2008 Notebook Holiday Buyer's Guide

There are still a few days left before Christmas, and shoppers who are looking for notebook computers are in luck. There are more laptops than ever before that are geared towards people with many different needs and interests. Whether you're a  student who needs a low-cost computer that fits in a small backpack for school, a gaming enthusiast who wants to play Crysis and watch Blu-ray movies, or a business traveler needing a rugged yet portable solution, this guide will point you in the right direction.

A host of new models were announced over the back-to-school season and within the last month that are just coming onto the market. In addition, there are many excellent notebooks that were released earlier this year whose prices have come way down and are great bargains. You can find some of the laptops in this guide at prices ranging from less than $400 to many thousands of dollars. Obviously, higher priced notebooks have better build qulaity and better performance, but low-priced computers provide an excellent value for young students and adults who don't need high performance and just want to stay connected.

This guide will cover four different classes of laptop computers, four of which – ultraportables, general use/mainstream, gaming and multimedia, and business – are considered full-featured notebooks that can handle just about any task you throw at them (depending on the configuration). The fifth class is made up of budget-oriented mobile internet companions, or netbooks for short - smaller, cheaper, and generally less capable than full-featured notebooks, netbooks are designed for people who need constant access to a computer for email, internet access, or limited work but don't require a full notebook for content creation. Each laptop class contains recommendations within different price ranges. Our goal is to help you find the notebook (or netbook) that will make the perfect holiday gift for family, friends and last, but not least, for yourself. 

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