There are certain names in netbooks and laptops which are well know, respected, and almost always recommended. Want a netbook? Expect to hear a lot about the ASUS Eee PC. Want a business laptop? People will quickly point you towards Lenovo’s Thinkpad T series. Want a gaming laptop? Alienware is on the tip of everyone’s tongue.
But there are some laptops – some really damn good ones, in fact – which just don’t seem to get a lot of love despite their advantages. If you’re looking for a great laptop, but you don’t want to have the same one as everyone else, you’ve come to the right place.
Dell Vostro V13
A few months back Dell made a big stink about its extremely thin, undoubtedly beautiful and completely pointless Dell Adamo. It is a very nice laptop, but sticking a Dell badge on a 13 inch ultraportable costing almost two thousand dollars just feels…wrong.
Thankfully, Dell has a less expensive spin on the same thing, the Dell Vostro V13. Unlike the Adamo, which was put on a pedestal by Dell, the Vostro V13 hasn’t been heavily promoted. Which is a shame, because it is an impressive laptop. Thanks to its sleek chassis the Vostro V13 is less than an inch thick and weight under 3.5 pounds. But being so thin, it feels extremely sturdy.
The price is much more reasonable, as well. The most basic model, which comes with Linux and a Celeron processor, costs only $499.99. The higher end “performance” version comes with a Core 2 Duo ultra-low voltage processor, 2GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive for only $669. The only real problem with the Vostro V13 is battery life. To maintain its small size and weight the battery is also small, and as a result the V13 provides a disappointing four hours away from a wall socket.
AVA Direct Clevo W860CU Gaming Laptop
AVA Direct is something of an odd bird when it comes to laptops. They don’t care too much about style or vanity. All of their laptops are based around a few simple designs, most of which are not even exclusive to AVA Direct. They then cram as much power as they can into these systems. The goal is to create something which far outperforms well know names like Alienware at a fraction of the price.
And they massively succeed. For example, a Clevo W860CU with a Core i7, a Radeon HD 5870 and a 15.6 inch full HD display . An Alienware M15x equipped to compete will cost $200 bucks more, and even then it will actually be slower because the best GPU currently available for the M15x – the Nvidia 260M – is a far bit slower than the Radeon HD 5870 AVA Direct offers.
The only down side, really, is the lack of bling. But you know what? Screw bling. If you want to make a fashion statement go buy a netbook. A gaming laptop is for gaming, and AVA Direct’s little-known gaming laptops do it better for less.
Samsung Go
I don’t know why Samsung’s netbooks seem to be so off the radar. Critics routinely love them – I myself use a Samsung NC10 and love it – yet when I look at any best seller list there is nary a Samsung to be found. Whatever the reason, Samsung’s netbooks are great and a good choice if you don’t want an ASUS Eee PC like everyone else.
The Samsung Go is a particularly great netbook for those who want their netbook to stand out a bit from the crowd. Inside it’s the usual – Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, etc. On the outside, however, the Samsung Go really sets itself apart. Available in colors like Sunset Orange and Mint, you’ll find nothing drab about the Go.
But it isn’t just the style which is nice. The build quality of the Go is pure Samsung, and that’s a good thing. They keyboard is great. The screen is great. The chassis feels solid. The only bad thing about the Samsung Go . That’s just the price you pay to have a netbook that stands out from the crowd.
You must log in to post a comment.
{ 3 trackbacks }