MORE HP LAPTOPS LEAKED

Close on the heels of HP uploading support documents for the Mini 210, more HP mini-laptops have been leaked. These machines are not yet available for purchase, but looks like they are definitely in the pipeline.

The new models include HP Mini 210HD and Compaq Mini CQ10.

The HP Mini 210HD has the same specifications as the Mini 210. It is powered by a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor and GMA 3150 graphics. But unlike the regular Mini 210, this netbook is capable of handling HD video including 1080p, thanks to the Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator. It is expected to retail for about $329.99.

The Compaq Mini CQ10 is a low-end model starting at just $259.99. It is also powered by a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor and GMA 3150 graphics. Other specifications include up to 250 GB of RAM and 10.1 inch display with 1024 x 600 pixels. Both 3 cell and 6 sell batteries are available. The netbook will support WiFi 802.11b/g.

FLEXTRONICS TO BUILD TWO MILLION HP LAPTOPS AT DIRT-CHEAP RATES

Flextronics, the Singapore based design and manufacturing unit, has been producing consumer electronics goods for several years through a network spanning several countries. You may not have heard of the company but in all probability you have used a product they manufactured.

Now Flextronics has made headlines by inking a deal with HP for the production of 2 million netbooks at $45 per unit. Most manufacturers charge around $70 or more per unit. The deal, it seems, will force them into reducing their prices as well.

HP will save around $50 million on this order. But will their netbooks get cheaper? Well, there is no guarantee that HP will pass this savings on to the end user, but it might just happen.

ACER PLANNING LAPTOPS WITH NVIDIA ION 2 CHIPS?

Nvidia hasn’t released its ION 2 platform yet. But according to a report in DigiTimes, Acer has placed an order with Nvidia for the purchase of ION 2 chips.

Unlike the existing ION platform which has an Intel Atom N270/N280 processor and Nvidia GeForce 9400 GPU, the ION 2 platform is designed to work with Intel’s upcoming Pine Trail processors which have memory, graphics and processor functions integrated onto a single chip. As a result of this, Nvidia will not be able to totally eliminate Intel’s graphics solution. So the ION 2 chips are more likely to function as discrete GPUs and users will be able to switch between integrated and dedicated graphics solutions.

The ION 2 chipsets are also expected to be available with VIA chips. Nvidia isn’t sharing any details but more information may emerge at CES in January.

PACKARD BELL ANNOUNCES 10.1 INCH AND 11.6 INCH MINI LAPTOPS

Packard Bell has announced two mini-laptops featuring 10.1 inch and 11.6 inch displays.

The smaller model called Dot S2 has an Intel Atom N450 processor, 1 GB of DDR2 RAM and a 160GB SATA hard drive. It will have the regular connectivity options – both wireless and wired. The machine is likely to ship with Windows XP Home. Prices are expected to be in the range of 250-300€.

The other model – the Butterfly XS – has a faster Intel SU4100 processor, 2 GB of DDR2 of RAM and a 250GB SATA hard drive. It is equipped with a 6-cell battery and will ship with Windows 7 Home Premium. A higher-end model with a Core2 Solo SU3500 and a 320GB hard drive is also likely to be released soon.

While there is no official confirmation in this regard, both laptops are likely to have multi-touch capable touchpads.

GOOGLE RELEASES CHART OF LAPTOPS THAT RUN CHROME OS WELL

Laptops running Google’s Chrome OS haven’t hit the market yet. And the OS itself is in the early stages of development. But for all those users who are interesting in trying out Chrome, Google has released a chart with interesting details.

The chart lists several laptop models. All of which have been officially tested by Chrome developers. While some of these models are compatible with Chrome, some aren’t. Here is a list of the models on which every piece of hardware including WiFi, Ethernet and touchpad works flawlessly in Chrome.

Acer AOD250
Acer AOP531h
ASUS Eee PC 1008HA
ASUS Eee PC 900
ASUS Eee PC 700
Gateway LT20
Toshiba Satellite A205-S5000

Some of these models ship with Atheros and Broadcom 802.11 adapters. While Ahteros adapters work out-of-the-box with Chrome OS, Broadcom doesn’t.

