Attention back-to-school shoppers: Find your laptop reviews here

This laptop's parents must be very proud.

When people refer to a seasonal business, they usually mean the holiday shopping season that starts with Black Friday. But the real season for laptops has become the summer shopping phenomenon known as "Back to School." For college students, a laptop is virtually required equipment, and even high school and grade school kids are getting in on the act.

To help you pick the perfect system for your academic needs (or to send those Facebook party invites from), 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 Sunday sales circulars throughout the summer.

Below are all the retail laptops we're reviewing over the course of this summer. If you bookmark this page and check back regularly, we'll add links to the reviews as they go up and then present our favorites from each category.

Note: Laptop models listed as XXX haven't been officially announced yet--check back for updates.

Entry Level ($699 or less)
Compaq CQ50-115NR
Dell Inspiron 1525-121B
Sony VAIO NR430E/L
Toshiba Satellite L305-S5875
Toshiba Satellite L355D-S7815

Budget ($700 - $799)
Dell Inspiron 1420-123B
Dell Inspiron 1525-122B
Gateway T-6836
HP Pavilion dv2915nr
HP Pavilion dv6915nr
Toshiba Satellite A305D-S6848

Mainstream ($800 - $999)
Dell Studio 1535-125B
HP Pavilion dv2945se
HP Pavilion dv9925nr
HP Pavilion dv6985se
HP Pavilion dv5-1002nr
Sony VAIO CR510E
Sony VAIO NR498E/W
Toshiba Satellite A305-S6858
Toshiba Satellite U405D-S2852

High-end ($1,000 and up)
Dell XPS M1330-126B
Gateway P-7811
HP Pavilion dv7-1025nr
HP Pavilion dv5-1004nr
HP Pavilion dv5-1015nr
Sony VAIO FW140
Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q701

See more laptops in CNET's back-to-school gift guide.

[LunaticSX]

Huh? No Apple laptops? It's not like they're in demand or anything, or that you EVER see a MacBook around campus...

[pcfish]

Even you are listing laptops for Windows, you can still list Macbook family here.

[jordanking34]

He said the laptops included on this list are laptops they are reviewing this summer, so if CNET isn't reviewing any new Macbooks, why would they be here?

[blabtech]

Dell laptops are nice these days, as well as HP's. I like Macbooks especially now that you can use boot camp to put Windows OS on a mac.
Visit my blog about some computer insight... at:

http://blabtech.blogspot.com

[Slotmech]

Geez... no Acer, Asus, Cyberpower, Sager, Maingear, IBUYPower or Gateway (MPC) reviews. We know who pays the bills on this portal, don't we?

[CarScott]

It is crazy to see no recommendations for Apple Mac Books of any type, particularly since we're talking about "back to school" technology. Perhaps these writers should visit a high school or college campus to see what computers students actualyl use...

[Dan_Ackerman]

Hey gang -- thanks or the comments! Obviously MacBooks are a top choice for students, and we give them tons of coverage (and Asus, too). But this feature is all about new systems that will available "off-the-shelf" in Best Buy, Circuit City, etc., during the summer. Retail stores carry MacBooks, too, but we've already reviewed those specific models. It's largely for parents who pick up a Sunday sales flyer in the newspaper, and want to find a review of that specific version of the laptop (which is often different than the version you can get online from Dell, HP, etc.).

[kien64]

I have a Dell XPS 1530. Got it about 1 month ago. There are a few minor things that i dislike, but overall it's a solid laptop. I am planning on doing a full video review of my experience so far and will post it on www.DigitalOvercast.com when it's done. Recently had a chance to try out a new macbook and compared to a PC, it's faster with everything - Boot time, productivity apps, multi-tasking, photoshop, etc.

[J Rankin]

Whatever the case, back to school shoppers should wait just a couple more weeks for the Centrino 2 platform to come out, and the subsequent barrage of new laptop lines that utilize it.

[La reina]

Yeah, no kidding

[Matt E]

Hi all,

I'm working with Dan and Michelle on these back-to-school reviews. It would be safe to assume that many of the laptops to be reviewed here are Centrino 2 models. We're still waiting on them ourselves, but we endeavor to bring you those reviews as soon as we get our hands on them. It remains to be seen what sort of performance bump you'll get with Centrino 2. As it stands now, models based on Intel's latest mobile platform are at the higher-end of the price spectrum. That doesn't necessarily mean students on tighter budgets need to wait to pay a premium for the latest technology. I'd wager that a current generation dual-core laptop will get you through 4 years of school. Still, it's probably worth waiting until you see what sort of prices and performance you'll find with Centrino 2 systems. We hope to have the majority of these reviews posted by the end of July.

Thanks!

[qprize]

What a lame excuse for obviously bought-and-paid-for pandering.

First you say:
"To help you pick the perfect system for your academic needs (or to send those Facebook party invites from), 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 Sunday sales circulars throughout the summer."

If this is an example of scouring, it's a miracle you haven't contracted Salmonella poisoning from your frying pan.

Then you comment:
"But this feature is all about new systems that will available "off-the-shelf" in Best Buy, Circuit City, etc., during the summer."

If it's finding the"perfect" system,. then you should review all the best available models, not just the ones you haven't reviewed. If I'm going to spend hundreds, if not a thousand bucks on a computer for my kid, I want to read a review that gives me complete information, not just the ones with big promotional budgets.

Second, here's a tip: Apple has retail stores, too. Nice ones with well trained help. Anfd gosh, last time I checked, BEST BUY HAS APPLE ON THE SALES FLOOR, and even in the Sunday circular. In fact, Best Buy has specialists that are trained in Apple, not just minimum wage monkeys who have to find a manager to tell you what WiFi means. (I apologize, Best Buy folks. You're great and sold me a fantastic vacuum - and the cheaper model to boot - but they haven't trained you well on computers.)

