Laptops Under 400 Dollars

High End

These laptop computers are the creme of the crop – the best of the best that most people would need to fork out an arm and a leg to get their hands on. They are designed for pure power and performance and are built with state of the art components, with sleeky and sexy  (albeit in some cases somewhat large) exteriors  to boot.

Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Retina Display)

Apple’s MacBook Pro’s have long dominated the market as a line of some of the best high end computers to grace our planet , and with the new addition of Apple’s Retina Display technologies their latest range is set to take the market by storm. In a nutshell is the thinnest, lightest, most gorgeous looking piece of cyber ass to grace our shelves. The Retina Display makes for next generation image quality and the batter life is unequaled. Specs include an 2.3GHz Intel Core i7-3615QM (Ivy Bridge) CPU as well as a Nvidia GeForce GT 650M graphics card. I could write an essay on this PC but suffice to say if you are a media enthusiast, a Mac gamer, a professional looking for a great work machine, or just a Mac fan looking to play with Apples latest toy, this badboy will not disappoint.

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Samsung Series 9 15-inch Ultrabook (NP900X4B)

Despite Apple’s dominance as market leaders in the high end side of the market a new range of Ultrabooks have arisen that could easily give them a run for their money. The Samsung Series 9 is one of the prime specimens set to battle it out against the Apple’s MacBooks, and that is definitely does. A sleek design combined with a Core i5-2467M processor means the Series 9 packs some serious punch for it’s size. Topped of with a stunning display and excellent battery life this ultrabook makes the ultimate travel companion or office workstation.

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Alienware M17x R4

If you are a gamer of any level then  Alienware needs no introduction. The M17x is without a doubt the hottest gaming laptop PC (rivaled only maybe by the Razer Blade) to be released this year and one of the most successful laptops from Alienware to date. It offers intels latest Intel Core i7-3720QM processor, aNvidia GeForce GT 680M graphics card, a 532 GB 7200 rpm harddrive as well as a host of other solid specs  . On the downside the batter life is not great at around 3 hours and it’s a hefty 9.6 lb. but for any serious gamer with the cash to spare this should be no deterrent at all.

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Mid Range

Mid range laptops are designed with affordability in mind without compromising too much on power and features. They are designed for the average middle class Joe who needs a portable machine for office use, traveling, media or mid level gaming. Unfortunately you won’t find anything mind blowing in terms of gaming power in this category but as a hobbyist or temporary travel companion on holiday they definitely do the job – just don’t expect to run anything on ultra or you will be chugging along in slow motion like a paralympics bronze medalist.

HP Folio 13-1020us

The HP Folio is an ultrabook that has garnered excellent reviews across the world, being the Editors pick of many an established PC magazine in it’s category. It’s definitely not a gaming machine but as workstation and travel companion few can compare in it’s price bracket. Specs include a 1.6GHz dual-core Core i5-2467M processor and 4GB of DDR3 RAM as well as a solid state harddrive – specs rivaling many an ultrabook 300-400 dollars up on the price ladder. Other stand out features include an amazingly tactile keyboard and a ridiculous 9 hour battery life.  The only cons worth mentioning are slightly a more heavy weight than most ultrabooks and also a marginally less bright screen – then again for the price , who would honestly care? Seriously, this laptop kicks ass.

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Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5-481TG-6814

The Timeline Ultra M5-481TG-6814 is a 14 inch mid range laptop that rises up where the Folio lacks in the department of Graphical processing power, making it ideal not only as a workstation but as a gaming laptop as well. This ultrabook packs a 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT640MLE , a 500GB Hardrive, a 20 GB solid state “flash cache” for increasing performance, 4GM of RAM, and even a backlight keyboard.  To top it all off it has up to an 8 hour battery life comes in under 800 dollars!  Leading reviews and benchmarks reveal that the components all work well together for solid and reliable operation and even some surprisingly competitive benchmark results. There are not many laptops in this price bracket that can compete as an all around winner of a machine.

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Laptops on the market today have evolved from more than just a basic portable PC’s to powerhouses capable of serious gaming, application processing and media hounding along with standard at tasks such as word processing  and work applications. Despite ever growing competetion from portable PC’s such as tablets and mobile phones, laptops are still a set piece in modern life and demand is still growing drastically worldwide. With so many on the market the noise can get a bit munch – this list has been put together after extensive research to bring together 5 of the best laptops available on the market in various budget categories.

There’s no better feeling than finding a really solid deal, one that leaves you with a lingering sense of satisfaction. Buying a laptop is no exception. Luckily there are thousands of retailers both online and off who regularly offer discounts for cheap laptops. Looking in the low budget market has it’s disadvantages you will be limited but at the same time for most casual users there are plenty of solid machines that will fulfill your needs if you look hard enough. Sites such as Amazon.com have up to 20-30% on a number of models at any given time. The same can be said for almost any large online retailer or retail store such as Best Buy. Before you can decide on which one of these is best for you though you need to know what you are looking for in the first place.

Casual users have the luxury of not needing as much processing power than anyone with more taxing applications in mind. To run Word and surf the internet only requires very basic specs though be weary of Windows 7 which does require a fair amount of power to run smoothly, particularly for those looking in the second hand market. The ideal CPU in terms of power in the price range would be an i3 or an i5. Next down are the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors which are one tier of tech down followed by standard Dual Core and then single core machines. For standard applications like surfing the web and MS Office you don’t really need more than a Single core in reality, though it will still affect the overall speed your PC runs at. RAM is the other important factor related to your PC’s performance. I would recommend no less than 2GB of RAM for any machine in order to get the most out of it. Without enough RAM your PC will become sluggish when running multiple apps at the same time . RAM (random access memory) provides the buffer that will allow your laptop to perform at it’s best. The last important factor is of course hard drive space. 320GB is a good entry level HDD size that will provide enough space for quite a few movies and a ton of music, not to mention a hefty fap folder.

Of course there are still other factors to consider aside from the three above such as build quality, portability and battery life. Depending on important the portability factor is you may want to look at 11″ ultrabooks and notebooks that are built with excellent battery life and portability in mind but the expense of raw performance. For students and anyone looking for a business laptop the specs of most modern budget ultrabooks should be more than sufficient. Just bear in mind that the 11″ screen make’s these not ideal for entertainment and watching movies though the excellent battery life means you can watch movies in some nifty places.