GATEWAY UNVEILS THREE NEW LAPTOPS - THE EC14, EC54 AND EC58

Gateway has announced three new laptops – the EC14, EC54 and EC58. The machines are highly portable and run on Windows 7 operating system.

All notebooks will have more or less the same hardware including a 1.3GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core SU4100 processor, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 320GB hard disk drive and Intel’s GMA 4500MHD graphics. Other features common to the notebooks include WiFi 802.11b/g/n draft-n, 3 USB ports, HDMI, integrated webcam and multicard reader. The trackpad supports multi-touch gestures. The machines are expected to give 6-8 hours of battery life.

The EC14 is the smallest model with its 11.6 inch display. It weighs around 3lbs. The other two models are equipped with 15.6 inch displays. The EC14 starts at $549.99 while the larger models cost around $649.99.

GAMING LAPTOPS

Top 5 Gaming Laptops

A few years ago, the notion of a laptop being used solely as a games machine was an absurdity, or at the very best, a price mark that very few of us could ever hope of dreaming to reach. Yet, with the reduce in both hardware size and price, while at a similar rate, the increase in power of these machines, gaming laptops in recent years have become more of a reality.

Yet, with attempting to choose one of these can be a stressful time for us, and picking the wrong one could be a costly mistake. So reviewed here are 5 of the top gaming laptops, aimed at all price ranges, so if you haven’t got the money for the majorly overpriced Alienware brand, there’s an option for you to.


Alienware M15x
Most people who know much about gaming laptops will have heard of the Alienware brand, if only due to its reputation of selling high end machines that look pretty damned cool. Obviously, the only problem with selling high end machines is the price tag. Yet, the nice thing, especially with the M15x, is with the price you pay, you definitely get quality.

The M15x is designed for gamers who enjoy taking their laptop with them on the move. While still a little on the bulky side (this is probably one of the bulkiest 15” gaming laptops around), it most definitely packs a punch. It is fully customisable on the Alienware website, but their base model is on sale for the price of £1,199. Obviously, this price can fluctuate with add-ons etc, but even their cheapest system will be able to play some of the best games out there.

While the base processor on it is only 1.6GHz, it is an i7 processor, meaning it should easily outperform a lot of the 2.5GHz standard core 2 duo ones out there. It also comes with 3gb of DDR3 RAM, which is still a rarity for a lot of gaming laptops. In terms of the graphics card, it comes with a 512MB Geforce GT240M. There is also the option to increase this to 1GB for a measly sum of £120.


ASUS G70S-7S007C
In terms of value for money, the ASUS G70S-7S007C comes in a little more efficiently for a decent gaming laptop. While slightly more expensive than the base Alienware M15x, in terms of the features you get for the price, it’s well worth considering.

Not only do you get two 320GB hard drives, you also get two 512mb GeForce 8700M running with SLI. This sort of graphics power, compared to the M15x is only achievable with a small fortune (around an extra £400) to achieve. Alongside this, you also get 4GB of RAM, 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo and a webcam to top it off.

However, unlike the M15x, this laptop has a 17” monitor, meaning it’ll be a little bulkier to carry around, and while very stylish, not quite so much as the M15x.


ROCK Pegasus 520-T9400
Another contender at our just over a grand mark, is the Rock Pegasus. This laptop is very similar in terms of looks to the Alienware for the same price. It’s another 15” screen, so similar size and weight, but the nice thing about this is, while you don’t have some of the more high profile industry stuff you get on the Alienware laptop,in many ways it’s more powerful.

Running a Geforce 9650M GT 1GB card, this gaming laptop packs a whopper of a punch when it comes to some of the latest releases. It should be more than capable of playing games such as Crysis at full throttle with minimal frame lag. In terms of other specs it also has a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive.


MSI GX723-015UK
Obviously, if you’re not made of money, which most people aren’t, you may want to look for a gaming laptop that is severely cheaper than the previous two on our top 5 list. This is where the MSI GX723 comes in. While still expensive, it comes in under the grand mark, at £949.97 and still provides a fantastic deal for your money.

