Check it out! If you covet a laptop, notebook or subcompact computer, you can get a great deal this year. Prices are falling, power is rising, features are multiplying, and the latest portables are shedding pounds faster than Oprah. You can easily find a trim 4-pound computer with a color screen and superfast 486 chip for $2,200-some $1,000 less than last year.
In 1994, sales of laptops are expected to grow 27 percent, to more than 3 million packable PCs, compared with only 10 percent for the industry overall.
Still, buying portables is tricky because laptop features are not standardized. To sort out alternatives, Money magazine interviewed six industry analysts, tried out their favorite models and picked up tips. Prices are based on average discounts found in stores.
Runs graphics, spreadsheets
If you want a small version of your desktop, choose the luxurious IBM ThinkPad 750C ($4,699). The ThinkPad accommodates power-hungry graphics and spreadsheet programs and displays them on a dazzling 10.4-inch color screen (the largest available in a notebook).
It also offers an up-to-speed 486 chip, four to six hours of battery life and the option to buy a mammoth 340-megabyte hard drive-all in a matte black, 6.4-pound package. The easy-to-use tracking device looks like an eraser head between the G and H keys.
The downside? ThinkPad orders are backlogged for at least a month.
If you can’t wait, try the monochrome IBM 750 ($3,199), which is widely available. A sturdy alternative: The new NEC Versa 40EC ($3,999 with a 120-megabyte hard drive and color screen) features the fastest chip now found in a portable, the 486 DX2, and a battery that runs three to five hours.
Need more? You can remove the Versa’s floppy drive and plug in an additional battery. And for $600 or so extra, you can buy pen-based models of both the Versa 40EC or the IBM 750.
If you care most about portability, you’ll want the diminutive 9.9-inch-by-7.9-inch, 4.1-pound Toshiba Portege T3400 (about $2,300 with a monochrome monitor). It delivers big function in a cozy package.
For example, a video-accelerator chip runs sophisticated color graphics quickly, and the battery lasts up to eight hours. The newly released Compaq Aero 4/25 is one of the lightest and most affordable subnotebooks. It’s 3.5 pounds, and prices start around $1,400. The Aero’s battery lasts two to four hours. A carry-along battery costs a mere $59 extra. Neither the Aero nor the Portege has a built-in floppy drive.
If you want an all-purpose portable, consider Compaq’s Contura 4/25 ($1,739), which weighs 6.7 pounds, sports an ample 9.5-inch screen and has a three-hour battery life. Advises Ron Lockhart at Electronic Directions/Publication Technology, a New York consulting firm: “Don’t buy a Mercedes when all you need is a Chevy.”
Within this category, you can trade up a notch to the similarly sized Toshiba Satellite T1950 ($1,999, with a monochrome monitor and 120-megabyte hard drive). The Satellite is the only computer for less than $2,000 to offer a superfast 486DX2 chip, which is suitable for math or graphics programs. Both the Contura and Satellite come loaded with DOS and Windows. But they also share a drawback: trackballs that attach to the computer’s side, making work cumbersome in tight quarters, such as airline seats.
If you’re a Mac fan, buy top of the line, assuming you can afford it: The PowerBook 180c ($3,369) weighs a hefty 7.1 pounds, has a 10-inch color screen and a built-in math co-processor chip that is handy if you work with large files. Or check out the PowerBook Duo 270c, a novel system introduced last October that provides a svelte 4.8-pound, color PowerBook to take on the road plus a home-docking station with a full-size keyboard and screen that houses the portable. The entire system costs about $4,600.
Test out a few models
Follow this shopping advice to get the best deal:
Let your fingers walk the keyboard. Visit a computer superstore, and audition a few models. How does the keyboard feel? Are the function keys conveniently placed? Is the tracking device responsive? Often, a backlit monochrome screen is all you need, though active matrix color screens are best if you can afford the extra $1,000.
Buy the fastest machine you can, and make sure you can upgrade. A notebook’s life runs about four years, compared with five or six years for desktops, says analyst Bruce Stephen at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. In order to stave off obsolescence, the minimum you currently need is a 486 microprocessor, 4 megabytes of random-access memory (RAM) and at least an 8-megabyte hard drive.
Most new laptops also are equipped with-ready?-PCMCIA slots, named for the group that designed them, the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. These small ports accept disks that expand functions, say, by adding memory or a fax modem. With such a machine, when the next breakthrough hits the stores, all you’ll need to buy is a disk, not a whole new computer.
