Laptops Arena

Depending on every persons personal income, people have different opinions on what "cheap" really means. While some may find a $1000 dress very expensive, other may thinks it's a cheap piece of clothing and they will buy it. As for electronics and gadgets, things are pretty much the same. While for some people a cheap gaming laptop means it has to be under $1500, true games will pay even $3000 for a good gaming laptop as they believe it is a small price to pay to satisfy their gaming needs. It also depends on the types of games you want to play. Monopoly and Sim City will have fewer requirements that Jericho or Call of Duty.
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The Asus X83VB-X1 is a really cheap machine which is available at a starting price of $500. Out of all the gaming laptops you could find under $1000, this is probably one of the best choices you could make. It is cheap and the specs are quite ok. The unit reviewed in this article will cost $850 which is still a small price to pay compared to the regular prices of a gaming laptop. We loved the combination of gold and black of the chassis, it give you the impression that the laptop is much more expensive. The processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 which operates at a speed of 2.0 GHz. You have 4 GB of RAM which means you will probably get your system with Windows Vista preinstalled but you should have no trouble running Windows 7 just as well.  If 250 GB of available disk space is not enough, the DVD burner will come in handy to make copies of your files and store them on DVDs. This 14 inch laptop has an nVidia GeForce 9300M GS graphics card with 512 MB of dedicated memory which is a pretty big deal for such a cheap laptop. You will have no trouble playing old games on this laptop but new games must be played at a modest resolution. The keyboard is a little stiff and so are the left and right mouse buttons but you'll get used to it in a while and besides, if you are going to use this laptop for serious gaming, we recommend you buy a mouse.

The glossy black lid may not be so attractive if you think about its capacity to attract fingerprints but the golden pattern and the Asus logo written in golden letters make it appealing to the eye. It's certainly not something you see in a laptop every day. The palm rests are also golden while the keyboard is black. Even if the chassis is made out of plastic, it is still very solid so durability is not an issue to be concerned about. The keys are strange because the letters are golden and in dim light they may be difficult to recognize. Above the keyboard you will find 5 buttons which are not for different multimedia functions like we usually find in laptops. Instead they have other features like screen and wireless settings or power management options. The weird thing is that you have a special button to turn the Bluetooth on an off even if the laptop does not have an integrated Bluetooth. This reminded me of the Toshiba Satellite L300-1AL which has no Bluetooth even if there is a "Bluetooth" sticker on the box of the laptop. The touchpad is ok, mainly because it's bigger than most 14 inch laptop touchpads. The tough part comes with the left and right mouse buttons. It may seem like you need a pickaxe to press them because they are very stiff but hopefully they will loosen up after a while of usage.



There are two hinges that keep the display firmly in place. Even the screen looks a bit glossy, the images are sharp and clear and there are no heavy reflections that may be annoying or that may prevent you from actually seeing what is on the display. The speakers are ok and they produce quality sound considering the size of the laptop (and the size of the speakers as well). The laptop runs quietly considering there is a total of 4 vents that keep this laptop cool (three are located on the bottom side and another large vent on the right edge). One very pleasant surprise was the huge number of ports and connections available on this laptop. You have no less than 5 USB ports (my 15.4 inch laptop has only 3), a FireWire port, a multiformat card reader, an ExpressCard slot, HDMI and VGA out, the usual Ethernet port, stereo speakers, headphones and microphone jack. The 5 USB ports are places on three sides of the laptop as follows: two of them are in the back, another two on the right side and the last one is on the left side. The HDMI and Ethernet ports are located on the back edge of the laptop and the battery is placed in front, under the right corner instead of the usual bottom-back place.



As for the gaming part, the graphics card will do a pretty good job keeping you satisfied considering the low price of the machine. The performance is much better than that of any similarly priced laptop available on the market. You can play some new games with medium settings. You won't get exactly the ultimate quality experience but it will do if you are looking for a budget gaming laptop. The laptop comes with a 6-cell battery which will only deliver 2 hours and 35 minutes of intense video playback.



Since this type of battery drain test is pretty harsh, we imagine that the battery should last about 3 hours and 30 minutes if you use it for regular tasks like surfing the internet and editing documents. The laptop which come closest to this one is the Dell Studio 1535-143B but compared to the Asus X83VB-X1 it has a weaker graphic card (it uses Intel GMA X3100) and this fact ranks the Dell under the Asus in our cheap gaming laptop top.