There are a few features that you can’t get on the previous two, such as the SLI graphics cards, but this is more than made up for with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M, 512M DDR3 graphics card that comes with it.

In fact, in comparison with the ASUS, there’s not that too much dissimilar between the two gaming laptops apart from that SLI graphics set up. The MSI has a slightly slower processor running at 2.4GHz, although it’s still Core duo. It does have an HDMI port which is a fairly nice touch. Effectively this means you can whack in a HDMI cable from your gaming laptop into your HD TV to use as a massive screen. HDMI also transfers sound as well, so no need to set up extra cabling to play videos through your TV using your laptop.


GRADE A1 - Acer Aspire 6530G Laptop
With the sorts of prices we’ve been looking at before, it’s time to unveil the cheap option, and even if we must sacrifice power for cost, the Acer Aspire 6530G Laptop still provides a decent little laptop that we can play most games on for a cut throat cost of only £449.97.

The specs for this low end gaming laptop has a slightly less powerful AMD Turion X2 RM72 processor, running at only 2.1GHz, however it still packs a fairly decent 4GM of RAM, and it comes with Windows 7 preinstalled.

The graphics card on this gaming laptop is an ATI Mobility Radeon with 512mb of memory. Obviously, nowhere near as powerful as our previous contenders, but with a price cut of £500, it’s still a half way decent card. An example of usage would be running something like Crysis on low settings for a decent FPS.

ACER RECALLS FIVE ASPIRE SERIES LAPTOPS

Acer has warned that some of its Aspire Series notebooks may be susceptible to overheating. The company has, therefore, decided to recall five models of its Aspire series notebooks.

Acer said that the affected models may experience overheating if you put too much pressure on the left palm rest. Extreme pressure on the left palm rest will cause the microphone cable to heat up. The problem will, in turn, result in the deformation of the unit and possible system failure. The increased temperature in the chassis may also cause other components to malfunction. The affected Aspire models are: Acer Aspire AS3410, AS3810T, AS3810TG, AS3810TZ and AS3810TZG.

You can determine whether your model is affected or not by filling out the form on Acer’s website. Acer will replace or repair the affected models free of cost.

DELL TO OFFER LAPTOPS IN NAIL POLISH COLORS

Dell has always been fond of making its laptops colorful. Now the PC maker is taking that fondness to yet another level. Dell has teamed up with nail polish experts OPI with the objective of creating 26 new color choices for its laptops. Users are allowed to choose the new colors when they customize the notebook in the Dell Design Studio. The new colors will be available on Dell’s Studio, Inspiron and Inspiron Mini line of notebooks.

Of the 26 colors 6 will be holiday themed. So is this a smart move by Dell? Well, the new nail polish colors will not improve the functionality of your computers, but they will certainly help you personalize your machines and make them look different from the numerous notebooks out there.

KENADE ELECTRONICS TO LAUNCH PINE TRAIL BASED LAPTOPS

Chinese firm Kenade Electronics is all set to launch 11.6 inch and 13.3 inch laptops based on the next generation Pine Trail platform.

The Kenade K116 will have an 11.6 inch display with 1280x800 pixels. It will run on a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor with integrated Intel GMA 500 graphics. Other specifications include 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, VGA, WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Ethernet, 3 USB ports and 1.3 mega pixel webcam. Optional features include Bluetooth and 3G. The device will weigh around 3 pounds with the battery.

Kenade is also planning to launch a 13.3 inch laptop called K133. It will run on a dual core Intel Atom D510 processor. Other specifications will more or less be the same. There is no information regarding pricing or availability.

DELL ANNOUNCES Z-SERIES LAPTOPS WITH CULV PROCESSORS

Dell has announced the launch of two Z series notebooks – the 14z and 15z. They will be powered by ultra low power Core 2 Duo processors which will improve their battery life.

Both notebooks are based on Intel 4-series chipset with GMA X4500MHD onboard graphics. The highest configuration on these notebooks will have an Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 1.40 GHz CPU. Up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM can be installed. The maximum hard disk capacity is 500 GB.

