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Best Laptops at all price points

     I have been receiving a lot of inquires regarding this issue. What is the best laptop for this price? So I have complied my top picks at three price points, Sub $500, Sub $1000 and Sub $1500 and two category's. Ultraportable, Desktop replacement.

Sub $500.00/Ultraportable

Asus 1201N -Ion Powered Eee PC-$499

This is technically a netbook not a CULV however, it is certainly portable. It features a 12.1-inch LCD with a HD resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, with the Intel Atom 330 Dual core processor (1.6GHz), 2GB of RAM (upto 3GB), Nvida Ion graphics, 250GB hard drive, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. Ports include VGA, 3x USB 2.0, Ethernet, and HDMI for 1080p HD video and audio to an HDTV or monitor.

It measures 11.7 x 8.2 x 1.3 inches, weighs 3.2 pounds, and has a 6-cell 63Wh Li-ion battery which only protrudes a little bit from the base which will provide 5 hours of battery life. It comes pre-installed with Windows 7 Home Premium, and will be available in Black and Silver color options.

Sub $500 Desktop Replacement

Acer Aspire 1410- $399

This is also only 3.2 pounds and is a remarkable deal. Acer has put a dual-core Celeron processor,2GB of Ram and Windows 7 Premium inside a 11.6 inch system with a full keyboard. This thing will also get you 6.5 hours of battery life, all of this for just $399. It has a 160 GB hard drive, which could be better for a desktop replacement, however this is a much better answer to an inexpensive portable computer than a regular netbook. The Ion in the 1201 will handle games and high def video better than this machine.

Sub $1000 - CULV- Ultraportable

ASUS UL30A -$650

This one makes me drool a little. I would own it myself if I traveled more. This has a 13 inch screen, is 4 pounds and best of all lasted nearly 10 hours on a charge in real world tests (asus claims up to 12 hours) and its ultra-low voltage core 2 Duo processor can easily handle Windows 7, 500 GB of storage all for a nice cool,$650. Far below the $1000 price point. The size of this is best compared to the MacBook Air. At 12.7 x 9.2 inches, the UL30A is about the size of Apples Ultraportable, just thicker at .94 inches, it uses this for more ports. At 4.0 pounds slightly heavier than other ultra portables. 0.4 pounds heavier than the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T, A very nice ultraportable indeed.

Sub $1000 Desktop Replacement

Dell Studio 14z - $999.99

Dells 14z has a 14.0” High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife™ and Camera/Facial Recognition SW, weight just 4.4 pounds and has that lovely Nvidia 9400 graphics to help out with multimedia tasks. You can also get the faster 7200 rpm hard drive at no additional cost. Intel core 2 duo, 5Gb of Ram, and a backlight keyboard. Downfalls are no DVD drive, optional external for $90 and  a adapter is required for memory cards

Sub $1500 - Ultraportable

13-inch: 2.53GHz - $1499

Apple has included many features not found on laptops at all let alone this price point. The mag safe power plug, nearly eliminates dc jack faliure, Aluminum unibody frame, long lasting battery, back lit keyboard, HD LED screen, Built in N wireless, and the multitouch touchpad. and weighing in at 4.5 pounds and under an inch think. this thing is the perfect ultra portable and desktop replacement around. Its unix based operating system does not hurt either.

Sub $1500/ Gaming

TOSHIBA Qosmio X505-Q830

Starting Price : $1399

This 18.4 inch with a Core i7 CPU and Nvidia GTS 250M Graphics (with 1  GB video memory) and 4 Gb Ram , Blu-ray Combo Drive, is certainly a powerhouse for the price.  A fine addition as portable gaming rig.