LAPTOPS UNDER £999

The price of the average laptop, as with all areas of computing, is constantly being eroded. There are many factors for this; the lowering cost of individual components has a direct effect on expense, as does the introduction of newer technologies at the cutting-edge of computing, forcing companies to offer deals on older technologies.

Any form of price reduction can only be a good thing for laptop buyers, as they will receive more for their money. As we saw in the December 2003 issue of WL, many manufacturers are actively targeting the sub-£1000 category. It is also becoming increasingly evident that companies are playing a tactical game with affordable portables, releasing limited numbers when it best suits their market share rather than as an all-year-round event.

To this end, we must remind readers of the information we stressed in the December issue that if you find a laptop at an affordable price, buy it while you can, because once they have been sold they will often not be replaced.

In terms of specifications, we think that the minimum you should expect from a budget laptop (one which we feel should cost no more than £999, including VAT) is split between the use of Intel's desktop Pentium 4 processors and the cost-sensitive offerings from AMD. We are also beginning to see the introduction of Intel's Pentium M processor in this price bracket, albeit the 1.4GHz version.

On the whole, expect machines to be designed for desktop rather than mobile use, making them ideal for everyday computing, but lacking all-day battery life, mobility or cutting-edge graphics.

BENCHMARKING
The WL benchmarks are designed to offer the reader a chance to compare laptops on an even plain, simulating real-world experiences to test the components in battery-life mode. Still, if your system will be plugged-in to the mains all day, you are likely to see an improvement in performance over the benchmark registered in our tests. The 3DMark 2001 SE test is carried out with the system running on mains power, as it is unlikely that users will wish to push their system's 3D accelerator to the max when running on battery power.

AJP D410E
Dell Latitude D505
Hi-Grade Notino C5000
IBM Thinkpad R40e
NEC Versa C160
Net Highstreet.com WPC900
Rockdirect Quaddra XT 2.8
Tiny Power Centrino

REVIEW CO-ORDINATORS:
Michael Browne
Roger Kirkwood

PHOTOGRAPHY:
Adrian Lyon