Other features include Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, 1.3 MP Webcam, and a 7-in-1 card reader. Two battery options are available – 4-cell and 6-cell. The 4-cell battery is expected to give 4 hours of uptime whereas the expected battery life with the 6-cell battery is 8 hours. Dell also provides the option of express charge batteries with these notebooks. These batteries can charge up to 80% of their capacity within one hour. Prices start at $599 with the highest configuration reaching as high as $1,034.

ASUS ANNOUNCES UL-SERIES OF THIN AND LIGHT LAPTOPS

Asus has announced the release of its UL-series of thin and light laptops which will use Asus’ Turbo 33 technology. Asus claims that the Turbo 33 technology will improve the processing power by 30% while at the same time extending the battery life to up to 12 hours.

The notebooks in this series will feature an aluminum chassis and weigh around 3 pounds. They will be powered by a low voltage Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor clocking at 1.3 GHz. They are also expected to have a Nvidia Geforce 210M discrete GPU with 512 MB memory.

The Turbo 33 technology will enable the netbook to switch between integrated and discrete graphics depending upon the processing needs. No information regarding pricing and availability has been announced.

BEST DESKTOP REPLACEMENT LAPTOPS

Desktop replacement laptops are usually heavy and have large screens. Here is an indicative list of the top five power laptops of this kind.


1. Alienware M17X

Processor: 2.53-GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300
Display: 17" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 320GB Hard Drive
Weight: 12.6Lbs
Price: around $3849

Verdict: Pricey but delivers snappy performance; few notebooks manage to beat M17x in gaming power.

2. Eurocom D901C Phantom-x

Processor: 3-GHz Intel Xeon X3370
Display: 17.1" Wide screen Display
HDD: 320GB Hard Drive
Weight: 12Lbs

Verdict: Plenty of power and versatility; Phantom-x can handle almost any task, but it lacks a good layout and design.


3. Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds

Processor: 2.53-GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300
Display: 17" Wide screen Display
HDD: 400GB Hard Drive
Weight: 11Lbs

Verdict: The idea of a second screen is indeed good, but it hasn’t been properly thought out.

4. Micro Express N570

Processor: 2.53-GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300
Display: 17" Wide screen Display
HDD: 320GB Hard Drive
Weight: 9.2Lbs.

Verdict: Good for gaming but lacks in other areas.

5. HP HDX 18

Processor: 2.8-GHz Core 2 Duo T9600
Display: 18.4" Wide screen display
HDD: 640GB
Weight: 9.1Lbs

Verdict: Better than your desktop PC

ASUS LAUNCHES CULV BASED THIN AND LIGHT LAPTOPS

Asus has rolled out a new line of thin and light laptops powered by Intel CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Volatage) processors. The series includes the 13 inch UL30A and 12 inch UL20A.

The Asus UL20A is the cheapest in the series. It is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor with 2GB of RAM. Other specifications include a 12.1 inch display with 1366x768 pixels and 250GB of hard disk drive. Right now the UL20A comes pre-installed with the Windows Vista Home Premium. Asus also provides a free upgrade coupon to Windows 7. Prices start at $599.

The Asus UL30A starts at $799. It has a 13.3 inch display. Up to 4GB of RAM can be installed. The standard storage option is a 500GB hard drive.

BEST ULTRAPORTABLE LAPTOPS

Ultraportable laptops are ideal for mobile professionals who need a small machine that doesn’t weigh much. Here we have compiled a list of the best ultraportable laptops.

1. Lenovo ThinkPad X200

Processor: 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo P8600
Display: 12.1" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 160GB
Weight (lbs.): 2.95Lbs.

Good overall performance, good battery life, nice keyboard

2. HP EliteBook 2530p

Processor: 1.86-GHz Core 2 Duo SL9400
Display: 12.1" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 80GB Hard Drive
Weight: 3.8Lbs.

Pricey but powerful

3. Sony VGN-Z598U/B

Processor: 2.53-GHz Core 2 Duo P9500
Display: 13.1" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 256GB Hard Drive
Weight: 3.3Lbs.