With this entire world crisis that has been going on, people really have to cut out some expenses if they still want to afford to refill the fridge. But what if you find yourself in such a situation where you have to buy a laptop and this was not on your monthly budgets. Let's see if we can help you as we will try to find the best laptop under $500.
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$488 is the price of the Compaq CQ50 100EM SI40. The processor it uses is an AMD Sempron which has 2.0 GHz of speed; it has 1 GB of RAM and 120 GB of available disk space plus some 319 MB of shared graphics memory. This means it's a good laptop for basic and mainstream usage, even if you won't be able to play any new games with it. It will help you get along with regular tasks like surfing the internet, reading you e-mails or using the Microsoft Office suite. You will probably get your system with Windows Vista Home Basic operating system already installed but we think that 1 GB of RAM would help the laptop run even better if you had a version of Windows XP (Vista is normally used when you have at least 2 GB of RAM). Other features of this laptop are the 3 USB ports, the 5-in-1 card reader, 802.11b/g WLAN, high-speed 56K modem, VGA out, cable docking connector and HDMI connector. In addition to all this, you have a DVD burner that uses LightScribe technology which means you can create your own disc labels and you have good Altec Lansing speakers which produce a decent sound. The display is 15.4 inch long which is the regular size for the mainstream laptop. The laptop looks quite elegant with that combination of silver and black. All this, plus the 6-cell battery weight less than 3 kilos.

The Toshiba Equiium L350-10L has almost the same price as the Compaq CQ50 100EM SI40 except the features are a little bit different. First of all, this laptop looks way better. It has a matte silver lid which actually makes it look like a jewel. When you open the lid you will find silver palm rests and a black keyboard which seem to be in perfect combination. At 1.73 GHz of speed, this Toshiba has an Intel Pentium Dual Core T2370 processor plus some 2 GB of RAM. The hard disk has the same 120 GB capacity as the laptop presented above but the graphics card is an Intel GMA X1300 which is slightly better. You have an integrated webcam which does not produce such quality images but it will do better if you use it with Skype. If you look carefully, next to the camera you will notice a small hole.



That is where you will find the integrated microphone. The really cool thing about this laptop is that you have a set of multimedia control buttons right above the keyboard and this laptop is 17 inches long. This means it's a really good desktop replacement because of the size of the display. You also have the numerical pad just like you do at your regular computer keyboard. Other good features are the stereo speakers which are quite good for such a cheap laptop; you have a wireless card, modem and even High Definition Audio support. Even if you get your with lots of software preinstalled, you can perform a disk cleanup and get rid of all the application you're never going to use.



Another very good choice in our opinion would be the Acer Aspire 5315 which kind of looks like a toy but we love it because it's really cute. We would recommend this laptop especially to students that don't wish to spend too much money on a laptop and need it for basic tasking. Personally, I would buy one for my mother because all she needs a laptop for is to check her e-mail and play Spider Solitaire. It has a 15.4 inch display which is just the right size, not too big and not too small to enjoy a good movie. We think it's funny because once you open the lid everything is white, from the keyboard to the palm rest so it's not exactly business looking. The specs (as you can imagine) are not that great. This notebook has an Intel Celeron 450 processor and 1 GB of RAM so we don't exactly recommend you run many programs simultaneously because your laptop might just give you the blue screen of death.



The battery life is not that amazing either since it will last a bit over 2 hours, but for students in campus dorms, these laptops are awesome. Even if it looks like it is made of cheap plastic, we think this laptop is very young-looking and it is still very resistant. Too bad that if you hand are just a little bit dirty, this becomes very visible on the white surface of the keyboard and palm rest. Three USB ports should be enough for you and you are certainly going to be happy to know that this laptop also has a DVD-RW drive.



If you are still looking for the best laptop under $500, you can always go with the Dell Vostro 1000 which I personally find horrible because not only it is very boring (it is entirely black - looks like it's going to a funeral) but the AMD processor has a huge amount of heat output which will quickly kill your battery. Other laptop models you can look into are the Lenovo ThinkPad R61e, the Gateway T-6815, the Compaq C700T or, if you like, you can check out some netbooks which are actually mini notebooks (mini because the size of the display varies from 8.9 inch to a maximum 12 inch) that do not have powerful components but due to their design, they are easier to carry around because they are compact and light. These mini notebook can also be found at about $300 - $400 but if you looking to use them at home, as your primary computer, they are definitely not recommended for purchase  because their components are very weak and except for web-browsing and document reading and editing, you can't do pretty much anything else with them.

