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Just the other day here at the CNET N.Y. offices, a co-worker IMed me with a question from his uncle, who was shopping for an affordable laptop for his niece. Should he consider buying a laptop he saw on sale recently, which had a large screen and a DVD burner, for only $350?

I had a feeling the laptop in question was similar to the Toshiba L455-S5975, and it turns out I was basically right. For ultracheap laptop bargains, there are two ways to go: buy a small, cheap Netbook, or go with a full-size low-end laptop sporting a processor such as an Intel Celeron 900.

Either way, you're not getting a lot of processing power. To get something more significant, you need to climb up to around $500 and go with either a dual-core thin-and-light or a cheap Core 2 Duo or equivalent laptop, such as the Toshiba Satellite T135-S1309 (we reviewed the similarly configured but more expensive T135-S1310 here).

For around $300, though, 10-inch Netbooks like the Dell Mini 10v provide nice portability and design, but lack an optical disc drive or a full-size keyboard/screen, and tend to have less RAM and smaller hard drives.

The Toshiba Satellite L455-S5975, which we reviewed as part of our holiday retail laptop roundup, falls in the other camp. It has a bright, large 15.6-inch screen, a full-size tapered keyboard, and a DVD-burning drive. It also has a decent amount of hard drive space at 250GB.

But that's where the advantages end. With an underpowered single-horsepower Celeron, it can't achieve most of what you'd like a big-screen laptop to do in the first place, such as play back high-quality full-screen streaming video. It also lacks a Webcam, something many Netbooks have, which is nice for students who use webchat or Skype (although a USB plug-in can also do the trick). Most importantly, however, its battery life ran at under two hours, which is worse than any Netbook.

For portability and battery life, a Netbook is still the better choice. But if you really need that optical drive and feel like you can't live without a really large screen (in other words, you're looking to plant this on your desk and not travel much), something like the L455-S5975 might be a decent second computer for a household looking to save a little cash. But if it were us, we'd save a couple hundred more and go with something that doesn't look like it escaped from the year 2000. At least you can rest easy that everything comes with Windows 7 now, Netbooks included.

Read the rest of our Toshiba L455-S5975 review.

Toshiba Satellite L455-S5975

Check your processor: the much better dual-core T135-S1310.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

I had a hard time coming up with a title to this post: Intel processors are confusing? Dual-core ultra-low-voltage processors make a difference? How about, what a difference a config makes? All could apply to the Toshiba Satellite T135, a Windows 7 thin-and-light that we've reviewed two configurations of here at CNET. Although similar in design and shape, the small shift from an SU2700 to an SU4100 Intel Pentium processor in the slightly more expensive Satellite T135-S1310 makes a world of difference. Here's why it's worth a look.

First of all, the Intel Pentium SU4100 in the T135-S1310 is a dual-core processor. The SU2700 in the previously reviewed laptop, the T135-S1300, isn't. You wouldn't know the difference from the "Pentium Inside" sticker below the keyboard, but the dual-core T135-S1310 is far better at multitasking, and also gave a significant boost in dedicated media tests like our iTunes benchmark. For all intents and purposes, it behaves much like an ultra-low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor.

What do you get in the T135-S1310? For just $100 more than the S1300, the S1310 includes an extra 80GB of hard drive space, an extra gig of RAM at a faster speed, Bluetooth, and the far better SU4100 processor. Throw in $10 for a red or white paint job, or stay at $699 for the black config. Either way, with the mere change of a number, the Toshiba T135-S1310 has suddenly become a highly recommended budget thin-and-light with Windows 7 Home Premium preinstalled and excellent battery life. Just make sure you get this model, and not the very similar-looking (and similar-named) Toshiba T135-S1300.

We still don't like the keyboard very much, though.

Read the rest of our review.

Toshiba Satellite T135-S1310: Windows 7 thin-and-light

Updated at 4:30 p.m. PDT: adding Windows 7 and Celeron processor information.

There's a new $299 laptop in vogue at stores--and it's not a Netbook.

Toshiba 15-inch Satellite has bounced around in price from $299 to $329

(Credit: Best Buy)

These laptops sport big screens, optical drives, plenty of memory, and reasonable graphics horsepower. In other words, this is nothing like a $299 Netbook.