Powerful multimedia machine, costly

4. Samsung X360-34P

Processor: 1.4-GHz Core 2 Duo U9400
Display: 13.3" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 128GB
Weight: 3Lbs.

Slick looks, great display

5. Lenovo ThinkPad X300

Processor: 1.2-GHz Core 2 Duo L7100
Display: 13.3" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 64GB Hard Drive
Weight: 3.4Lbs.

Ultralight and feature-rich

6. Micro Express JFT2500

Processor: 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo T7700
Display: 12.1" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 160GB
Weight: 4.4Lbs.

Superfast ultraportable, affordable

7. Acer Timeline 3810T

Processor: 1.4-GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400
Display: 13.3" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 500GB
Weight: 3.7Lbs.

Decent performance, stylish design

8. Lenovo IdeaPad U110

Processor: 1.6-GHz Core 2 Duo L7500
Display: 11.1" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 120GB
Weight: 2.4Lbs.

Ultraportable yet rugged, decent performance

9. Apple MacBook Air

Processor: 1.86-GHz Core 2 Duo SL9400
Display: 13.3" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 128GB
Weight: 3Lbs.

Comes with a better GPU

10. Fujitsu LifeBook T2020

Processor: 1.4-GHz Core 2 Duo U9400
Display: 12.1" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 160GB
Weight: 3.6Lbs.

Good battery life

BEST DESKTOP REPLACEMENT LAPTOPS

These laptops are heavy and have large screens. They are powerful enough to be your primary PC and replace your desktops. Here we have compiled a list of the best desktop replacement laptops. Note that this list isn’t necessarily in the order of power and performance.

1. HP HDX 18

Processor: 2.8-GHz Core 2 Duo T9600
Display: 18.4" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 640GB Hard Drive
Weight (lbs.): 9.1Lbs.

2. Acer Aspire 8930

Processor: 2.53-GHz Core 2 Duo T9400
Display: 18.4" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 320GB Hard Drive
Min. Weight: 8.8Lbs.,

Best for gaming; reasonable overall performance

3. MSI GT 725

Processor: 2-GHz Core 2 Quad Q9000
Display: 17" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 320GB Hard Drive
Min. Weight: 7.7Lbs.,

Best for gaming

4. Asus W90

Processor: 2.8-GHz Core 2 Duo T9600
Display: 18.4" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 320GB Hard Drive
Weight: 13.2Lbs.

Best for gaming; satisfactory overall performance

5. Micro Express N570

Processor: 2.53-GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300
Display: 17" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 320GB Hard Drive
Weight: 9.2Lbs.

Best for gaming; average overall performance


6. Lenovo Thinkpad W700DS

Processor: 2.53-GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300
Display: 17" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 400GB Hard Drive
Weight: 11Lbs.

Best for processing graphics; comes with dual screens

7. Gateway P7808u

Processor:2-GHz Core 2 Quad Q9000
Display: 17" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 500GB Hard Drive
Weight: 8.9Lbs.

Enough power to handle any task

8. Eurocom D901C Phantom-X

Processor: 3-GHz Intel Xeon X3370
Display: 17.1" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 320GB Hard Drive
Weight (lbs.): 12Lbs.

Powerful; poor design

9. Apple MacBook Pro A1297

Processor: 2.66-GHz Core 2 Duo T9550
Display: 17" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 320GB Hard Drive
Weight: 6.5Lbs.

Good design; good battery life

10. Alienware M17

Processor: 2.26-GHz Core 2 Duo P8400
Display: 17" Wide Screen Display
HDD: 160GB Hard Drive
Weight (lbs.): 9.5Lbs.

Good gaming power

TOSHIBA PLANS MORE LOW-COST LAPTOPS

Toshiba will soon release more laptops that would sell for under $600. The Japanese company currently sells four budget models – one netbook and three laptops - in its Satellite line and plans to expand it to six. The new laptops will be offered in the same budget category. They are likely to be sold in the US and Europe first.

Toshiba, a late entrant in the lost-cost laptops and netbooks market, seems to have finally realized the potential of this sector. Surveys show that netbooks are rapidly gaining popularity. Almost 6 million netbooks – 20% of the market for laptops - were shipped in the first quarter of the year as against the 1 million netbooks sold in the first quarter of last year.

