Sub-40k Laptops for the Budget Conscious

I scouted for some good deals (as requested by Max) on budget laptops this week. There are several sub-30K laptops around but they’re not that good enough though. This line-up covers two minimal requirements — they should be Pentium M class and just below Php40,000USD 682INR 57,784EUR 649CNY 4,964.

On the 3rd spot is one from Blue Argon Series:

Blue Argon-S
14″ XGA (1024×768)
Intel Pentium M 725 1.6GHz
Intel GMA 900 up to 128MB
512MB DDR2 RAM
40GB Fujitsu HDD
DVD Dual Layer
Card Reader
Php34,995USD 596INR 50,554EUR 568CNY 4,343

The specs did not include built-in WiFi but you can get one in PCMCIA for around Php2,500USD 43INR 3,612EUR 41CNY 310 so we’re still on budget.

The second spot went to Neo’s Endura Series:

NEO Endura 505GL
14″ WXGA TFT
Intel Pentium M 725 1.6GHz
Intel GMA 900
Intel Pro Wireless 2200BG
40GB HDD
256 DDR2 RAM
24x CDRW/DVD ROM
Integrated Webcam
4-in-1 Card Reader
3 hours battery life
Php30,999USD 528INR 44,781EUR 503CNY 3,847

If you’re not after a CDRW, this one’s a good bang for the buck actually. You still have Php9k left for upgrades like maybe an additional 256MB or 512MB of memory.

My final pick would be an MSI Megabok S Series. Really hard to get a light-weight laptop with a small form factor within the specified budget.

MSI Megabook S270-R
12.1″ WXGA
AMD Turion ML-30 1.6GHz
ATI Radeon X200
MSI Wireless 802.11BG
Built-in Bluetooth
256MB RAM
40GB HDD
8x DVD+/- RW Dual Layer
4-in-1 Card Reader
3 to 4 hours battery life
Php39,999USD 682INR 57,783EUR 649CNY 4,964

An equivalent S260-R8 comes with a Centrino 1.6GHz for the same price. Though this one only goes with 256MB of memory, the small screen size and weight is more attractive for travellers. It has the longest battery life as well. You can always upgrade the memory later on.

All 3 laptops above didn’t have a Windows OS pre-installed and you could spend more for one. But there’s always Ubuntu right?

You guys have other suggestions within budget?

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

15 Comments

Miguel says:

18 years ago

Of the 3, MSI – at least it has a brand (even if it’s established in motherboards and not laptops, yet)

For unbranded, if it breaks… ???
- Reply
Carlo says:

18 years ago

If I am gonna get a Laptop, I’ll stick with IBM. Why? Reliability and Stability though it’s not that affordable. The latest T60 costs around $2,000.00 and the X60 at $2,500.00

It’s costly but it’s worth buying.
- Reply
Kiven says:

18 years ago

hi sir abe,
i have also discussed this at http://www.pinoygamer.org/2006/11/01/laptops/buying-a-laptop-for-40k-pesos/

buying the so called unbranded ones such as Blue, Neo, apex chem usa etc are definitely not for those who are not technically savvy. most of these so called unbranded ones use the same parts and the same casing as branded ones. of course, the tradeoff is the support as most of these unbranded manufacturers dont have any online support or bios upgrades. As long as you can get support from the place where you bought it (buy from a reputable source to begin with) you should be fine as long as you know the tech specs of the laptop your buying.

Im also not so sure about that MSI since laptopking has that model but it comes with 2 unlit/dead/fixed pixels. if you can live with that then its a good deal. 10k discount off a no defect unit.

pero if youre a gamer and wanna go the unbranded way din lang, check out chembook’s X600 equipped series around 45K. same chassis and parts as those of the VPC brand from villman.

The Acer Aspire (not travelmate as they dont have the “bright”screen of the aspire series) are also a good buy. i have tested these babies and while they need to have a memory upgrade e the build and performance is very good for its price range.
- Reply
Abe Olandres says:

18 years ago

@ Migs

If it breaks, get a replacement part. No support local though.

@ Carlo

Let’s confine the specs under Php40k as requested.

@ Kiven

Your selections I also considered except that I excluded Celerons in favor of Pentium M with lower RAM. It’s easy to upgrade the RAM than the CPU.

Usual lifetime of a laptop is about 3 years before it becomes obsolete or beyond repair. The issue of online support also applies to desktops, but do we ever update the BIOS of our PCs?
- Reply
Kiven says:

18 years ago

i agree that some wouldnt update their desktop bios as often as gamers or enthusiasts but take the following points in consideration:

take for example my “old” hp nx6120, hp has released firmware updates to correct some issues with its fans.

Local laptop enthusiast shop Cooltoyz (cooltoyzph.com) also has a list of branded and unbranded laptop problems that are remedied via a firmware update. from 64bit and Vista support, to heat management, battery life problems like webcam shutting down if the battery life falls below 45%, Multi processor identification issues, cd/dvd drives failing to initialize and other potentially major problems.
- Reply
Miguel says:

18 years ago

Manufacturer support are crucial because the user-replaceable parts only include memory, hard drive, battery, and maybe the optical drive and keyboard. Not like your desktop PC where a novice can easily tweak it. For most people, the laptop is a “gadget” – treat it as a unit which needs to be fixed as a whole.
- Reply
Edwin says:

18 years ago

Im gonna go with a mac if ever im gonna replace my laptop.

who wants to trade their macbookpro with
1 toshiba satellite 1110
1 Sony Vaio PCG-FRV37
laptops?

you know where to reach me. ahehehe

sana meron
- Reply
vance says:

18 years ago

why spent more with mac gawin mo nalang mac yung existing laptop hahaha, mas mura pa… same hard ware lang naman ang gamit ng mac and pc ngayon eh (from what i know).

baka next year duo core not core 2 duo centrino will reach 40 k low. hehe
- Reply
vance says:

18 years ago

i meant the core 2 duo laptops and macbook pro. are the same.. hehe
- Reply
Miguel says:

18 years ago

You can’t install Mac OS on a PC laptop – well, not legally and easily at least.
- Reply
Adrian says:

18 years ago

i found a better than specified specs above laptop for only 39000. Acer Aspire 3628 ANWXCi. check out the specs her. i got the same specs with this guy http://www.pinoytechblog.com/archives/acer-aspire-3628-anwxci
- Reply
dennis says:

18 years ago

I bought my ACER travelmate 2310 at P35k and added 512MB memory (768MB total) for a totla of 39k and it works just fine for most of the tasks i do
- Reply
Max Limpag says:

18 years ago

Hi Abe,
Thanks for the advice. Migs, thanks for the caution. I’ll give this a thought. I just need it for writing, Aptana and managing websites. I don’t plan to play games on it. I’ve weaned myself from my Fifa addiction and I don’t want to ever go back to 8-hour gaming sessions, ever.
- Reply
joy says:

18 years ago

hey guys…help me pls…i really dont have any idea about Flextra laptop..pero kasi nung nagawi ako ng gilmore nakita ko sya…and ang taas ng specs with a very low price…46 K core duo na ang processor, 512 ram, 80 g hdd nka ati x1600,wifi and all..tingin nyo kaya ok lng syang blhin??ntatakot kc ako bka msayang lang ang 46k ko if ever mabili ko..what u think???
- Reply
Tansie Adrian says:

14 years ago

I want to buy laptop msi s270-r megabook in romania but can send? if I pay shipping ? touchpad are interested in a particular case or for him
- Reply