Best laptops under $1000: A great value in the Toshiba L305 S5907, a big-screened HP Pavilion DV7 1130US, and even an Apple MacBook under $1000

In this review we will look at a few of the best mid-range laptop computers, laptops under $1000. We’ll review a Toshiba Satellite laptop that looks like an incredible value; we’ll take a look at a large screen HP Pavilion notebook; and we’ll even see an Apple MacBook laptop in this price range.

A mid-range laptop is appropriate for the typical computer user who wants to send e-mail, surf the Web, download audio, do word processing and spreadsheets, grab photos from a digital camera, etc. Most of the high-end computers costing $1,500 or more are overkill for these types of applications – you’ll get only slightly better performance for a much heftier price tag.

Who should skip this review and go for a higher-end laptop? Those who are heavily into gaming, multimedia, using the computer to produce audio and video; and in some cases programmers. For those fields, the added performance of the top-of-the-line machines will likely pay benefits.

The best laptops under $1000 change fast because new ones are constantly being released.  For this reason, we don’t often have customer reviews to examine, as we do with other products on Saving Consumers Time.  In that case, we will base recommendations on the reviews of the previous model which the new one replaces.

For value, we like the Toshiba Satellite L305-S5907 15.4-Inch Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T3200 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium). The more RAM, or primary memory, in your laptop, the faster it runs. If you run too many programs at the same time, the computer will run out of RAM and will have to treat part of the hard disk as RAM (“virtual memory”). Hard disks are considerably slower than primary memory, so this will slow your computer down.  However, the L305-S5907 has a lot of RAM for a laptop in this price range – 4 gigabytes – and therefore should be able to keep all your programs running speedily.  We also like the fact that this model has an unusually large internal hard drive for its price range, 320 gigabytes. This means you will have plenty of room to store photos, videos, and music, which tend to be larger files that take up the lion’s share of hard drive space.  As with most laptop computers, it has 802.11 b/g/n, allowing you to connect to Wi-Fi networks without any additional hardware, and it can read and write DVDs.

So, why is this notebook so cheap? It uses the Intel Core Duo processor, an older technology than found in the current top-of-the-line models.  This means the processor is not as fast as a laptop with a newer processor; however, this should be somewhat offset by the ample RAM.  For typical computer uses as described above, the Core Duo’s power should be more than enough.  We expect it to be several years before typical computer applications (not including gaming and multimedia) require the higher-end Core Duo 2 processor. Click here to see Amazon’s current price on this model. We think that for the average user, the price-performance ratio can’t be beat with this one. Toshiba Satellite models have received very good reviews on Amazon, and we have personally owned Satellite laptops and recommend them.

Should you purchase an extended warranty with your laptop? We almost never recommend extended warranties, which are essentially bets between you and the warranty company whether the item will break, with the odds heavily in the warranty company’s favor.  For most consumer electronics, these are a waste of money.

However, for laptop computers an extended warranty may be a good idea. If the display goes out, it can be nearly as expensive to repair it as it is to buy an entirely new laptop.  Most laptops’ displays last for years, but we have seen ones which have suffered from display problems in the second or third year.

Our advice? If you’ll have enough spare cash on hand to replace the computer at any time after the first year, skip the warranty.  If you don’t think you’ll be able to replace it, buy the warranty as an insurance policy against a bad display.

If you want a loaded laptop computer with a massive 17-inch screen for well under $1000, take a look at the HP Pavilion DV7-1130US 17-Inch Laptop (2GHz AMD Turion X2 RM-70 Dual-Core Mobile Processor, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium). This notebook comes with as much RAM as the Satellite above, nearly as much hard drive space, and it can connect to Wi-Fi and read and write DVDs.

So, why is this one so cheap? It uses an AMD Turion X2 processor.  However, this is not an older processor like the Dual Core in the Toshiba Satellite pictured above.  Intel has always had name recognition in the processor market, having been the gold standard for many years, and has been able to command a premium price as a result.  However, nowadays AMD processors are every bit as good as Intel processors, and in fact, many power users think the AMDs are better. So, you’re getting just as good a processor as the Intel Core Duo 2; you’re just not paying extra for the “Intel Inside” label.  AMD-powered computers are often great values compared to comparably-equiped Intels.

Note that the 17-inch screen may be too much for some users. It can be hard to find a carrying case that can accommodate the larger screen (a review of carrying cases that can fit a 17-inch screen is on our to-do list).  If you want to go with a smaller product that will fit in most laptop bags and notebook carrying cases, have a look at the HP Pavilion G60-120US 15.6-Inch Laptop (2.0 GHz AMD Turion X2 RM-70 Dual-Core Processor, 3 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium).

You can even get a Macintosh laptop for under $1,000.  The Apple MacBook MB402LL/A 13.3-inch Laptop (2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive) White is a great entry-level Mac notebook.  Many people who have used both systems believe that Mac OS is a far superior system to a Windows-based PC.  Creative types especially seem to love Macs, and we recently talked to someone high up in corporate IT management who basically told us, “Once you go Mac, you’ll never go back.”

This Mac laptop has some features not often seen in PC notebooks in this price range.  The MagSafe power adapter provides a magnetic power connection.  This means that if you trip over your MacBook’s power cord, it will simply disconnect without any damage, rather than sending your laptop flying off your table or desk.  There’s also a built-in iSight video camera for teleconferencing or video chat. The trackpad allows you to use two fingers to quickly scroll around documents.

Our only complaint about this MacBook is its 1 GB of RAM, and that’s easily corrected. As we mentioned earlier, you need to have a sufficient amount of RAM to run all your programs at the same time; if you run out, the computer will borrow space from the hard drive to treat as extra RAM, which will slow down your system.  1 GB is not really a lot for modern computer applications.  Therefore, we recommend you go ahead and order the Kingston 4 GB RAM upgrade, which costs less than $100. With 4 GB of RAM, you shouldn’t run out if you run the typical applications of an average user.

The hard drive, at 120 GB, is a bit skimpy as well compared to the larger ones in the PC laptops above.  However, unless you have a lot of large music and video files, we recommend not upgrading the hard drive when you order the computer. You may find that 120 gigabytes is enough; we’re typing this article on a laptop with 100 GB hard drive, and currently only have 57 GB in use.  Wait until you see that you’re going to run out of space, then pick up a USB external hard drive. You don’t want to wait until you’re completely out of space; when you’ve used 90-100 GB of the 120, it’s time to buy.  By waiting until you need the extra hard drive space, you give prices more time to fall and increase your purchasing power.

Browse Amazon’s complete line of $500-999 notebook computers to get more ideas. Unless you need a processing-intensive laptop for games, multimedia, or programming, you should be able to find a great laptop in this price range.