So what I'm inferring from this "recommendation" is that you still have a huge prejudice for Windows machines, or based on the wide variety of brands you covered [insert snark here] you GET PAID BY MANUFACTURERS for reviewing their systems. Or both, since Apple doesn't do that to sell their computers.

I've generally ignored CNET emails because the subject are useless. "What's the best giant screen TV for less than $10,000?" or "Should you back up your hard drive?" aren't worth the time it takes me to delete them. This actually looked like a worthwhile article, but it seems it;'s just another paid advertisement from CNET. I already deleted Crave from my bookmarks, so I guess it's time to remove my address from the mailing list.

I sure hope CBS bought you purely for the advertising revenues, not an asset for their News and Information programs.

[Matt E]

As fun as conspiracy theories can be, the truth here is that we thought we'd be serving CNET readers well by reviewing off-the-shelf laptops -- in addition to our typical coverage of models we get from vendors that they sell direct online.

And we certainly won't stop you from reading our MacBook and MacBook Pro and MacBook Air reviews. Do a search -- they're there for the waiting. We have current coverage of each, which is why you don't see them included here.

[Bbatteries]

lol, this is late i know, but nice one on keeping your cool... if the guy took about 8 seconds to check into each of his concerns then he could've possibly kept himself from looking like an idiot. maybe next time... oh and cnet rocks

[Beruda]

I am a long time PC user who purchased a mac book in Sept. 07. I am also a graduate student and I can say while I have seen some mac laptops on campus, I see many more windows machines. Now in our computer labs there are mac and windows machines. I think what this piece is trying to do is just give parents and students some useful information because I would think that more families use windows machines than macs. A co-worker recently asked me about getting a laptop for his daughter who is going to college for the first time. I told him while I have a mac and love it I recommended buying a Dell machine ( which was my 2nd choice). I told him I thought it would be easier for her since they have a couple of PC's at home. As Dan was saying ppl know about the various macs and can check them out. Lighten up already. Again while I love my macbook (i got the black one) it is expensive and I think you can get a very good PC notebook for half the price.

[LunaticSX]

Either you're misleading your readers with the subject "Attention back-to-school shoppers: Find your laptop reviews here," or you're simply doing your readers a disservice by leaving out brands and manufacturers that they should ALSO be looking at for back-to-school purchases.

Sure, while it's nice that you've already done reviews of other models, you're really leaving out a lot of info one should have to "help you pick the perfect system for your academic needs" by not including those models and at least linking to the prior reviews. You might as well title this article "Interested in back-to-school laptops? Do a search on CNET. We're not going to actually list all of them for you. (We can't help it if one of us is too lazy.)"

BTW, last time I checked (which happens to actually be WEEKLY), Best Buy ALWAYS features Apple laptops in their circulars, so saying you're only reviewing models featured in retail stores' circulars isn't even accurate.

[LunaticSX]

Oh, a way to slightly save some face:

You added "Note: Laptop models listed as XXX haven't been officially announced yet--check back for updates." at the bottom of the article, and have "Gateway XXX" listed under "High-end."

It's well-known that Apple is prepping updates of their laptops, so you certainly could at least add "Apple XXX" under "High-end," as well. (Even ignoring rumors that Apple's upcoming "product transition" may involve some cheaper models.)

[barkerbarker]

I'm looking forward to reading the reviews of the higher end models that will be available but will be returning to school in a few weeks. I'd rather not haul my bulky desktop four states away. When will these be up?

[barkerbarker]

Sorry, posted my comment in the wrong place. I'm looking forward to reading the reviews of the high-end products. However, I'm leaving for school in a couple of weeks and don't want to haul my big desktop across the country. When should I expect these to be up?

How about Samsung laptops? They offer some pretty neat machines, such as the Samsung R60 Aura range. I got the Tyler last weekend for my daughter for just ?579 (in Germany), which strikes me as not a bad price, despite what some sites say about them being expensive (e.g. http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/ "Unfortunately, those looks come at a price").

[Garfield1573]

Just a comment about Mac's and school: I'm shopping for a laptop for my daughter who's entering first year engineering at a major Canadian University in September. We liked the concept of a Macbook, but virtually ALL of the students, faculty and the IT guys we talked with recommeded a Windows laptop to ensure 100% compatibility with curriculum materials and other students. Yes, we could buy a MacBook and use bootcamp and load Windows VISTA, but why would we pay 50% more for a Macbook, plus a VISTA licence and still be forced to dual-boot? That's simply nuts.

[Romriech]

I understand why CNET chose to leave it out, but the Macbook is the only way to go for college students.

The $100 discount for students, combined with the free printer/copier, and free ipod touch means that for less than $1000, you get what would normally cost $1500.

And the value is more than that. I'm a college sophomore. I witnessed last year how students used their macs, and benefited from them so much more. Windows PCs sat in dorms, but macbooks were taking notes, or providing a much needed distraction from boring classes (Facebook). And the combo of isight and imovie created some memorable youtube videos.

The printer that you can get for free is great too. I was surprised how often I needed a copier.

With iPhone software 2, the ipod touch is also more valuable. School specific apps, great multimedia function, and new wifi standards that help the ipod touch work in all wifi zones. College Campuses are one giant wifi zone, and listening to your itunes music or pandora will help as you hike between classes.

Take it from someone that actually knows. Don't trust the old guys at CNET or its readers. Macs are so much better for College.

GO BUCKS!!!