While conceptualizing this feature, our aim was to feature the top three laptops under Rs. 35,000, but after a bit of research, it became clear that such a price point wouldn’t give the optimal mix of performance and value. So, we raised the range to Rs. 40,000, and went on a hunt for the best laptops in that range, which would satisfy everybody from a typical office worker, to a multimedia-freak on a budget.

Among the three laptops featured in this roundup, we have two laptops with Pentium M processors and one with the AMD Turion Processor. The Pentium M series, though two generations behind the new Core 2 Duo series, is still a decent bargain in the value segment. It’s an efficient architecture, and though it isn’t 64bit capable as the AMD Turion, or the Core 2 Duo, considering that most users will be using the standard 32 bit version of Windows XP on these laptops, it’s not much of an issue.

The prices mentioned here are the lowest street prices with taxes and shipping included (but no octroi) to give you a clear idea of the pricing. The laptops in the running are:

Acer Aspire 5004NWLMi (Rs 40,560)

Among the three, the fastest processor belongs to the Acer Aspire. It features a 1.8 GHz AMD Turion 64 ML-34 processor. To give you an idea, its very close in performance to the Pentium M 760, which is a 2 GHz processor with a FSB of 533 MHz whereas the second fastest processor is on the Dell Inspiron 1300, which is clocked at 1.7 GHz with an FSB of 400 Mhz.

The 5004 has a 15.4" screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, which makes it the largest for laptops in this category, but also keep in mind that it makes this laptop larger to carry as compared to its 14" counterparts.

If you are using Windows XP as your operating system, we recommend nothing short of 512MB of RAM. This is the only place where Acer, which leads in most of the other specifications falls short, with only 256MB of RAM. We'd recommend you upgrade the RAM if you wish to do anything beyond office documents.

It's the only laptop among the three which features an 8x dual layer dvd writer. With respect to battery life it again leads the pack with an 8 cell battery. It carries a 60GB P-ATA (parallel ATA) hard drive which is the same as Dell's.

Internet connectivity is pretty much standard with a 56k Modem, 10/100 LAN and 802.11 b/g wireless LAN. Additonal features include integrated Bluetooth and 5-in-1 card reader and it comes bundled with a nylon case.

All this puts this laptop way ahead of the competition; with 256MB more RAM, this will be an excellent performer bound to impress.

Labels: ACER, AMD, LAPTOP, PENTIUM, Processor