For this article, we went through Amazon’s list of monitor privacy filters and found the ones that were the most liked.

Oh, wait, we left out one of the major reasons why people buy these things:  They don’t want their boss to walk by and catch them playing solitaire.  That’s okay, we fully support you in your efforts, if that’s the reason you found this page.  At the Saving Consumers Time office, we’ve been known to put writing these articles aside to play a game from time to time.

The 3M privacy filter, shown above on a 14.1″ screen notebook, seems to be the most popular filter by far, based on search volume. We found a review that explained why – an office worker was fed up with nosy co-workers, complaining that they’d constantly come by and bug him with questions about whatever happened to be on his screen. He ended the interruptions with the 3M notebook LCD privacy filter. “The viewing angle on this thing is perfect,” he wrote.  “You have to be almost dead on to see anything on the screen.”  If not immediately in front of the screen, “all you see is black.”  Other 14-inch laptop screen privacy filter options include the Fellowes privacy filter and the Eforcity notebook privacy filter.

For notebooks with 15 inch screens, the highly-praised privacy filters include the 15.2 inch 3M privacy filter, the 15.0 inch Fellowes privacy filter, and the 15.4 inch Fellowes privacy filter. One Fellowes filter owner described it as “excellent,” saying that it not only reduces glare, but it keeps people from seeing the confidential data she works with as they pass her open office door.

For 12 inch notebook screens, the winner is once again the 3M privacy filter. One reviewer described it as “perfect for using a laptop in a public place” and noted that “the person sitting next to you at Starbucks sees a black screen.” He also commented that he had been on a transatlantic flight next to someone working on a PowerPoint presentation with confidential financial data, and without a notebook privacy filter, he could see the entire thing. An alternative is the Eforcity 12.1 inch laptop privacy filter, which was also praised, although not by as many reviewers as the 3M display filter.

For 17 inch notebooks, the winner is the 3M privacy filter 17 inch widescreen privacy filter. Reviewers praised it for reducing glare and for doing confidential work in crowded areas. One owner of this filter had to return it because it didn’t fit his Hp Pavilion DV4000, so if you have that model this may not be the right privacy screen filter for you. The other reviewers said it fit perfectly.

Now that we’ve covered notebook privacy filters, let’s move on privacy filters for LCD and CRT computer monitors.  If you have a 22 inch widescreen monitor, the Targus privacy filter is a good pick. Multiple users who had tried other filters in the past said they preferred this one, and they commented that they feel safer working on their data on a plane with this filter.

For 19 inch monitors, the Fellowes privacy filter 19 got high marks. One reviewer, who prepares tax returns, found this filter very useful. She wrote that clients come in and pick up their tax returns, and with the Fellowes display filter in place, she does not have to worry about them seeing other people’s private tax information on her screen.  “Now I don’t have to shut down,” she wrote, and she also liked the anti-glare protection it provided.

For 16 to 18 inch monitors, this Kensington privacy filter is well liked. People who are not directly in front of the computer screen see only a blur, rather than your sensitive data.  Another popular choice is this 3M privacy filter, which protects 16 and 19 inch CRT monitors, and 17-18 inch LCD monitors. Once again, a reviewer who had tried other filters wrote to say that this one was the one she liked best.

If we didn’t cover your monitor’s or laptop’s screen size, you can browse Amazon’s list of monitor privacy filters to find the perfect model to reduce glare and keep nosy people from peering at your data. Privacy filters are an essential item to have if you need to keep confidential data safe.

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.