Toshiba notebook computers have disappointed us a bit because except for the Qosmio series, they haven't come up with anything amazing lately. In the meantime, the competition keep bringing us some seriously powerful and good-looking notebooks that makes us exclude Toshiba from our top 5 notebook brands.
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The Toshiba Satellite U300-111 has a dark blue lid with a very nice appearance. But even if it looks nice, the glossy surface is bound to attract fingerprints and it is recommender you keep a fiber cloth in handy because you will have some serious wiping to do with this notebook. Other than that, this notebook looks quite elegant especially because it's so simple and mysterious looking with that dark color and the simple Toshiba logo on the lid. When you lift the lid of the notebook, you will notice a plain appearance, a mixture of black and silver. The silver keyboard reminds us of Dell Inspiron 1525. Above the 13.1 inch display there is a 1.3 mega pixel webcam which also had an activity LED, just like most Toshiba Satellite models do. Right beside the camera you can notice a tiny hole which is actually the integrated microphone. The LCD has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels and the viewing angles are quite ok compared to other similarly sized LCD's. The display is a bit glossy and even if this makes the image brighter, it also reflects whatever is in front of it in case you use it in a powerful lit environment.

On the front side of the notebook you will find 5 LED that are used to indicate differing laptop activities. The first one will light every time you have your notebook connected to a power outlet, the second one is the power LED and it will be blue if the notebook is on and it will switch to orange when the notebook is in standby mode. The third LED is for the battery status and it has many blinking modes but the most important one you should know about is the blinking orange which means the battery is low. The HDD light will be on when the hard drive is being accessed and the last LED will show if there is any card reader activity. Above the keyboard you will find a set of speakers which produce decent sound especially because they are located on the top side of the notebook rather than the bottom so there is nothing actually blocking the sound. Between the 2 speakers there is a set of multimedia control buttons and also the power button plus another one for the internet. You have you regular Toshiba touchpad with the left and right mouse buttons that produce a clicking sound when you press them.



The notebook does not show sever signs of overheating, except if you block by any chance the ventilation area (where the air comes out) with any objects, then you will notice that the notebook's temperature keeps growing. As for the battery life, it has variations depending on what you do with the notebook. If you watch a movie from the DVD at maximum brightness, the batter will not last more than 1 hour and 30 minutes. If you surf the internet with the wireless function turned on and the display brightness adjusted to medium level, than you should get about 3 hours of battery life.

The processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo T7100. You get 2 GB of RAM with possibility to upgrade to 4 GB. You have 160 GB of available disk space and also an Intel GMA X3100 graphics card. Due to the rather weak graphics card, you can't actually play any top of the line games with have really high details but other than that, this notebook is very good for running multiple tasks with no problem. It is also a good choice if you want to buy the notebook for home usage even if it is your primary computer. If none of your family members are desperate to play F.E.A.R. or Crysis then the Toshiba Satellite U300-111 should be a very good mainstream choice.



We know that this notebook is frequently compared to Dell Vostro 1400 because it has similar components and the price is not that different but in our opinion the Toshiba Satellite U300-111 is much better.  Why, you ask? Well, for starters the Toshiba comes with a standard 2 GB of RAM comparing to the Vostro which only brings you 1 GB. Even if the 14.1 inch display of the Vostro might sound better than the 13.3 inch screen of the Toshiba, you only get 120 GB of disk space with the Dell while the Toshiba Satellite has 160 GB. The Toshiba is also lighter than the Dell by half a kilo but the dell has 4 USB ports while the Toshiba has only 3. The Dell also has a S-Video out and an audio-in which are lacking from the Toshiba Satellite U300-111.



The truth is that both of these notebooks are good if you are looking to buy a relatively cheap computer which can help you with your daily laptop tasks. They both come in handy even if they are used as desktop replacements or as a secondary computer (in the first case, some may prefer the Dell Vostro 1400 because of the bigger display although the difference between the 2 is not very significant). The Toshiba is more powerful because of the extra 1 GB of RAM provided when purchasing the system but dell has better battery life because it uses a larger battery (this is what makes the Dell heavier). The good thing is that you can save some money by buying this Toshiba notebook computer because there is another unit with different specs at a lower price. That model has a weaker processor and less system memory and this could be a good choice for you if all you do with your notebook is to edit documents, surf the internet and watch movies. We recommend the Toshiba Satellite U300-111 because of the reasonable price and good specs even if it has that glossy appearance that requires frequent cleaning.

