3 Great Laptops Under Rs 40,000

Laptops today are universally becoming the first choice for anyone looking to upgrade. Rapidly falling prices, increased performance levels, and almost complete packages of multimedia and smooth multitasking are some of the reasons for this. Keeping these factors in mind, we decided to look around and shortlist three models that we think represent great VFM within the very price-sensitive market segment of under Rs 40,000. Here are our choices.

Compaq Presario C740TU
HP has to be commended for maintaining a clear differentiation in its product range. While the HP brand of laptops caters to the value and performance markets, the Compaq brand has been used to address the needs of the budget and ultra-value markets.

The Compaq Presario C740TU that we have chosen is currently one of the best VFM models available. It offers an Intel C2D T5450 processor which is clocked at 1.67 GHz, 512 MB RAM (upgradeable to 1 GB for an additional cost of Rs 1,450), a 15.4 inch LCD panel, 160 GB of HDD space and 3 USB slots. Its current street price is around Rs 34,000.

Though most users will today balk at the sparse amount of RAM being offered, please note that the laptop can be easily upgraded, inexpensively. The OS offered is Windows Visa Basic. A 1-year warranty is offered through Compaq's service centers.

Watch out for a review of this laptop, which will come up pretty soon. In the meantime you can check out a detailed specification list here.

Acer Aspire 2920N



It should come as no surprise to anyone that Acer has appeared on this lineup. Acer's last few releases have been driving this segment very hard, with products like its 4520 model, which did exceedingly well and was well appreciated.

This time around too the company had some of the best options available in this price bracket. One of these models is the Acer 2920N. It is perhaps one of the cheapest 12.1 inch laptops available now. It offers an Intel C2D T5450 processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB storage and 3 USB slots. These are healthy specifications, and a price tag of just Rs 37,000 makes it a great portable choice for anyone who is looking for crunching power and portability .
Acer Aspire 5920N


It's Acer once again, this time with the 5920N. This is a 15.4-inch job with features similar to the 2920. It has the same specifications (Intel C2D T5450 processor, and 160GB of storage) but improves on the 2920 by offering 4 USB slots, a 4-in-1 Dolby Digital capable surround system, a DVD-RW writer, Firewire, and Bluetooth support.