X59 - THE BEST AMONG PHILIPS LAPTOPS

Philips laptops aren’t necessarily the best known portable computing machines available today. But with X59, they have done a very commendable job.

Philips X59 comes with the Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 processor 1.66 ghz. It has several attractive and useful features. With its sleek dimensions of 37mm x 297 mm x 213 mm, the X59 can be mistaken for any other trendy laptop of today. And it weighs just 1.89 kg making your portable world indeed portable.

This model has a 12 inch display screen and comes with the latest graphics and sound cards. It Uses the Windows Vista operating system and has a 100 GB hard drive and a 2MB cache. It also has an inbuilt modem to help you get connected to the internet wherever you may be. And with the 3 extra USB ports you can connect a variety of devices like multi-media extensions, extra sound capacity or extra memory to the laptop.

The LI-ION battery offers a commendable 3.5 hours up time which is good for a machine that comes with so many features. Philips X59 comes preloaded with MS applications including Word and Excel. And there is a useful diary to help you arrange your life on the go.

Our Verdict
Philips X59 isn’t perhaps the best laptop available out there. Nevertheless, it has some very useful features and is ideal for students and those buying their first laptop. Sleek, smart and light-weight, it is packed with features. It is no wonder then that it has raised considerable interest among buyers.

TOP FIVE THIN AND LIGHT LAPTOPS

Mobile professionals need a laptop that is thin and light. By thin and light, we mean laptops that weigh more than 4lbs but less than 7lbs. Most thin and light laptops have larger displays and larger hard disk drives, but they are still very much portable. So which are the top five thin and light laptops?

Toshiba Satellite M105-S3064 Notebook
The Toshiba Satellite M105-S3064 comes with a 14.1”widescreen display and an Intel Core Duo processor. The hard drive can store up to 120 GB of data. There are four USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire an external VGA connection, a dual-layer DVD/CD burner and one memory card reader. With its powerful processor and ample RAM this one works really well on the road.

Fujitsu LifeBook S6240 Notebook
The Fujitsu LifeBook S6240 weighs just 4lbs making it ultra portable. It has a 13.3" Crystal View XGA display. There is an integrated fingerprint sensor for security purposes. Hard drives ranging from 60GB to 100 GB can be installed on this notebook. It also comes with an Ethernet LAN connection and a 56K V.90 modem.

Apple PowerBook G4 Notebook
The Apple PowerBook G4 Notebook has a 17” display that is ideal for sharing documents and presentations. The PowerBook G4 has built-in Wi-Fi. It also comes with Bluetooth and FireWire capabilities.

LG LM50a XNote
The best thing about this thin and light laptop is its battery life and great display. The 15” wide display is ideal for presentations. The brightness levels can be easily adjusted so that the laptop works well in any circumstances.

HP Compaq nc6000 Notebook
The HP Compaq nc6000 Notebook offers up to 5 hours of battery life. It is sturdy and Wi-Fi enabled. There are enough security tools. The notebook comes with Windows XP Pro Edition pre-installed.

FREE LAPTOPS

Free Laptop

With the economy as it is today and many people struggling to keep up with their bills, it’s no wonder that more and more people find that they don’t have the cash to spend on expensive technology like laptops. The average laptop today costs around $600 with some of the more impressive or designer models costing over $2000. You may have seen deals or adverts online which talk about giving away a free laptop and now that we can’t always spend what we want, you might have been tempted. We take a look at these free laptop deals and see just how likely it is you’ll be able to score a laptop for free.

