Most Popular Notebooks of August 2006

Each month we compile data for the number of times a particular notebook is viewed on this sites product pages to get an idea for what mainstream consumers are looking at and thinking about buying. InAugust the Toshiba Satellite A105 holds strong and notebooks with 13.3" - 15.4" sized screens dominate.

	1.Toshiba Satellite A105(Previously #1) - The Satellite A105 is popular for three reasons 1) It's flexible in configuration andcan be had for a cheap price of $520 with a Celeron processor 2) It's available in nearly every store so people know about it 3) It's amainstream 15.4" screen notebook that's by far the most popular size notebook for first-time notebook buyers. The A105 can be configured with a Celeron, Core Solo or Core Duoprocessor Toshiba Satellite A105 Reviews | Toshiba Satellite A105 User Opinions
	2.Dell Inspiron e1505/ Inspiron 6400 (Previously #3) - Moving up a spot from July, the Inspiron e1505, sold as the Inspiron 6400 through Dell business, is fully customizable and now includes the Core 2 Duo processor, a high resolution 15.4" display and several drive options. Dell has found a nice blend of performance and price with the e1505. Dell Inspiron e1505 Reviews | Dell Inspiron e1505 User Opinions
	3. Sony VAIO SZ (Previously #2) - Performance in a small package, that sums up the Sony VAIO SZ. The bright glossy 13.3" display is powered by dedicated graphics and a Core Duo processor. It's been popular for a long time and is holding verystrong. Sony VAIO SZ Reviews | Sony VAIO SZ User Opinions
	4. Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (Previously #5) - The ThinkPad T60 moves up a spot to #4, it's a Core Duo machine that comes with either a 14" or 15" standard aspect ratio display. This thin and light is all about business, featuring one of the best keyboards in the industry, dual pointing devicesand optional integrated WAN. Lenovo ThinkPad T60 Reviews | Lenovo ThinkPad T60 User Opinions
	5.Apple MacBook (Previously #6) -The Core Duo based Apple MacBook is such a well rounded notebook, and demonstrates its popularity by moving up a spotlast month.Starting at just $1,099, choose MacBook in black or white, both with a brilliant, 13.3-inch glossy widescreen display. Nearly one inch thin, 5.2 pounds, 100% perfect for anyone who wants power in an affordable package. Apple MacBook Reviews | Apple MacBook User Opinions
	6.Acer Aspire 5672 (Previously #10) - The Acer Aspire 5672has beenout for sometimeand continues to claw its way up the polls. Highly popular because it has a high-end Intel Core Duo processor and adecent dedicatedgraphics card in the form of the ATI X1400 all for about $1,200. It's also easy to find in most any retail store. Acer Aspire 5672 Reviews | Acer Aspire 5672 User Opinions
	7. HP Pavilion dv2000t (New to top 10) - The HP Pavilion dv2000t is a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo based 14.1" widescreen notebook from HP. It's got a great design in the form of a black piano and wave pattern finish. Best of all it's highly configurable at HP.com and if you want to see it in person you can go to your local electronics retailer to take it for a test run. HP Pavilion dv2000t Reviews | HP Pavilion dv2000t User Opinions
	8. Acer Aspire 5102 (New to top 10) - The Acer Aspire 5102 is the only AMD Turion X2 notebook on the charts, but it's coming on strong as it moves up. The 5102 is a 15.4" widescreen notebook that can be had for a great price, around $900. You get a 120GB hard drive, dual core processor, integrated web camera, 5-in-1 card reader and DVD Super Multi drive burner all for that price -- amazing! The 5102 is available in electronics retail stores everywhere. