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Best Laptops for Less Than $1000: Can They Get the Job Done? Indiana

Will a thousand bucks buy a good-quality laptop? PC World laptop reviews say yes, but you will have to make some compromises.
1. Local Companies
2. Introduction
3. HP Pavilion dv6500t
4. Lenovo ThinkPad R61
5. Featured Local Company

1. Local Companies

Always A Solution Computer Services
219-548-2948
802 Evans Ave, Ste 5
Valparaiso, IN
The Digital Connection
(765) 475-0832
Peru, IN
Harbourtown Sales
317-965-7767
NOBLESVILLE, IN
Tech-On-Call
866-685-8283
3885 E. County Rd
North Vernon, IN
Computer Specialists
(574) 271-2700
52139 US Route 33
South Bend, IN
Monroe County United Ministries
(812) 339-3429
827 W 14th Ct
Bloomington, IN
Sdrc
(317) 581-6116
10401 N Meridian St Ste 300
Indianapolis, IN
B L C Computers
(765) 361-1284
112 S Green St
Crawfordsville, IN
Noble Computers
(219) 465-1551
2501 Chicago St Ste 1
Valparaiso, IN
Staples
(260) 436-6806
4408 Illinois Rd
Fort Wayne, IN


2. Introduction

Would you spend $12,000 on a portable computer that weighs nearly 20 pounds? Unlikely. But that's exactly what people who bought Compaq's Portable 386 did in 1987, when the luggable was introduced.

Fortunately, today's laptops are way faster, far lighter, and much, much cheaper. In fact, you can buy a good-quality laptop for $1000 or less--but you will have to make some compromises, of course.

For example, many $1000-or-less laptops include only basic productivity software, such as Microsoft Works, as opposed to Microsoft Office. Still, if you haven't shopped for a laptop lately, you might be surprised at how far a thousand bucks can take you.

The following guide provides three current examples of laptops in the $1000 ballpark, with links to PCW ratings and our Shop & Compare pricing tool. (Keep in mind that online prices fluctuate constantly and laptop models come and go quickly.) The second part of this guide offers tips on how to configure a laptop for $1000 or less.

Great Choices for Less Than a Grand

We review hundreds of laptops in the course of a year, and some excellent options in the less-than-$1000 range have come our way recently. Here are three of our favorites.

3. HP Pavilion dv6500t

  • PCW Rating: 86 Very Good
  • Rank: #2 on PC World's Top 10 All-Purpose Laptops chart (September 2007)
  • Recent low price online: $699
  • What you get for the money: The Pavilion dv6500t is a gorgeous laptop with a stylish, high-gloss case and backlit media controls. The machine is well equipped with draft-n Wi-Fi (along with 802.11a/b/g), HDMI output for connecting to a TV, three USB ports, a seven-in-one shared card slot, fantastic stereo speakers, a 15.4-inch glossy wide screen, and a 640-by-480-resolution Webcam.

    • Our review unit earned a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 75, only 10 percent slower than the fastest laptops we've tested. In our test the dv6500t went for nearly 4 hours on a battery charge, too. You can configure the laptop with a hard drive of up to 250GB (a $150 increase from the standard 80GB drive).

  • See the full test and specs report.

    • Drawbacks: The dv6500t weighs 6.2 pounds. Serious gamers will need to upgrade from the basic Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 chip to the optional 128MB nVidia GeForce Go 8400M GS graphics chip (an extra $79).

    As with many other HP consumer laptops, the dv6500t's glossy screen reflects overhead lights, which can be distracting unless you tilt the screen just so.

    4. Lenovo ThinkPad R61

  • PCW Rating: 83 Very Good
  • Rank: #4 on PC World's Top 10 All-Purpose Laptops chart (September 2007)
  • Recent low price online: $1135

    • What you get for the money: Some R61 configurations cost as low as $670 but are bare-bones. Recently, however, an R61e with 2GB of memory, Windows Vista Home Premium, and an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU could be configured for $989.

    The ThinkPad R61 has plenty of cool features, including the ThinkLight, an LED that illuminates the keyboard so you can type comfortably in low lighting. ThinkPad keyboards are among the best, and the R61's keyboard is no exception.

    The laptop's modular bay lets you hot-swap devices such as a dual-layer DVD drive or an extra battery. The battery in our review unit lasted a healthy 3 hours, 19 minutes. And the 2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7500-equipped R61 performed well in our speed tests, earning a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 80. The 14.1-inch-screen model weighs 5.8 pounds, a bit lighter than other laptops in this price range.

    Worth noting: In a recent survey, Consumer Reports readers ranked Lenovo tech support as second only to Apple's. The survey also found Lenovo and Compaq laptops tied in needing the fewest repairs among eight leading laptop brands.

    Drawbacks: Lenovo ThinkPads are designed more for business than pleasure, so shoppers seeking slick multimedia features should look elsewhere.

  • See the full test and specs report.

    • 5. Featured Local Company

    The Digital Connection

    7654750832
    Peru, IN
    http://www.tdconnection.com

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