Free Laptop Offers Online
There are countless sites online that offer you laptops entirely for free. These can be very enticing, with pictures of free laptops dotted all around and testimonials from others who have already a free laptop receiving the offer. Some of these sites can be very convincing but many of them are not legitimate. Think about exactly what the site is asking you to do for the free laptop.
Ignore stories about companies having too much stock or just giving them away for free PR. Big companies like Sony, Apple and HP don’t give anything away for free, and smaller companies can’t afford to. What is the owner of the website getting out of the deal? Can you prove that people who already have the laptop are real people? A good way to check out a deal is to use Google. Search for the free laptop site you’re visiting and see if anyone off the site has had any success in getting a laptop. If you can’t find anything, then the free laptop is probably a scam.
Now, we’ve told you this to try and protect you from the worst sites, but not every single free laptop deal online is a scam. Far from it! In fact, many of the sites are totally legitimate but you’ll find that the deals aren’t totally free because you’re required to fill in a large number of surveys, buy affiliate products or perhaps sign up to trials of services. Some of the services you are normally required to sign up for include internet rental sites like Netflix and Blockbuster, or software trials from brands like Norton.

However, many also include more serious services like Credit Cards which require a lot of personal information and if misused, could affect your credit rating. Make sure you find out exactly what the site requires and don’t sign up to anything you don’t feel comfortable about. Many services will require you to keep them for a minimum length of time so find out how much that’ll cost and cancel them if you don’t wish to use them.

The hope for the companies is that you’ll find a product that you do actually enjoy and become a lifelong customer. Either way, you WILL have to shell out some cash for your free laptop no matter what you do, but still paying a tenth of the price for a new laptop certainly doesn’t hurt so even it’s not a completely free laptop, it’s a great deal – just watch out for scammers.

Laptop Bundles
One way to get a free laptop without paying any money upfront is to find a laptop with a bundled deal for another product. One of the best ways is taking out a mobile broadband package which gives you a free laptop for signing up to a contract that provides you with internet using a cell phone network. You can also get free laptops and other devices as ‘gifts’ when you sign up to a cell phone contract with any of the big names.

Obviously, you do still have to pay for the contract or the mobile you’ve purchased, but you’re not actually paying for the laptop itself so if you do need a new phone or broadband provider, these can be really good deals. The only catch is that you’ll normally be signed up to a contract for quite a long time, such as 18 months of 2 years. By then, your free laptop might be a little obsolete. Also with deals like these you might find you don’t quite as many warranty and support options as you in stores which can be a problem if your free laptop breaks down!
Because these deals normally require you to pay monthly you generally need to undergo a credit check in order to pass for them.

Competitions
Thanks to the internet it’s now far easier to enter into competitions. No longer do you have to buy a magazine or newspaper and waste hours filling out forms, cutting them and then sending them in the post (and paying for the postage!) now there are thousands of sites every day, big and small, that run competitions. You might not win of course but if you then you really have got a 100% free laptop without any catch at all.

To maximise your chance of winning apply to as many competitions as possible. Don’t just fill out 1 competition form, fill out 10, or 100 if you have the time. The more you apply for, the greater chance you have of winning. Try to apply for competitions that have multiple prizes so you have more chance of winning and if possible, look for smaller blogs that might not have quite as many people entering so that you have less people to compete with.

When entering competitions make sure you fill out the form carefully, especially your contact details. You don’t want a wrong phone number or misspelled email to get in the way of winning any prizes and a potential free laptop.

Other Suggestions
What else can you do to get a free laptop? Check out classified sites like Craigslist and see if anyone in your local area is giving anything away. Some people clear out regularly and would rather just get rid of things as quickly as possible then mess around with eBay. It’s unlikely you’ll going to find a brand new Macbook Air this way, but you might be able to get a free laptop that’s perfectly good for everyday tasks even if it’ not the newest around.

You could also try asking your work for one if you happen to work in an office, or if you already have a work laptop that you aren’t allowed to take home you could ask if you could keep it for personal use –you’ll be surprised how many companies will allow this.

You can also ask your friends and family for a free laptop. Using social networking sites like Facebook are a great way to ask everyone you know at once if they have a free laptop hanging around. Again, you might not get the best laptop in the world but many people have laptops they aren’t using anymore due to upgrades or just lack of interest and they might be willing to part with their laptops.

Conclusion
As you can see there are quite a few options when it comes to grabbing yourself a free laptop. Just remember that most of them do require either luck or spending a little bit of cash in order to get what you want, but if you persevere and are careful to avoid scams, you could well get your hands on a free laptop without too much hard work.