Price Range: Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000, Average MRP: Rs. 38, 200
Brands: Acer, Gigabyte, HCL, Intex, Sahara
These notebooks costing less than 50K fall into the same category as our July
2005 shootout. The salient features of the notebook that won the 'Best
Features' label last year at this price range was a Pentium M 1.5 GHz, 256 MB
RAM, 60 GB HDD, 15” XGA screen and was an Acer TravelMate 4150.The 4150
weighed 2.8 Kg. It gave a battery time of 3 hours and scored 32.8 and 769 in
MCCW 2003 and 3D Mark 2003 respectively. The price of the TravelMate 4150 at
that time was Rs. 43, 899. This time, 9 of our 27 notebooks fit into this
category.
The specs
The specifications remain largely the same this year as from last July (a mix of
Celeron, Sempron, Pentium M, Turion and dual core), with a flat 256 MB RAM and
40 GB HDD on each (two of them have 60 GB).
The average overall performance at 65.6 this time of these Budget notebooks
is higher than what we got last year (49.4) with the same mix of feature specs
and tests.Among the rest, you will find a mix of Intel 915, 945 graphics with
either 64 or 128 MB graphics memory. The exception to that is the Sahara Turion,
which comes with an ATi Mobility Radeon Xpress 200G with 64 MB memory. Both the
Acers and the Gigabyte in this category come with a 14” wide screen LCD while
the rest have a 15” XGA screen. The Intex 029CD has a 15” wide screen. A
DVDR/CDRW Combo is the optical drive with most of the models.
Don't expect features like biometrics and TPM security in these models,
although the Acer TravelMate 3242 comes with a motion sensor guard for its hard
disk at this price tag! The average burden on the shoulders of these 9 notebooks
is at 1.9 Kgs much lower than the average last time of 2.5 Kgs. Most of them
weigh 2 kilos while the two Acers are much lighter at just 1.5, and the Sahara
Turion is the heaviest of this lot at 2.5 Kgs.
Performance variations
In this category, you will notice two of the notebooks-namely the HCL V7901
and the Sahara L1-perform well below the average 65.6. The reason is simple.
The Turion64 powered HCL V7901 comes with a VIA/S3G UniChrome IGP graphics with
just 32 MB of on board video memory and this lets it do only one of the 4 game
tests in 3D Mark 2003 where it clocks a mere 88 3D Marks. Plus, the MCCW 2003
score was 22.2 Winstones expected after the 3D Mark rating. Its battery lasted
just over half an hour. This resulted in a drop in its lower overall
performance. Similarly, the Sahara L1 is a Celeron model with a SiS Mirage
graphics, again with just 32 MB RAM. This spec sees it give similar scores as
the V7901, with 109 3D Marks and 27.8 Winstones. However, it gets a better
overall performance score because of better battery time of 2 hours 37 minutes.
Pricing
The winner in this category has a price sensitive weightage, giving more
importance in the total scores to the price, as compared to features or
performance. So the notebook with the least price with the best blend of
features and performance is our winner. There is a small caveat here though —
the price variance between each model is just Rs. 4,000 at the most, though
there is a 20,000 rupee difference between the least and the most priced
notebook in this category. What this means is that when you consider purchasing
one of these, you need to figure in the enterprise bulk purchase discounts (not
a part of our scoring), which may bring down the MRP (say when you buy 20 of
them) of some of these models quite a bit. We pick two winners, one Editor's
Choice and one Highly Recommended.
Acer TravelMate 3242
The budget category winner this year The 14” wide screen notebook not only In performance, the 3242 performs top of BOTTOM LINE: The labels of 'Best |
Sahara L1
The Sahara L1 is a There are three Celeron If you remember our last This shows a progressive BOTTOM LINE: If |
The rest of the budget notebooks...
Model | Key specs | Contact | ||
ACER Aspire 5502ZNWXCi
Features: 82.9 Performance: 81.4 |
Centrino (Pentium M) 1.7 GHz,256 MB,60 GB, HDD,Intel 915GM/128, MB,14”WXGA,1.5 Kg, 02:53 battery time |
+ Good combination of features and performance - Price on the costlier side |
Acer India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore. Tel: 25219520. sivakumar_n@acer.co.in |
|
Gigabyte N521UC
Features: 60.4 |
Celeron 1.4 GHz,256 MB, 40 GB HDD,Intel 915GM/128 MB,15” XGA,2 Kg, 05:10 battery time |
+ Excellent battery backup,well priced, 3-in-1 memory card slot, S-Video out port - Low graphics performance |
Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd.Mumbai. Tel: 26526696. sales@gigabyte.in |
|
Gigabyte W431UC Features: 59.0 |
Centrino (Pentium M) 1.7 GHz,256 MB,40 GB HDD, Intel 915GM/128 MB,14"WXGA,2 Kg, 03:39 battery time |
+ Good performance, 3-in-1 memory card slot - Costlier than other similar config models |
Gigabyte Technology (India) Ltd.Mumbai. Tel: 26526696. sales@gigabyte.in |
|
HCL M7901
Features: 55.4 |
Mobile Sempron 3000+, 256 MB,40 GB,VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro IGP/32 MB,15"XGA,2 Kg, 02:35 battery time |
+ Low price - Graphics performance is low, could do better on better backup |
HCL Notebooks,Noida, Tel:91-9313373236, sachin.goel@hcl.in |
|
HCL V7901
Features: 58.5 |
Turion64,256 MB,40 GB,VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro IGP/32 MB,15"XGA, 2 Kg, 00:34 battery time |
+ Good price for a 64-bit,good features - Performance on the lower-side and battery time is very low |
HCL Notebooks,Noida, Tel:91-9313373236, sachin.goel@hcl.in |
|
Intex 029CD
Features: 73.2 |
Centrino (Pentium M) 1.7 GHz,256 MB,40 GB HDD, Intel 915GM/128 MB,15"WXGA,2 Kg, 03:37 battery time |
+ Excellent good performance with good features - None |
Intex Technologies (I) LtdNew Delhi. Tel: 41610224. info@intextechnologies.com |
|
Sahara Turion Features: 64.0 Performance:82.3 Price:66.7 Overall:263 Rs. 41,999 |
Turion64,256 MB,35 GB,ATI Mobility Radeon Xpress 200G/64 MB,15"XGA,2.5 Kg, 02:43 battery time |
+ Good graphics performance - Low on hard disk and is heavy |
Sahara Computers, Gautam Budh Nagar (UP).Tel: (0120) 4307760. mahima.sharma@ saharacomputers.co.in |