Research Results for Helping my Friend Find a Good Laptop around $530 CA in London, Ontario, Canada

I'm posting my email that I composed to my friend where I did some research to compare laptop offerings from the 3 major stores in London. I'm posting it just in case anyone else is looking for a laptop similar in criteria to what my friend was looking for.  I did some comparisons between the 3 major stores in London, Ontario, and the following are my findings.

Criteria First

* Around $530.97

* 14" if possible, 15" otherwise

* Processor around 2.7 GHz (2 core)

* 4 GB RAM, or more

* 500 GB HD, or more

* Video Card, doesn't matter, mostly word processing

* Sound Card, doesn't matter

* other inputs/outputs, doesn't matter

Hey Friend,

I was looking at some laptops in your price range for you, and I'd recommend these

But first, you said price-wise, you want to spend only $600 (includes taxes, and enviro fee)

$600 / 1.13 (taxes) = $530.97

* [I'm not going to subtract Enviro fee, because I don't know how much it would be for a laptop]

Also Note that they do charge a premium for 14" laptops because they are smaller, and more convenient.  It might also have something to do with smaller electronics in it, that cause the price to be higher, which is why going with the mainstream size of 15" is better.  Battery life on 15.4" seems to all be averaging 4.5-5 hours.

Futureshop Offerings

1. Toshiba Satallite 17.3" Laptop $529.99 - Refurbished

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/toshiba-toshiba-satellite-17-3-laptop-silver-intel-core-i3-2328m-640gb-hdd-6gb-ram-windows-8-refurb-pskflc-00n007/10248744.aspx?path=c6f7e23b8134201cfee8c09f056a7b4cen02&SearchPageIndex=1

Notes

* I know this one has a big screen which you may not want

* battery only lasts up to 4 hours

* refurbished, but honestly, I would buy refurbished.  My ipod is refurbished, and it works fine

* everything else checks out

2. Lenovo IdeaPad 15.6" Laptop $529.99 - Refurbished

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/lenovo-lenovo-ideapad-z580-15-6-laptop-grey-intel-core-i3-2370m-750gb-hdd-4gb-ram-english-refurb-z580/10234982.aspx?path=1871a020c8b16bdfbdce6aeb36aed446en02&SearchPageIndex=1

Notes

* Up to 5 hours on battery

* everything else checks out

3. Lenovo Ideapad 15.6" Laptop 2.5 GHz 750GB HD 6GB Ram $549.99 - Refurbished

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/lenovo-lenovo-ideapad-15-6-laptop-grey-intel-core-i5-3210m-750gb-hdd-6gb-ram-english-refurbished-p580/10232141.aspx?path=e195f6284d3c9cc9fcb8cf7426966349en02&SearchPageIndex=1

3. HP Pavilion 15.6" Laptop 2.4 GHz $549.99  

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/hewlett-packard-hp-pavilion-15-6-laptop-silver-intel-core-i3-3110m-750gb-hdd-8gb-ram-windows-8-g6-2235ca/10242259.aspx?path=d0a59630434d160aeabfcddcf4f73017en02&SearchPageIndex=1

* If you don't want Refurbished this would be the best choice from Futureshop

3. Asus 15.6" Laptop 2.4 GHz $549 - Web Only

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/asus-asus-15-6-laptop-black-intel-core-i3-3110m-500gb-hdd-6gb-ram-windows-8-english-k55a-dh31-ca/10235667.aspx?path=9d696d6171076d73f7753e5e087bc187en02&SearchPageIndex=1

Notes

* Up to 5 hours on battery

* everything else checks out

14" Laptop

4. Toshiba 14" Laptop 2.4 GHz $649.99

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/toshiba-toshiba-satellite-pro-14-laptop-black-intel-core-i3-3120m-4gb-ram-320gb-hdd-windows-8-english-c840-003/10241759.aspx?path=32da5017722d3aac1b28473b2109fda9en02&SearchPageIndex=1

Notes

* has the 14" screen you want

* Up to 4 hours on battery

* over budget

* everything else checks out

Staples Offerings

I just looked at Staples, and found 2 good contenders.  The speed of the processors isn't as fast as I specified (2.7 GHz), but for you, maybe it could be fast enough since you don't need too much speed.  Staples has some good refurbished ones too, but I'm not going to write them up, because I don't think you want refurbished. See below:

*1. Acer Aspire 15.6" Laptop 2.5 GHz Intel Core i3-3120M, 4GB Ram, 500 GB HDD, $399.93 - OUT OF STOCK
* on sale until 7/23/2013 - that price is discounted $100
http://www.staples.ca/en/Acer-Aspire-156-Laptop-25GHz-Intel-Core-i3-3120M-4GB-RAM-500GB/product_169408_2-CA_1_20001

Notes
* Bad thing is it is out of stock
* but if you don't need the laptop right away, and if they give out rain checks, I'd buy this one.  It's way below your budget, and it looks like it would be a pretty good laptop!
* good bang for your buck!

