Portable World: Laptops

Entry-level

Gateway LT21





The 10.1-inch LED-backlit screen with 1,024 x 600 resolution on the LT21 is enough to browse the web or edit basic office documents with, even if the 1.66GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory and a 160GB 5400rpm hard drive won’t be breaking any speed records. You can connect the LT21 to a wired or wireless network at home, but there is no optical drive – only three USB ports for input. You also get a built-in webcam, multi-gesture touchpad and Windows 7 Starter preloaded. All this in a tiny package measuring 259 x 185 x 26mm and weighing a miniscule 1.25kg.
RRP: $499
More info: nz.gateway.com

Pro

Toshiba Tecra A11



The Tecra A11 is a workstation notebook with a decent-sized 15.6-inch screen and 1366x768 resolution, plus a reasonably grunty 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory and a 250GB 5400RPM hard drive. Unlike netbooks, you get a DVD writer with this machine along with the usual Wi-Fi, USB and Bluetooth connectivity. Webcam, media slot, and touchpad are still here as well as Windows 7 Pro, all in a 374x251x38mm package weighing 2.8kg.
RRP: $1,599
More info: mytoshiba.co.nz