And, in case you haven't noticed, they sell out quickly. The $298 Wal-Mart laptop was gone before most people could reach for their wallet and the Best Buy $299 Acer laptop vanished almost overnight once the price went viral.

Best Buy chimed in again very briefly for a few days (during the week of August 3) with a $299 Toshiba laptop sporting a 15-inch screen but then bumped the price up to $329.

But whether it's a $298, $299, $309, or $329, it's a laptop design that has landed. And it is a real competitor to the 10-inch Netbook, which costs about the same.

Here's the challenge: a lot of the Netbook's appeal is price. If retailers offer something with more robust hardware in the same price range, these tiny laptops are at risk of ... Read more

So this isn't quite a sub-$300 laptop, but it's close and is a decent deal for back-to-school.

(Credit: Wal-Mart Stores)

Beginning Sunday, Wal-Mart Stores will offer a 17-inch Toshiba Satellite L355 for $348. The model is almost a year old, so the specs aren't fantastic--3GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, Intel Celeron processor, and Windows Vista Basic--but for the price it's understandable. (Also, you'll have to wait. If you try to buy it now it will say "out of stock.")

Of course, not everyone is going to want a 17-inch laptop, but if you're looking for value it's a steal. At $348, it's a full-feature laptop that's less expensive than some Netbooks, with a normal-size keyboard, screen, and everything. As competition heightens for consumers among retailers there's sure to be more where this came from, with better deals on traditional notebooks. And then there's the new wave of CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) laptops that are super sleek and light that will come with very attractive pricing too. The effect these lower-priced laptops will have on Netbooks still remains to be seen.

If you do happen to be in the market for a back-to-school laptop, don't miss our handy buying guide put together by resident PC experts Dan Ackerman and Rich Brown.

Best Buy has listed a 15-inch Acer laptop with relatively robust specifications for $299. But try getting your hands on one.

Though listed among the "new arrivals" on Best Buy's Web site, it is currently not available at stores or online. But there is anecdotal evidence of its existence. Very-recent user comments indicate that people have purchased the laptop and other stores, such as Wal-Mart Stores and Amazon (which shows it in stock), list it at a higher price.

Acer laptop comes with most of the fixins' for $299

(Credit: Best Buy)

And the specifications? An AMD Athlon 64 processor, 15.6-inch WXGA display, 2GB DDR2 memory, DVD-RW drive, 160GB hard disk drive, ATI Radeon Xpress 1200 graphics, 802.11b/g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet LAN, and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition. Pretty close to mainstream-laptop hardware with the exception of the low-end AMD-ATI silicon and the older "g" wireless.

When contacted by phone, a Best Buy sales representative said the reseller has fielded a number of calls already about the laptop and confirmed that it was currently unavailable.

By comparison, what do you get for $299 when buying a diminutive Netbook? An Asus Eee PC at this price comes with an Atom N270 processor, 1GB memory, 10.1-inch screen, 160GB hard disk drive, Intel 950 graphics, a Webcam, no optical drive, and Windows XP.

And there are good deals on other, more-mainstream laptops at Best Buy. A Toshiba Satellite is listed at $349 with an Intel Celeron processor, 15.4-inch display, 2GB DDR2 memory, DVD-RW drive, 160GB hard disk drive, Intel 4500MHD graphics, 802.11b/g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet LAN, and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Edition.

Looks the same as other HP laptops, but not nearly as powerful inside.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Editors' note: This review is part of our 2009 Retail Laptop and Desktop Back-to-School roundup, covering specific fixed configurations of popular systems that can be found in retail stores.

One thing we noticed when reviewing the lowest-priced entry-level laptops in our retail roundup was the presence of the Intel Celeron 900 processor. Showing up twice (in the Compaq CQ60-417DX and the Toshiba L305-S5955, discussed below), it's an outdated, poorly performing CPU.

The sneaky thing, however, is that this processor shows up in a chassis that also houses more highly powered machines. Perhaps this downgrading and price-cutting has been inspired by the success of Netbooks. Regardless, it can be confusing for consumers. $350 or $399 sounds like a great deal for a laptop, but is it still worth it with an processor that's not much better than a Netbook?