*2. Toshiba 15.6" Laptop, 2.2GHz 2nd Generation Intel Core i3-2328M, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD $449.98 (on sale $50 off until 7/23/2013)
http://www.staples.ca/en/Toshiba-156-Laptop-22GHz-2nd-Generation-Intel-Core-i3-2328M-8GB-RAM/product_100171_2-CA_1_20001

Notes
* This one's in stock according to the website (as of 7/19/2013 @ 8:33 pm est)
* everything else checks out
* and it's under your budget

3. Toshiba 15.6" Laptop, 2.40GHz Intel Core i3-3110M, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD $549
http://www.staples.ca/en/Toshiba-156-Laptop-240GHz-Intel-Core-i3-3110M-8GB-RAM-500GB-HDD/product_75524_2-CA_1_20001
* this one's comparable to the ones at the same price at futureshop, except this one has 8 GB RAM (more), but less Hard Drive space 500 HDD

TigerDirect Offerings

**!BEST Match!**
1. Acer TravelMate TMP243-M-6456 Notebook PC - 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3210M 2.5GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 14 in. Display, Windows 8 64-bit $549 - $20 coupon XND95647 (7/21/2013) = $529.99
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7980799&CatId=4935
* best match for my friend
* small at 14"
* fast 2.5 GHz, 2 core
* enough ram
* 500 GB HDD - 7200 rpm - faster than the usual

!Fastest Processor of the Bunch of 15"!
2. Lenovo IdeaPad Z500 Notebook PC - 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3230M 2.6GHz, 6GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6" Display, Windows 8 (59361311) $549
* fastest processor of the bunch!!
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7787088&CatId=4935
* fastest processor in all the 15" laptops I looked at

3. Acer TravelMate TMP453-M-6863 Notebook PC - 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3210M 2.5GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6 in. Display, Windows 8 $549
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7980800&CatId=4935
* comparable to the other 15" laptops at the other stores

Summary

From TigerDirect

Limited time offer!! only until 7/21/2013

* 1. Acer TravelMate TMP243-M-6456 Notebook PC - 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3210M 2.5GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 14 in. Display, Windows 8 64-bit $529.99 [$20 coupon XND95647 (7/21/2013)]
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7980799&CatId=4935

* I think this one meets what you were looking for, small laptop 14", good processor, fast HDD, enough memory!

!Fastest Processor of the Bunch!
2. Lenovo IdeaPad Z500 Notebook PC - 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3230M 2.6GHz, 6GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6" Display, Windows 8 (59361311) $549 (fastest processor of the bunch)
 http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7787088&CatId=4935

OR

From Staples
* If you want to stay on budget, and can wait for stock, I'd recommend buying from Staples if they offer a rain check

*1. Acer Aspire 15.6" Laptop 2.5 GHz Intel Core i3-3120M, 4GB Ram, 500 GB HDD, $399.93 (on sale until 7/23/2013 - that price is discounted $100) - Out of stock
http://www.staples.ca/en/Acer-Aspire-156-Laptop-25GHz-Intel-Core-i3-3120M-4GB-RAM-500GB/product_169408_2-CA_1_20001

Or if you want to get one under budget, and don't mind it being slightly slower:
*2. Toshiba 15.6" Laptop, 2.2GHz 2nd Generation Intel Core i3-2328M, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD $449.98 (on sale $50 off until 7/23/2013)http://www.staples.ca/en/Toshiba-156-Laptop-22GHz-2nd-Generation-Intel-Core-i3-2328M-8GB-RAM/product_100171_2-CA_1_20001


From Futureshop

* 3. HP Pavilion 15.6" Laptop 2.4 GHz $549.99 (If you prefer not to buy refurbished)

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/hewlett-packard-hp-pavilion-15-6-laptop-silver-intel-core-i3-3110m-750gb-hdd-8gb-ram-windows-8-g6-2235ca

If Refurbished is okay, any of the 15.4" or the 17.3" above would be good choices listed above.

If you want the smaller laptop 14", the one I mentioned above would be a great choice from TigerDirect, the one from staples is more expensive.  Many of the others that are 14" have really slow processors in them, which is why their costs is lower, and why they last longer on battery.  If you have patience for a slower machine, then consider it, but I honestly think it would be a waste of money. 

* I recommend getting the one from TigerDirect for 14" before the deal ends on Sunday (only 2 days from now - today being 7/19/2013)
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7980799&CatId=4935

I hope this helps!  Those are the 3 major competitor stores.  If you are willing to buy online, DELL usually has good deals, and they sometimes have more bang for your buck.