs.  For wireless networking you can use the built-in 802.11 b/g/n adapter.  Other features include SRS Premium Sound with Altec Lansing speakers and a touch pad with multi-gesture support.

External ports include 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI port for connecting to your HD TV, 1 VGA port, 1 headphone out and 1 microphone in port.  You also get a Kensington MicroSaver lock slot.

This laptop comes installed with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition.  Other software includes a free 60-day Norton Internet Security 2011 subscription, LoJack theft protection, Cyberlink PowerDVD 9, Cyberlink YouCam BE, Microsoft Office 2010, and Windows Live Essentials 2011.

This laptop measures 14.72″ x 9.65″ x 1.2″/1.43″ and weighs 5.22 pounds.  The 6-cell (47WHr) Lithium-Ion battery provides power when you aren’t using the 65W AC adapter.

You can find the HP Pavilion g6-1b79dx laptop for around $450.

Toshiba Satellite L755-S5216 Laptop with Intel Pentium

This laptop is powered by the Intel Pentium B940 processor.   This is a dual-core, 64-bit processor running at 2.0 GHz.  It has 2 MB of cache and was built using a 32nm process. This laptop comes with 4GB of memory.

The screen is a 15.6″ diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT display with a native resolution of 1366×768.  This display is LED backlit and a 16:9 aspect ratio.  Driving this display is the Mobile Intel HD graphics chip.  It supports 64-1696MB of shared video memory.  This is not the card to play video games with.

For storage you get a 320GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive rotating at 5400 RPM.  Not a large drive, but this is a budget laptop.  The optical drive is a DVD SuperMulti drive supporting 11 formats.  The digital memory card reader supports Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, miniSD, microSD, Memory Stick™, Memory Stick PRO™ , and Multi Media Card.

For networking you get a substandard 10/100 wired Ethernet adapter and the basic 802.11 b/g/n wireless Ethernet adapter.  You can use these networking options with the built-in webcam and microphone for doing some video chatting with Skype on Facebook or Google+ Hangouts.

External ports include 1 RGB monitor port, 1 HDMI port for connecting to your HDTV, 1 microphone in, 1 headphone out, 3 USB v2.0 ports (1 with USB Sleep and Charge), and a slot for a security lock. Other features include built-in stereo speakers with Dolby Advanced Audio.

This Satellite comes installed with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition.  Other software includes Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Air, Corel Digital Studio, Google Toolbar, Google Chrome, Microsoft Live Essentials, Microsoft Office Starter 2010 and Norton Internet Security 2011.

This laptop measures 14.96″ x 9.84″ 1.09″/1.48″ and weighs 5.7 pounds.  This laptop has a Fusion finish in Matrix Silver.  This laptop is powered by a 6 cell (48Wh) Lithium Ion battery pack which can provide up to nearly 5 hours of unplugged power.

You can find the Toshiba Satellite L755-S5216 for around $380.

Dell Inspiron I15R-1161MRB Laptop with Intel Core i3 Processor

This laptop is powered by the Intel Core i3-370M CPU. It’s a 64-bit, dual-core processor running at 2.4 GHz.  It has 4 processing threads and 3MB of cache.  It was built on a 32nm process and uses 35W.  This laptop comes with 4GB DDR3 memory and can be expanded to a maximum of 8GB.  That’s enough memory for multi-tasking apps.

The screen is a 15.6″ WLED high-definition display with a resolution of 1366 x 768.  The resolution is 1366×768 which gives you a 16:9 aspect ratio, and native support for 720p HD content.  The screen is driven by Intel HD graphics which features 64-1274MB dynamically allocated shared video memory.  This is not the laptop to play games on.

For storage you get a 500GB Serial ATA (SATA) drive rotating at 5400RPM.  That’s a normal sized drive by today’s standards, and should be enough space for most people. The optical drive is a multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive. The digital media reader is a 7-in-1 deal with support for Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, MultiMediaCard, MultiMediaCard Plus, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card formats.

For networking you can use the integrated 10/100 Ethernet network card for your wired networking needs.  On the wireless side you can use the built-in Dell 1501 wireless networking min card.  This laptop also offers support for Bluetooth devices. Use those networking options with the built-in webcam and digital microphone for some easy video chatting.

External ports include 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports, 1 half mini card slot, 1 HDMI port, 1 headphone out and 1 microphone in port.

This laptop comes installed with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition.

This laptop measures 10.3″ x 14.8″ x 1.25″ and weighs 5.9 pounds.  The 6-cell Lithium ion battery pack provides up to 4 hours and 2 minutes of unplugged power.

You can find the Dell Inspiron I15R-1161MRB laptop for around $530.

Dell IM5030-1719OBK Inspiron Laptop with AMD Athlon

This Pavilion is powered by the AMD Athlon II X2 P360 processor.  This is a dual-core, 64-bit processor running at 2.3 GHz.  This processor has 1MB of L2 cache and uses a small 25W.  This system comes with 4GB of DDR3 memory and can support up to 6GB.

The screen is a 15.6″ LED high-definition display with TrueLife technology and a resolution of 1366×768.  The screen is driven by the AMD M880G Chipset with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 graphics with 256MB-1405 MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory. Shared memory means the system may slow down during graphically intense operations like games.

