The all-important holiday season is here, and with it the inevitable confusion about how to find the best deals on desktops and laptops. In order to help cut through the clutter, we are once again scouring the shelves of big retail stores to find boxed versions of popular PCs, from entry-level systems starting at $349 to Core i7 powerhouses.
The difference from our normal lineup of reviews is that this roundup is concerned with the specific retail models offered by brick-and-mortar stores. These are similar to those you'd be able to configure online from companies such as Dell and HP, but may have slightly different names and features. Even better, thanks to deep holiday discounts, they can sometimes be a better deal than buying direct from a PC maker.
One way to use this guide is to pick up a Sunday newspaper sales circular (which will list the retail-specific models names of computers on sale), and check here for a review before heading out to the store.
We've got all the entire list of models in our retail review roundup below, and we'll update this page with ratings and live links as the systems get reviewed over the next several weeks.
(Note: Apple's desktops and laptops, while popular holiday items, are the same whether purchased direct from Apple or in a store. You can find recent Apple products reviewed or profiled here: latest Apple MacBooks; latest Apple iMacs; latest Apple Mac Minis.)
Updates:
>See our favorite laptop in the budget category here.
>See our favorite laptop in the Netbook category here.
See more news, reviews, and recommendations in our Laptops and Desktops sections.
Following the success of our big summertime roundup of back-to-school laptops, we're busy testing almost two dozen new holiday models in the CNET Labs.
Same as before, we've scoured the retail shelves of big box electronics stores to find the specific configurations and model numbers you're most likely to find in stores and in Sunday newspaper sales circulars.
In plain English, that means, these are the exact same models and configurations you'll find boxed up and ready to go in traditional brick-and-mortar stores, as well as the systems most likely to end up deeply discounted during the holiday shopping season.
Bookmark this page and check back regularly to follow these links to the full reviews, which we'll be publishing over the next several weeks. We'll also be picking one or more winners in each category and presenting those separately.
Also check out our previous retail roundup, the back-to-school laptop guide, along with the best-of-back-to-school winners.
Entry level ($649 or less)
Acer Aspire 5735-4624 [Rating: 4 stars]
Compaq CQ50-215NR [2 stars]
Dell 1525-139B [3 stars]
Gateway T-6330U [3.5 stars]
Budget ($699 - $799)
Toshiba Satellite L355D-S7825 [2.5 stars]
HP G60-125NR [2 stars]
Toshiba Satellite A305-S6872 [3.5 stars]
HP Pavilion dv4-1125nr [4 stars]
Sony Vaio VGN-NS140E/W [3.5 stars]
Mainstream ($800 - $999)
Dell Studio S1535-143B [3.5 stars]
Asus X83VB-X1 [3.5 stars]
Toshiba Satellite U405D-S2874 [2.5 stars]
HP Pavilion dv4-1155se [3 stars]
Gateway MC7801u [3.5 stars]
High-end ($1,000 and up)
Asus X83VM-X1 [4 stars]
HP Pavilion dv3510nr [4 stars]
Toshiba Satellite E105-S1402 [3.5 stars]
Sony Vaio VGN-FW270J/W [4 stars]
Sony Vaio VGN-AW125J/H [4 stars]
See more laptop recommendations in our holiday gift guide.
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