$500 OFF ON SELECT SONY VAIO P MODELS

The Sony Vaio P runs on a tiny Intel Atom. It is equipped with a fabulous screen and a nice keyboard. The build quality is excellent too. And at just 1.4 pounds the device is smaller and lighter than most of its competitors. The only problem with VAIO P is probably its price. The base configuration costs around thousand dollars. And if you opt for higher configurations with a 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor and a 128GB solid state drive, you will have to shell out $1,500 or more. Agreed, VAIO P is a nice netbook, but that is a lot of money for a tiny PC running on an Intel Atom processor.

Well, Sony has released a coupon to entice more customers into buying VAIO P. The coupon code VAIO500P takes $500 off the price of selected VAIO P models. The offer is valid through October 13th. So customers who buy a $1500 Vaio P Series Lifestyle PC or a $2,000 Vaio Signature PC before October 13 will get $500 off.

TOP 5 STEPS WHEN YOU SELECT A NEW LAPTOP

1. Brand names
It's sensible to go for a branded notebook (anyway, there is barely an assemblage market in India). Brands obtainable in across the world comprise HP-Compaq, Dell, Lenovo, LG, Sony, ACI, Acer, Asus, Toshiba and HCL.

2. Resources
Make a decision on a budget and explore for notebooks within that price range. Do keep in mind that you can get high-end notebooks (with high specifications) but at subordinate prices just because the brand does not sway a premium price. It does build sense to investigate these notebooks provided the after-sales tune-up is good.

3. Central processing unit
Once decided, you will witness names like Intel Celeron M Processor (basic), Intel Centrino Mobile Technology with Core Solo processor (medium-range) and Duo Mobile Technology bestowed with Core Duo (mid-range) and Core 2 Duo processors (high-end spec).
AMD (the other chief chip player) presents Turion 64 (mid-range) and Sempron processors (basic). Similarly Apple die-hards can choose for the high-end PowerPC G4. Nevertheless, despite of what kind of processor you settle on, you should avail at least 1.6GHz of dispensation/processing speed.

4. RAM
You can never be contended with enough memory (especially when gone with memory-gulping operating systems like the Vista round the corner). However, for basic notebooks, the bare minimum should at least be 512MB. High-end providers should ramp on 1GB.
5. Hard drive
A 60GB hard disk spinning at 4,200rpm is the basic facility you get in most of the newest notebooks. Preferably, if you wish to carry music and video on your notebook, think about 80GB and more capacity. And glance for the newest SATA drives spinning 5,400rpm at least.