For storage you get a 320GB Serial ATA hard drive rotating at 5400RPM.  That’s on the smaller size these days, but this is a budget laptop, so it’s good for this price.  The optical drive is a multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support. The digital media reader is a 3-in-1 type with support for Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard and Memory Stick formats.

For networking you get an integrated 10/100 Ethernet network card for your wired networking needs.  For wireless you can use the built-in Atheros wireless networking card with support for 802.11 b/g/n.  You can use those network options with the built-in webcam and digital microphone for some easy video chatting.

External ports include 3 high-speed USB 2.0 ports, 1 VGA port, 1 half-mini pcmcia slot. 1 headphone out and 1 microphone in.  This laptop does not have an HDMI port.

For software you get Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition installed.  Other software includes Microsoft Office Starter 2010 (product key card required for activation; sold separately) and more.

This laptop measures 9.6″ x 14.9″ x 1.6″ and weighs 5.6 pounds.  The 6-cell Lithium ion battery pack provides the juice when unplugged.

You can find the Dell Inspiron IM5030-1719OBK laptop for around $380.

HP Pavilion g6-1a75dx Laptop with Intel Core i3

This laptop is powered by the Intel Core i3 380M processor.  This a 64-bit dual-core processor with 4 processing threads.  It has 3MB of Intel Smart Cache and operates at 2.54GHz.  It was built using a 32nm process and uses 35W of power. This system comes with 4GB of DDR3 memory and can be expanded to a maximum of 8GB.

The screen is a 15.6″ LED high-definition display with BrightView technology and a resolution of 1366 x 768.  The screen is driven by Mobile Intel HD Graphics with 128MB of dedicated video memory.  This is not the laptop you want, if you want to play today’s games at their highest resolutions.

For storage you get a 500GB Serial ATA hard drive rotating at 5400RPM.  That’s plenty of space for all your music, apps, photos and more. The optical drive is a multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive.  The media reader supports only Secure Digital and MultiMediaCard formats, so make sure that’s what you need.

For networking you can use the built-in 10/100 Base-T Ethernet LAN adapter for your wired network connection.  On the wirless side you can use the built-in 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN adapter.  You can use those with the built-in webcam and integrated digital microphone for video chatting.

External ports include 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI port, 1 VGA port, 1 microphone in and 1 headphone out port.  This laptop comes with SRS Premium sound, but no Bluetooth support.

This laptop comes installed with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition.  Other software includes CyberLink PowerDVD 9; Adobe Reader and more.

This Pavilion measures 9.7″ x 14.7″ x 1.4″ and weighs 5.2 pounds.  The 6-cell Lithium ion battery provides up to 5.25 hours of unplugged power.

You can find the HP Pavilion g6-1a75dx for around $450.

Toshiba R835-P50x Portege Laptop with Intel Core i3

This laptop is powered by the Intel Core i3 processor (model: 2310M).  This is a dual-core, 64-bit processor that has 4 processing threads. This CPU runs at 2.1 GHz and has 3MB Cache.  The processor was built using a 32nm processor and uses 35W of power.  This laptop comes installed with 4GB or DDR3 1333MHz memory.  It can support up to a maximum of 8 GB.

The screen is a 13.3″ diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT display at 1366 x 768 resolution. The screen uses LED backlit and has native support for 720p content.  The screen is driven by Mobile Intel HD Graphics with 128MB of dedicated video memory.  This is not the laptop you want, if you want to play today’s games at their highest resolutions.

For storage you get a 640 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive rotating at 5400RPM.  The drive is protected by the Toshiba hard drive impact sensor. The optical drive is a DVD SuperMulti  drive supporting 11 formats.  The digital media reader supports Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Mini SD Card, Multi Media Card [shared slot may require adapter for use].

For networking you can use the built-in 10/100/1000 Ethernet port for your wired connections.  For wireless you can use the 802.11 a/g/n wireless LAN adapter or the Intel 4G WiMAX modem (if you’ve got a data subscription with a wireless provider). You can use these connections with the built-in webcam and microphone for some video chatting goodness.

External ports include 1 RGB monitor port, 1 HDMI port, 1 microphone in port, 1 headphone out, 3 USB ports (1 USB 3.0 port + 2 USB 2.0 ports (1 eSATA/USB combo with USB Sleep and Charge).

This laptop comes installed with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit edition.  Other software includes Adobe® Acrobat® Reader, Corel Label@Once, Google® Toolbar o Google® Chrome o Intel® WiMAX Connectivity Manager  o Intervideo WinDVD BD with 3D Blu-Ray Support o Internet Explorer 8 o Microsoft® Office Starter 2010,  Microsoft® Windows Media Player 12, Microsoft® Silverlight™,  Microsoft® Live Essentials and a bunch of Toshiba crapware.

This laptop measures 12.44″ x 8.94″ x 0.72″/1.05″ and weighs a svelte 3.2 pounds.  The 6-cell (66Wh) Lithium ion battery pack can provide up to 9 hours of unplugged power.  That’s good mobility.

You can find the Toshiba Portege R835-P50x laptop for around $750.