Laptops between 20,000 to 30,000

Recently, we’ve been getting queries as to what one should buy; a netbook or a laptop, from a budget point of view. Well, both these devices serve different purposes, while netbooks are mainly meant for basic computing on the go, laptops are capable of doing more than just chat, email, casual Internet surfing and such. Even the most entry-level laptop is much more powerful than a standard netbook. Unlike netbooks, laptops are more comfortable to work on, in terms of ergonomics. Laptops are better at handling demanding applications like designing suites, multimedia, video playback and such. But netbooks tend to become sluggish even with multiple tabs during heavy Internet browsing, let alone multitasking and heavy applications. However, this fact is also about to change soon when netbooks with Nvidia’s Ion platform and dual-core Intel Atom processors take the market with storm.

Below are few budget laptops, a few of which might already be owned by some of you and some might be new. All laptops in this list fall under the Rs 30,000 price bracket, and most of them can perform the daily computing tasks seamlessly. Let’s take a quick look at them and see which one bags the ‘best pick’ title.

Samsung R522 Price: Rs 26,250 Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300, 2.1 Ghz RAM: 3 GB DDR2 HDD: 320GB Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth DVD-Writer Screen: 14-inch HD Operating System: Windows Vista Home Basic
Samsung R528-DA01IN Price: Rs 24,000 Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4400, 2.2 GHz RAM: 2 GB DDR3 HDD: 250 GB Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth DVD-Writer Screen: 15.6-inch HD Operating System: DOS
Samsung R528-DA03IN Price: 27,750 Processor: Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo T6600, 2.2 GHz RAM: 2 GB DDR3 HDD: 250 GB Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth DVD-Writer Screen: 15.6-inch HD Operating System: DOS
Lenovo G550 Price: 26,750 Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4400, 2.2 GHz Graphics: Intel GMA X4500 HD RAM: 3 GB DDR2 HDD: 320 GB Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth DVD-Writer Screen: 15.6-inch HD Operating System: DOS
Lenovo G450 Price: 26,500 Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4400, 2.2 GHz Graphics: Intel GMA X4500 HD RAM: 3 GB DDR3 HDD: 320 GB Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth DVD-Writer Screen: 14-inch HD Operating System: DOS
Dell Inspiron 14 Price: 30,000 Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4400, 2.2 GHz Graphics: Intel GMA X4500 HD RAM: 2 GB DDR2 HDD: 250 GB Connectivity: 10/100 Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth DVD-Writer Screen: 14-inch HD Operating System: DOS
Acer Aspire 4736z Price: 25,750 Motherboard: Intel GL40 Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core, 2.2 Ghz Memory: 3 GB DDR3 HDD: 320GB Screen: 14.1-inch HD Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium

You’ll notice that none of these laptops feature Intel’s new Core series of processors, such as the entry-level Intel Core i3 variants. If you spend a couple of thousands more than 30K, there are a few Core i3 laptops available across brands, but let’s leave that for another post when we choose a slightly higher budget. In the mean while, let us know which one of these suits you best.

Each brand is known for some special trait, for instance, Lenovo laptops are popular amongst business personnel, they are rugged, and simple to look at. Samsung laptops are stylish and Acer Aspire laptops are known for the value for money they offer. Sony, with their new Vaio E-series of laptops have come into the Rs 35,000 price range , but I guess that it’s going to be a while before their laptops come under the 30K bracket. Nonetheless it’s a great start.

Solely considering the hardware and the overall package of all these laptops, we’d say that the Aspire Aspire 4736z is the best pick at Rs 29,500. We would have chosen the Samsung R528 over this one because of its better processor. But the Acer Aspire 4736z ships preloaded with the latest Windows operating system, while the others are still offering either Windows Vista or Free DOS.

On that note, we’d like to know as to how many of you prefer to buy a laptop without a paid OS. The pre-loaded licensed Windows on laptops adds to the cost of the machine, which means if you already have a licensed Windows copy, then you can buy a laptop either with Linux or Free-DOS. For instance, our best pick, the Aspire 4736z, is also available with Linux, and is priced at merely Rs 25,750.

Quick Note: All the prices listed above are approximate.