Notebook Holiday 2009 Buyer's Guide Discussion

There is still plenty of time left before the holidays, and shoppers who are looking for notebook computers are in luck. Whether you're a student who needs a low-cost computer that fits in a small backpack, a gaming enthusiast who wants to play the brand new copy of Mass Effect 2 you got for Christmas, or a business traveler needing a rugged yet portable laptop, this guide will point you in the right direction.

Read the full content of this Article: Notebook Holiday 2009 Buyer's Guide

 

How is the EEE 1005 not under netbooks? It is the best EEE currently out. I think these lists, especially the "ultraportable" one is missing a lot of good choices.

 

I continue to be amazed at the willingness of reviewers to goose step along with the "wintel' monopoly's artificial and completely arbitrary pigeonholing of the available notebooks into classes that serve only to support their marketing strategies based on the degree to which they decide to cripple their respective hardware and software to produce product differentiation..

I mean, whatnhell are you thinking? Take your "netbook category' for instance. "Under 400.00" and you don't even mention the HP 311? Which blows ALL the competing units completely out of the water using anybody's metrics!!!!

And what is with your description of the MSI U210? "Under 600.00" when anyone who can *google* (which I would *suspect* would make up a substantial fraction of the internet community intended to read your article in the first place --DUH--) would know that the U210 is now, and has been since even before it was even announced, available at the $430.00 level from a number of different retailers...Why didn't you just say it was "Under 2000.00" to further favor its less deserving competitors...

Perhaps I don't understand what you are trying to do with this article?
If you want to provide real life useful information to prospective purchasers, then Try this: rewrite the article based on CURRENTLY AVAILABLE PRICING!!! (Would take you about ten minutes to secure those prices, and thats for ALL the units you mention...). Then make your categories based on price, graphics ability, weight, battery life, screen size/native resolution, keyboard size, available ports, optical disk provision, etc. and rerun your comparison.

You *Might* even consider upgradeability GASP!!!!, build quality, warranty and aesthetics.

Such a comparison would reveal quickly the few units that REALLY should be dominating the market, instead of what you have done which imho amounts to nothing more than an often inaccurate survey of units currently available, leaving out some of the best pieces of current kit in the process.

Lastly, I'd be a bit more circumspect about buying into the 'ok for someone who just wants to stay connected' bs coming from MS and Intel on these netbooks. Ms (as might be expected) wants to sell lots of shiny new copies of variously crippled versions of its *new* Windows 7 (which is Vista with a few changes), while not talking about the near give away predatory pricing on XP so as to dissuade oems from moving towards Linux/Adroid etc. Further, while Intel doesn't mind making lots of money off of old tech Atom, it doesn't want people to realize that maybe they don't need to spend all that money on the *latest and greatest* to perform the same old functions, (and a surprising number of the new ones).

And maybe its that observation that prompts another suggestion for your reviewing. In these economic hard times...how about a *bang for buck* roundup? Trust me, you take a look at what a $2000 dollar Sony ultraportable can do that a 350/400.00 second gen netbook CAN"T do...and "it ain't much"....Real machines, real life testing metrics, real life pricing, and how about a real life reviewing panel..say a sophmore college student (freshman are clueless LOL), a traveling marketing rep, corporate executive, and an employed IT pro (hehehhe).
Then we might actually hear what people REALLY think and want, instead of what wintel WANTS them to think and want...what a concept.

Seer

 

It is quite interesting to note that you guys haven't recommended the ubiquitous Timeline series from Acer under ultraportables. Any particular reason?

I ask because I am in the market for one and am torn between the Acer 3810TZ and Hp dm3 (AMD version).

I am leaning towards the Acer. A positive review from you experts would go a long way in helping me in my decision.

 

Couldn't agree more. I'd *love* to have a netbook with the AMD Neo X2/HD3200 graphics, but none are available yet. The wind U210 is a viable option, though it only has an x1250.

More notebook manufacturers need to start listening to what many people want out of a thin and light - it isn't Intel graphics.

 

We only included notebooks/netbooks that we've actually reviewed. There are a lot of sites that publish these types of recommendations without ever actually USING the notebooks they recommend. That's not our style.

There are many notebooks and netbooks that "might" have made fantastic additions to our list, but we only feel comfortable recommending systems we've tested in our lab and spent time using (and that are currently available as new systems online or in retail stores).

That said, we will update our holiday guide between now and the end of the year if we review any laptops that we believe are a better choice than what we included on the list (this may include one of the Acer Timeline notebooks or an HP dm3 series notebook).

Oh, and in response to the AMD comments ... you're talking to someone who owns four AMD-based PCs (two notebooks and two desktops) and personally thinks AMD offers some of the best "mainstream" notebooks in terms of price and actual real-world performance. However, as mentioned above, we didn't feel right recommending systems we haven't reviewed or systems that aren't currently available. The HP Pavilion dv2 with AMD Athlon Neo processor and discrete ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 Graphics was going to be first on our list of ultraportables, but HP pulled it from their US website a few weeks ago.

Anyway, my point is we're not a bunch of anti-AMD people here at NotebookReview.com

 

Hello Jerry!

On ultraportable the X301 or as in business could be named, as for the 14z.

How come the E6400 is not listed? I thought there was a review in here, from John Ratsey I think? And under the ultraportables, there is the review on the E4300 that Greg Ross reviewed too, but it is not mentioned either, nor is the T500 and the budget G550 is mentioned as a business laptop. Nor is the 8350w, nor the E6500, the W700,


Can I make the recommendation of a multimedia class area? Laptops such as the SXPS16, the Studio 15, Y450 I think was reviewed too. Or the DV5, and some larger notebooks as the FW too, as for the DV6.

On gaming, the W90 could be named.

Thanks!

 

You sort of answered your own question without realizing it.

We create these types of buying guides at various times over the course of the year and feature them on the homepage just to give our homepage visitors a quick and easy list of "a few" laptops to consider when shopping for a new computer.

The market for home computers is VERY crowded and confusing. If we listed every single laptop we reviewed it would just be a huge list that doesn't help a newcomer focus on what they want to buy this holiday season. We didn't separate multimedia from the upper-level mainstream or lower-level gaming categories because we didn't want to make more than five categories (again, to keep it simple for visitors who aren't familiar with the latest laptops).

These are lists of laptops that our editors recommend that we have reviewed and are currently being sold by the manufacturers. (Which is why some very good notebooks like the HP Pavilion dv2 and ASUS W90 aren't on the list.)

Nevertheless, we did include a link to all our reviews at the bottom of every category in the guide ... just in case you didn't like any of our picks and want to see what else we've reviewed.

Also, our " What Notebook Should I Buy?" forum is always a great resource if someone is looking for advice about what type of laptop to buy.

 

Hmmmm I see your point.
Ok ok, just wondering...

Oh yeah, on Safari (I dont know if FF and IE have the same problem) they ultraportables and business buttons are slightly over the text

 

We're trying to get that corrected now. It's one of those wonderful HTML headaches that works like it should on the homepage but doesn't want to work in the forum.

 

LOL! HTML is hard to get it properly working, but I just saw, it is very good now.

 

Yeaaahh UL30 ftw

 

Yeah, I would swap out the 1008 for the 1005.