{"id":732,"date":"2021-08-27T20:12:26","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T20:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/?p=732"},"modified":"2021-08-27T20:12:26","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T20:12:26","slug":"top-5-great-laptop-bargains-to-consider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/top-5-great-laptop-bargains-to-consider.htm","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Great Laptop Bargains to Consider"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lenovo, Acer<\/a>,\u00a0Asus<\/a>, Dell and HP<\/a> all have good bargains right now on laptops equipped with older CPUs. But should you wait for laptops powered by new Ivy Bridge chips to hit the shelves? We break it down.<\/h3>\n

\"Dell<\/a><\/p>\n

Laptop manufacturers are hard at work updating their laptop lines and making new models using Intel\u2019s latest Ivy Bridge processors. If you\u2019re in the market for a new laptop, however, it may make more sense for you to buy a slightly older laptop running second-generation Sandy Bridge and save a few hundred bucks. Here\u2019s how to decide which purchase is your best option.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ivy Bridge: Better Battery Life<\/a> and\u00a0Graphics Performance<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Save<\/a>Save $362 now on a Dell XPS 15z with a Sandy Bridge processor.As with every new chip release, Ivy Bridge promises improved performance and greater power efficiency compared to last-generation Sandy Bridge chips. The general performance boost for the new processor, though, isn\u2019t really that much. In PCWorld benchmarks, the new processor ran only about 5 to 10 percent faster. You might not really notice a difference, especially if you\u2019re running chores that don\u2019t task the processor much–for example, if you\u2019re browsing the Web or editing a document.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So what\u2019s Ivy Bridge good for? If you do a lot of tasks that are processor-intensive, you\u2019ll save some time. These tasks include media transcoding and playing video games.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ivy Bridge: Graphics Booster<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The biggest Ivy Bridge benefits, in fact, are on the graphics side. The new integrated GPU (graphics processing unit) in Ivy Bridge is so improved that you might not need a discrete video card in your laptop for running 3D graphics or playing most games. Intel benchmarks using 3DMark* Vantage show graphics performance gains ranging from 18 percent to 105 percent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not a gamer or media wrangler, you might prefer a new Ivy Bridge laptop for the 20 percent increase in battery life. Intel has stated that these power savings can add as much as an hour to your Dell inspiron 1545 battery life<\/a>, so Ivy Bridge laptops may be ideal for road warriors and others who want their laptops to last all day on one charge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Finally, buying an Ivy Bridge laptop has another advantage that has nothing to do with the processor itself. Updated laptop models and new laptops often come with other upgrades besides the CPU: The latest graphics cards, more hard-drive options, thinner and lighter designs, and so on.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Buy an Older Laptop to Save Money and for Instant Gratification<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Save<\/a>Save $170 now on an HP Pavilion DM1-4050us with a Sandy Bridge processor.Perhaps you don\u2019t need the latest and greatest laptop model. If you don\u2019t play games on your laptop or work with media files–and if an extra hour of HP probook 4710s battery life<\/a>\u00a0won\u2019t make much difference to you–you can save hundreds of dollars buying an \u201colder\u201d laptop as retailers try to clear their inventory to make way for the new models. Some Sandy Bridge laptops are just a few months or weeks older than the latest Ivy Bridge ones and may be perfectly suitable for your needs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For example, you can get a 15.6-inch Asus laptop (model A53SD-TS71) with a quad-core Intel Core i7 Sandy Bridge processor, 4GB of memory, a 750GB hard-drive, and an Nvidia GeForce GT610M graphics card for just $750 at aussiebattery<\/a>. The laptop dropped to its new lowest price in April, right before Intel launched Ivy Bridge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By comparison, the 15.6-inch Asus G55V with an Ivy Bridge Core i7 processor, 12GB of memory, a 750GB hard drive, and an Nvidia GTX 660M graphics card costs more than twice as much–$1449–at J&R (with a $50 discount).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Choosing an older Sandy Bridge processor instead of Ivy Bridge when you\u2019re configuring a laptop won\u2019t get you as much savings, but if your priority is to save as much money as possible, selecting an older processor can help. When configuring an Alienware M14x, for example, choosing a second-generation Intel Core i5-2450M instead of the third-generation Intel Core i7-3610QM will save you $100.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Asus G55V is a gaming laptop, but only high-end laptops got Ivy Bridge updates in the first wave. This is another reason you might want to buy an older laptop now: You want one right away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to the Ivy Bridge launch schedule, budget Ivy Bridge laptops–those running Core i3 processors–won\u2019t arrive until the end of the year, while Ivy Bridge mainstream laptops and Ultrabooks are expected to start popping up in June.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Save<\/a>Save $119 on a Lenovo 1068B9U laptop with a Sandy Bridge processor.Here\u2019s one more reason that may sway you to opt for a cheaper older model, besides price and availability: Sandy Bridge is cooler for overclockers. That is, Ivy Bridge runs hot when overclocked, so if you want to push your laptop\u2019s CPU to its performance limits and need a laptop right now, a Sandy Bridge system is your better bet.<\/p>\n