In our Back-to-School retail laptop roundup, we've taken a look at a few real bargain-basement machines. Along with the Toshiba Satellite L305-S5955, the Compaq Presario CQ60-417DX comes in at less than $400. Although it's 50 dollars more than the Satellite L305-S5955, it also has a larger, 15.6-inch, higher-resolution 16:9 screen, comes with a Windows 7-upgrade-eligible Windows Vista Home Premium OS, and has a keyboard and touch pad that were far more comfortable for us. But, you should be forewarned: both systems are nearly identical otherwise, and both come with a pretty bare-bones Celeron 900 processor.

However, for only $29 more, you can get a laptop with a significantly better dual-core processor in the Dell Inspiron 1545-012B, so the underpowered processor at the CQ60-417DX's core can't be overlooked. For your entry-level computing needs, we recommend looking elsewhere.

For the same price, would you rather have a larger screen and Vista, or a Netbook?

Read the rest of our review.

For one thing, $350 gets you a lot of bulk.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Our back-to-school retail roundup of laptops is currently under way, and one of the machines we recently tested was the cheapest of the bunch: Toshiba's $350 L305-S5955. That's the cost of a Netbook (and some cost even less).

It's hard to hate a laptop that only costs $350. Indeed, decent televisions weren't even this cheap half a decade ago. The first question that pops into one's head when confronted with such an absurdly low number is, "What am I getting for that?" The second question is, "Can I get away with owning one?"

For a 15.4-inch laptop, what comes under the hood? Last year's L305-S5875, which cost $675 and was housed in a nearly identical case, came with a 200GB hard drive, 3GB of DDR2 RAM, and a 1.86GHz Pentium Dual-Core T2390. Therein lies the difference: this year's L305 has a 160GB hard drive, only 2GB of RAM, and an inferior Celeron 900 processor for nearly half the cost. In essence, it has the guts of a Netbook in a 15.4-inch laptop's body (the earliest Netbooks actually used Celeron chips, before Intel release the Atom processor).

While this laptop is fine for basic e-mail, media viewing, music playing, and other simple tasks, we wouldn't recommend it for any sort of multitasking or serious mission-critical computing. It's already more than a bit of a dinosaur in 2009, and it won't get any less outdated, making it a questionable investment. On the other hand, Windows 7 should run fine on it (although most new Vista Basic systems are ineligible for a free upgrade), and this could be the sort of bargain a low-expectations consumer is looking for.

Read our full review of the Toshiba L305-S5955.

Toshiba Satellite L305-S5955

Toshiba Satellite L515

(Credit: Toshiba)

The Satellite L series, Toshiba's student-targeted budget line of laptops, comes in three flavors, all with 16x9 TruBrite LED-backlit displays and a large variety of configurations (AMD Turion, Intel Pentium or Core 2 Duo processors, optional ATI Radeon 3100 graphics, hard drives starting at 250 GB, RAM from 1 to 4 GB).

The Satellite L500/505 (starting at $549.99) - comes with a 15.1-inch screen

The Satellite L510/515 (starting at $649.99) - has a 13.4-inch screen, but a thinner chassis

The Satellite L550/555 (starting at $649.99) - 16.4-inch screen

Other features include:

• 720p screen resolution
• Fusion finish with Breeze pattern in a graphite color (for those who can comprehend stylespeak)
• PC Health monitor and power-saving Eco utitlites
• Numeric keypads for 15.6-inch models and larger
• Recyclable packaging and mercury-free LED displays

OK, now for the other four lines. The Satellite M, U, A and P series all got updates too. Deep breath, and...

While the L series is the pure budget line, consider the M, U, A and P lines to be the more stylish Satellites. The Satellite U500/505 (starting at $849.99) and M500/505 (starting at $699.99) headline the lighter, more mobile Satellite class of '09, while the Satellite A500/505 (starting at $749.99) and P500/505 (starting at $799.99) add harmon/kardon speakers, LED-backlit media touch-keys, slot-loading DVD drives, and edge-to-edge glass displays in 16 and 18.4 inches.

It can all get a little numbing, especially when each line can be customized to order. We've got our eyes on the A and P line as the prettiest of the Q3 Satellite bumper crop, at least in terms of design. More when we get our hands on them ourselves.

All are currently available in the U.S.