My cheapest laptop comparison chart should help you decide which laptop brand offers the best value for the money. You do it by considering the Overall Score and the price. This comparison doesn't consider reliability or looks; an Overall Score was calculated for each laptop based only on technical features and performance. A combination of Overall Score and a price is your pure value for the money. The chart is designed to compare cheapest laptops from the 5 most popular laptop brands, Dell, Toshiba, HP, Compaq, Sony. It compares these 5 low-end cheapest laptop buys at the prices that are current as of June 2007, and with the base configurations:
Dell Inspiron 1501, Toshiba Satellite A133, HP Pavilion dv6000z, Compaq Presario C500T, Sony VAIO N Series.
What I discovered - See the comparison
I believe this laptop comparison gives away some interesting insight on ... laptop brand competition. Wow, it appears that HP now competes with Toshiba (at least in the low-end laptops) and lets its cheaper brand Compaq compete with Dell, while Sony stands apart. A proof to it is the prices!!! Dell price is close to Compaq, HP is very close to Toshiba, and Sony is priced way higher. Compaq is willing to slash $200 of the price to compete, just to match the low-end laptop offers from Dell. What also became apparent is what was expected: the lower the price the less value you get - Dell and Compaq present the least value for the least money.
What else is interesting is that they score the same but based on different features, so it looks like one brand is trying to offer an overall value similar to another brand but at the different marketing angle. For example where Dell is trying to offer a more versatile laptop (ability to read many media formats, more USB ports, cheaper extended warranty), Compaq offers a more powerful laptop (a slightly faster processor, bigger hard drive, more cache memory and a longer battery life). Sony holds its prices while the rest are engaged in the out-right war slashing prices and coming up with new incentives every week. Brand recognition is everything. Sony's cheapest laptop starts with the Intel Pentium Dual-Core processor - Sony doesn't go as low as Dell or Toshiba or HP. This is reflected in Sony laptop prices. See chart for complete
comparison.
| Specs | Dell | Toshiba | HP | Compaq | Sony |
| Cheapest Laptops at base prices as of June 15, 2007 |  |  |  |  |  |
| Model | Inspiron 1501 | Satellite A133 | Pavilion dv6000z | Presario C500T | VAIO N |
| Price | $499 (w/$100 instant rebate) | $599 (w/$50 instant rebate) | $589 (w/$100 instant rebate) | $449 (w/$200 instant rebate) | $899 |
| Display | 15.4" | 15.4" | 15.4" | 15.4" | 15.4" |
| CPU Processor | Mobile AMD Sempron 3500+ | Intel Celeron M 440 | Mobile AMD Sempron 3500+ | Intel Celeron M 440 | Intel Pentium Dual-Core T2060 |
| Speed | 1.80 GHz | 1.86 GHz | 1.80 GHz | 1.86 GHz | 1.60 GHz * |
| Hard Drive | 60 GB SATA 5400RPM | 60 GB SATA 5400RPM | 80 GB SATA 5400RPM | 80 GB SATA 5400RPM | 120 GB SATA 5400RPM |
| Main Memory | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 1 GB |
| Cache Memory | 512 KB | 1 MB | 512 KB | 1 MB | 1 MB |
| Video Card Memory | 256 MB (Shared) | 256 MB (Shared) | 256 MB (Shared) | 224 MB (Shared) | 224 MB (Shared) |
| CD, CD-RW, DVD | CD-RW/DVD Combo | CD-RW/DVD Combo | CD-RW/ DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer | CD-RW/DVD combo | CD-RW/ DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer |
| Battery Life (max) | 2.0 hours | 3 hours | 3.5 hours | 3.5 hours | 4.0 hours |
| Weight | 6.19 lbs | 5.83 lbs | 6.09 lbs | 6.6 lbs | 6.5 lbs |
| 10/100 Network Card (RJ45 port) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 56K Modem | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Wireless Card | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Card * | No | No | No | No | No |
| Integrated Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Floppy Drive | No | No | No | No | No |
| Media Card Reader | 3-in-1 | 1-Type II PC Card Slot | 5-in-1 | none | 3 incl. ExpressCard 34 |
| USB Ports | 4 USB 2.0 | 4 USB 2.0 | 3 USB 2.0 | 3 USB 2.0 | 2 USB 2.0 |
| FireWire Port (iLink) | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Operating System | Vista Home Basic | Vista Home Basic | Vista Home Basic | Vista Home Basic | Vista Home Premium |
| Anti-Virus Software | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| CD/DVD Burning Software | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Standard Warranty | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year |
| Return Policy | 21 days | up to 25 days | 21 days | 21 days | 30 days |
| Extended Warranty (max) | 4 year - $340 | 3 year - $179 | 4 year - $329 | 3 year - $349 | 5 year - $349 |
| Free Internet Shipping | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Overall Score | 5 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
RecommendationsWhat else is interesting is that Dell or Compaq are only 1.8 times cheaper than Sony, but they present 2.6 less value than Sony. (Also, Sony is only 1.5 times more expensive than Toshiba or HP but presents 1.6 times more value.) This makes Sony a very good buy, in my view. In fact, I recommend this Sony laptop as a best college laptop for students.(give link to college laps?). The extended warranty options are unmatched. Vaio N has extensive connectivity options including ExpressCard, up-to-date fast dual processor, large hard drive and plenty of memory. Gives you some prestige, too ;). Providing Sony's well-known quality, Sony Vaio N is my laptop of choice this June 2007.
How brands/models were pickedI picked these 5 cheapest laptops based on my previous observations about laptop brand popularity. Cheapest model from each brand out of the first 4 on the 15 best laptop list; Compaq got included with HP. I run a value comparison chart by features between Dell, HP, Compaq, Toshiba and Sony laptops.
Score CalculationHow I decided on Overall Score ... Each model was given an initial score of 0. For each compared option I determined its bottom line value, and then added 1 point for every above bottom value. Whenever all models have the same option, they each get 0 points. So, for example, Sony VAIO N, Toshiba Satellite A133 and HP Pavilion dv6000z get +1 point for the FireWire port, the other get 0.
Additional Feature Details* Mobile Broadband Express Card to establish wireless connection via cell phone tower. Requires wireless subscription similar to a mobile phone plan through Verizon or Cingular.
* Like Roxio Creator 9 Premier: Burn CDs and DVDs, Edit Video.
* 1.6 GHz on Dual-Core CPU equates to close to 3.2 GHz on Single-Core CPU.