\"Discount<\/a><\/p>\n

Acer aspire 4710 battery<\/a>\u00a0brand new 4400mAh\u00a0Only\u00a0AU $58.19 –\u00a0\"\"Australia Post Fast Delivery<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Inquiry Free<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here’s a chart that outlines some current deals:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

5 Great Sandy Bridge Laptop Deals Available Now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Laptop<\/th>\nHP Pavilion DM1-4050us<\/th>\nDell XPS 15z<\/th>\nDell Inspiron 17R<\/th>\nLenovo 1068B9U<\/th>\nAsus A53SD-TS71<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Processor<\/th>\nIntel Core i3-2357M Processor (1.4GHz)<\/td>\nIntel Core i7-2640M (2.8 GHz)<\/td>\nIntel Core i5-2450 (2.5GHz)<\/td>\nIntel Core i3-2350M (2.3GHz)<\/td>\nIntel Core i7-2670QM Processor (2.20GHz)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
OS<\/th>\nWindows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)<\/td>\nWindows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)<\/td>\nWindows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)<\/td>\nWindows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)<\/td>\nWindows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Screen<\/th>\n11.6\\” (1366 x 768 pixels resolution)<\/td>\n15.6\\” (1920 x 1080 pixels resolution)<\/td>\n17.3\\” (1600 x 900 pixels resolution)<\/td>\n15.6\\” (1366 x 768 pixels resolution)<\/td>\n15.6\\” (1366 x 768 pixels resolution)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Graphics<\/th>\nIntegrated Intel graphics<\/td>\nNvidia GeForce GT 525M 1GB<\/td>\nIntegrated Intel graphics<\/td>\nIntegrated Intel graphics<\/td>\nNvidia GeForce GT 610M 2GB<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
RAM<\/th>\n4GB DDR3<\/td>\n8GB DDR3<\/td>\n6GB DDR3<\/td>\n4GB DDR3<\/td>\n4GB DDR3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Storage<\/th>\n500GB, 5400 rpm<\/td>\n1TB, 5400rpm<\/td>\n750GB, 5400rpm<\/td>\n500GB, 5400 rpm<\/td>\n750GB, 5400rpm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Optical Drive<\/th>\nDVD recordable multiburner<\/td>\nDVD recordable multiburner<\/td>\nDVD recordable multiburner<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\nDVD recordable multiburner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Networking<\/th>\n10\/100\/1000 Mbps ethernet, Wireless-b\/g\/n<\/td>\n10\/100\/1000 Mbps ethernet, Wireless-b\/g\/n<\/td>\n10\/100 Mbps ethernet, Wireless-b\/g\/n<\/td>\n10\/100\/1000 Mbps ethernet, Wireless-b\/g\/n<\/td>\n10\/100\/1000 Mbps ethernet, Wireless-b\/g\/n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Battery<\/th>\n6-cell<\/td>\n8-cell<\/td>\n6-cell<\/td>\n6-cell<\/td>\n6-cell<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Warranty<\/th>\n1 Year<\/td>\n1 Year<\/td>\n1 Year<\/td>\n1 Year<\/td>\n1 Year<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Price:<\/th>\n$479.99 at Amazon<\/td>\n$1099 at Dell with free shipping<\/td>\n$579.99 at Dell<\/td>\n$379.99 at Best Buy<\/td>\n$749.99 at TigerDirect<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/th>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Savings (over MSRP):<\/th>\n$170<\/td>\n$362<\/td>\n$270<\/td>\n$119<\/td>\n$80<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Bottom Line<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Plan your purchase based on what you really need and taking into account other important considerations when buying a laptop.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lenovo, Acer,\u00a0Asus, Dell and HP all have good bargains right now on laptops equipped with older CPUs. But<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[330,76,3,760,303,46],"tags":[864,863,862,164,865],"class_list":["post-732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussiebatt-com","category-batteries-company-com","category-battery-news","category-batteryfast-org","category-laptop-reviews","category-tech-info","tag-acer-aspire-4710-battery","tag-good-laptop-bargains","tag-great-sandy-bridge-laptop","tag-hp-pavilion-dv2000-battery","tag-hp-probook-4710s-battery-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":736,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732\/revisions\/736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}