Laptops - a must for power crisis

KATHMANDU, Jan 16: With a deepening power crisis and the need to cope with a fast-paced working environment, laptops have become almost a necessity for most professionals. This is quite evident from the number of vendors offering notebooks at the 15th Logitech at CAN Info-Tech 2009. Considering the present state of prolonged power cuts, this portable computer with battery back-up has taken on a new life as people can no longer be certain about providing power to their desktops. [break]



The rise in demand has also brought in more players and authorized distributors and, most importantly, brought down prices as dealers can import them in bulk. The increase in number of authorized dealers has also brought a much needed sense of security to buyers. Previously, most laptop vendors did not provide any warranty for the product, which always left the buyers feeling uncertain. That is the case no more.



At this year’s CAN Info-Tech, vendors have offers that can meet most of the expectations of potential buyers, with products suited to different preferences, requirements and of course different purses. Around 15 stalls offer laptops this year, from well known to less heard of brands, with prices starting from a rock-bottom Rs 12,000 to above Rs 200,000.






Toshiba´s leads the high-end pack with its Qosmio G40-HD731D priced at Rs 254,900. The 17-inch screen computer runs on a 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processo and has a 2GB RAM and 400GB hard drive. The seller also offers a 250 GB external hard drive free with the product.



Among the top range products Apple’s MacBook Pro has two sizes on offer with different options. The MacBook Pro’s 15-inch model has a starting price of Rs 190,000 with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 250 GB 5,400 rpm Hard Disk Drive. It is also offered in 2.53 GHz and 2.8 GHz versions with RAM of 4 GB, internal storage of 320 GB (5,400 rpm) and 250 GB and 320 GB hard disks with speeds of 7,200. The notebook weighs 2.49 kg and has a battery capacity of 5 hours. Its larger cousin, the 17-inch MacBook Pro, can work without recharge for eight hours once it is fully charged. Its Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz, 4GB RAM, 320 GB at 5,400 rpm storage version costs Rs 215,000 while Neoteric, the authorized distributor for Nepal, offers options of an upgrade to 2.93 GHz and 320 GB at 7,200 rpm.



Its direct competitions, not including the MacBook which costs between Rs 125,000 and Rs 141,000, are priced much lower with the13.3-inch 2.2 GHz Sony VIO VGN-SZ640N at Rs 139,999, 14.1-inch 2.26 GHz HP Pavilion DV4/1107tx at Rs 100,000, 16-inch 2.0 Acer Aspire 6935 Gemstone at Rs 110,000, 15.4-inch HP Pavilion dv6701VX at Rs 108,000 and 14.1-inch 2.10 GHz Sony VIO VGN at Rs 96,900, among others. Although priced much higher, Apple products have a following of their own.



The other above Rs 200,000 product is the NEC Versa S9100. The 12.1-inch 1.25 kg computer hangs right in between the bigger laptops and the ultra-lights and runs on a 1.20 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. It has a battery life of three to four hours and is notable for being able to handle much bigger work like the larger laptops in its small, sensitive, light and rugged body.

 

When it comes to small, in come the Ultra-lights of NetBooks. These are much smaller, lighter, energy efficient computers. In other words they are highly portable laptops which also cost low. But the downside is their low processing power and their reduced ability to run resource intensive operating systems and programs. They also offer fewer features than their larger cousins. They are mostly used by those who already have a laptop and are preferred for their weight by highly mobile professionals who want to carry less weight.



Nepal International Business Pvt Ltd offer products from the pioneers of the netbook phenomenon, Asus. The Asus Eee PC comes in two models: Eee PC 900 HD and Eee PC 1000H. The Eee PC 900 HD has an 8.9-inch screen and weighs 1 kg and runs on an Intel Mobile Processor and is offered with 1 GB RAM and 30 GB hard drive at Rs 43,900. The Eee PC 1000H runs on a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, weighs 1.4 kg and has a 10.2-inch screen. It is offered with a 1 GB RAM and 80 GB storage at Rs 53,900. Both have a 1.3 megapixel camera and have LAN and WiFi capabilities but do not have a DVD drive.



Another vendor, Omnigroup, offers Eee PC 900 at Rs 25,000, but it comes with a 512 MB Ram and a 4 GB hard drive.



Acer Aspire One Mobile Internet Device is another ultra-light on offer. It runs on a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor N270 and comes with a 1 GB RAM and 160 GB hard drive. It has an 8.9-inch screen and weighs 0.995 kg. Mercantile Office Systems (MOS), the authorized distributor for Nepal, offers it at Rs 43,000 while some other vendors also offer it for a few thousand rupees less. MOS also offers a licensed Windows XP Home Edition with its Aspire One.



The lowest priced laptop is the J-Pro JL7100 ‘Mini Laptop’ manufactured by JoinTech and sold by Degitrust Enterprises at a mere Rs 12,000. It has a 7-inch TFT LCD screen, runs on a 400 MHz processor and has Windows CE 5.0 as operating system and a 64MB on-board RAM. The 0.80 kg computer has a battery life of four hours, runs various multi-media and comes with MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint and other software.