In this article we are going to show you some Toshiba Notebook reviews. The Toshiba Satellite U400-189 is a 13.3 inch notebook which most of you know nothing about. It is a very elegant notebook with a glossy lid (which unfortunately may attract finger prints) and the shiny black color. Even if the keys look like they are made of cheap plastic, you get a positive response when typing. Above the keyboard you will find touch sensitive media control buttons. One thing we don't like about this notebook is that is very easy to scratch. Inside the notebook you have an Intel Core 2 Duo T640 processor with 2.0 GHz and 4GB of DDR2 RAM. You should be satisfied with 320GB of free disk space to store all your files and documents. You have 3 USB Ports plus an integrated Bluetooth device which should come very in handy for rapid file transfer. You also have a HDMI and VGA output plus a mini FireWire port, a memory card reader, Ethernet and modem port.  The integrated speakers produce quality sound but you could do even better if you buy a good set of headphones. The battery of this notebook will last about 3 hours which is pretty good for this kind of notebook. This is not the best gadget money can buy but it is an option worth considering.
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The Toshiba Satellite U500-178 is a better version of the notebook described above. It has the same 13.3 inch display with 1280x800 pixel resolution which brings clear images. Unfortunately it has de same glossy design as the previous notebook. It should be easy to carry around as it weighs around 2kg. Even if it is a small notebook the keys are large enough to provide comfortable typing and they gave a positive feedback. One thing we did not expect to find in such a small Toshiba model is a good graphics card as we didn't think that 13.3 inch notebooks were any good for gaming. This notebook has an nVidia GeForce graphics card with 512Mb of dedicated memory. The 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 processor plus the 4 GB RAM will bring you extra speed and power so you can run your applications fast and with no troubles at all. You also get an integrated Bluetooth device which can help you transfer files from your notebook to another notebook or even to your cell-phone. You have 3 USB ports which have the Toshiba Sleep-and-Charge technology that charges your i-Pod or mobile phone even if the notebook is turned off. You also have a 5-in-1 Card Reader which supports most memory card formats. Even if it is small this notebook may even be good as a desktop replacement because of its amazing performance at all levels.

Next in our Toshiba Notebook review quest we bring you a gaming notebook. Probably one of Toshiba's most expensive notebooks is part of the Qosmio Series. The Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q708 is like a gaming notebook that drank too much RedBull and can't be stopped. It is not only powerful it is also beautiful with that fierce red look which gives us the impression that this notebook is on fire. This huge 17 inch display notebook is definitely a desktop replacement which cost about $4000.



We believe is much too expensive for what it has to offer but we know that true gamers would pay anything for a machine that would help them get the maximum out of F.E.A.R. The display has a native resolution of 1680x1050 pixels, something we are very happy with. The sound is far better than anything we are ever seen before. You do not need headphones as the sound of the speakers is clear and loud. The black keyboard is made of plastic and even if it is not the best quality material you will still enjoy typing on this machine. As expected, you have a numerical pad and above the keyboard you have the touch sensitive multimedia control buttons.  The touchpad is right below the SPACE key and is very pleasant to use just like the left and right mouse buttons.

And here comes the best part of all: the performance. The 2.53 GHZ Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300 Quad Core plus the 4 GB DDR3 RAM combined with the nVidia GeForce 9800M GTS with 512 MB provide a warm welcome to any new game on the market. You have to use Windows Vista with this notebook but you will get a very good speed nevertheless. 320GB of disk space should be enough to store Quake 4, Call of Duty and Crysis plus some of your files, photos, movies, music and applications. Other good features of this notebook are the DVD burner, integrated Bluetooth device, 3 USB slots, headphone and microphone jack, one HDMI and VGA output, 56k modem jack, 5-in-1 Card Reader, an Ethernet port and Kensington Lock slot. At the price of $4000 you would not expect to find anything wrong with this laptop especially something like a cheap looking keyboard and an average display.



If you are willing to overlook these negative aspects then you will fall in love with this notebook which gathers some of the best components currently available on the market. If you want a gaming notebook not as good as this one but a good choice nevertheless, we recommend you check out the Toshiba Qosmio X505. For a price of $1900 you have a 1.6 GHz Intel Core I7-720Qm processor with 6GB RAM (you can upgrade to 8GB). The graphics card is the nVidia GeForce GTS 250M with 1GB dedicated video memory and 320 GB of free space. It will probably come with Windows 7 Home Premium operating system already installed. You have 4 USB ports, HDMI and VGA output, headphone and microphone jack, 5-in-1 Card Reader and the Kensington lock.



No matter what Toshiba model you choose, you have one year Warranty and full Toshiba support by calling a toll-free number any day at any hour. In some countries you have the possibility to buy the TOSHIBA GOLD SERVICE PACK which extends your warranty period and offers you a very good service deal: if you have any trouble with your notebook just call the number provided on the warranty contract and the Toshiba representatives will come straight to your doorstep, pick-up the notebook, take it to service and guarantees to bring it back in 7 days or you will receive a full refund. Way to go, Toshiba!

When it comes to gamers, it's pretty hard to satisfy their need by producing a gaming laptop. This is because you need the top of the line components; an excellent processor and a great graphic chipset plus a lot of RAM and HDD to store those new games (which are getting bigger and bigger by the way). This is why manufacturers are struggling to come up with the latest in gaming technology because the number of gamers out there is increasing by the minutes and this is a good way to improve the company's sales figures. Because of the high cost of these machines (and their components), most manufacturers only have one, maximum two games machines available on the market. Today we are going to read about Toshiba gaming laptops, as the Qosmio series made by Toshiba really has some of the best gaming laptops that money can buy.
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The Toshiba Qosmio X300 is the dream of all gamers out there. Just by looking and the fiery red case you will fall in love with this laptop. The Qosmio X300 is the Ferrari of laptops and I'm sure all of those who own one will agree with me.  This laptop is available with about four different configurations. The display is 17 inch long so it won't be easy to carry it around. Who needs portability when the best place you can enjoy your favorite games is right at your own desk?  The red and orange colors on the lid will make it look like the laptop is on fire and you could spot it from miles and away and you can tell it's a gaming laptop. So far everything seems fine and dandy but the thing is that glossy surface is going to attract some fingerprints so keep a fiber cloth in handy.  You have all the usual ports you need like USB, Ethernet, audio and so forth but the front is connection-free (except for the wireless and Bluetooth switch and the DVD drive). You have a 1.3 mega pixel webcam right above the display so you can Skype-talk with your friends about your favorite games and updates (yes, it has an integrated microphone). And if you have top secret documents (or you don't want anyone to be messing around with your saved games files), the Qosmio X300 has a finger print reader, good for secure authentication.
The layout of the keys offers a great typing experience and key-feedback is also excellent. You have that numerical pad on the right of the regular laptop keyboard which make this gaming notebook a super desktop replacement. Despite these nice facts, the keyboard also attracts fingerprints so you have to clean it constantly. Of course, you'll get your much-needed multimedia control buttons which are right above the keyboard but we recommend the use of the remote control (a remote control laptop, how cool is that?).  The superbly designed touchpad will prevent dust from accumulating in the corners. The touchpad has a very good fingertip reaction and the fingerprint reader is right between the two mouse buttons.

The Toshiba Qosmio X300 will amaze you with its bright and clear display which shows full colors and a very sharp image so you can truly enjoy high-detailed games.  You will also get a kick out of the Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor combined with the nVidia GeForce 9700M GTS graphics card (gamers are probably drooling right now).  The Toshiba Qosmio X300 did not produce the fan noise or the heat that we expected to hear and feel on such a monster. What we mean is that a temperature of 40.1 degrees Celsius is not that alarming for a laptop with such powerful components that produce a lot of heat under intensive use. The most heated part was the middle area, but the left, right and bottom side temperature varies from 30 to 35 degrees which is pretty cool. As for the loudspeakers, which are a very important part of the gaming laptop (what is the use of playing Jericho if you can't hear those monsters screaming from around the corner?), Toshiba has chosen the Harman Kardon loudspeakers and boy, did they make a wise choice! There are a total of four speakers on the X300 and the subwoofer on the bottom is the finish touch for one great sound quality. The battery life is not impressive and we didn't expect it to be, since this is not exactly you average portable laptop.



The Toshiba Qosmio X300 is a remarkable desktop replacement which has proven to us that Toshiba gaming laptops are above average. Thanks to the good integrates sound system, the sound capacity of this laptop has truly surpassed our imagination. You also get good gaming and application performances from this laptop because of the Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor with 4 GB of RAM and the nVidia GeForce 9700M GTS graphics card (which provides good performance for games that need DirectX 9 to run). Remember that one disadvantage of this laptop is that you have to clean it quite often because of the glossy surface that makes dust and fingerprints visible (you will have the same problem with the keyboard... well, except for dust maybe).



The Qosmio X300 is a very wise choice for people who seek a good looking laptop with a unique design and also very good specs. The flame pattern will look even better in the dark; even you will believe the laptop is on fire. This is not the only Toshiba Qosmio X300 model available as there are models from this same series which you can choose from. Even if they are basically the same, under the chassis there are different components located.



You might also want to check out the Toshiba Qosmio X500 series, another laptop with high performances. Of course, if you have some extra money to spare, you may want to look into some Alienware gadgets, we can tell you for sure that they make the best gaming laptops in the world. But for less money you can share some good gaming moment with Toshiba gaming laptops.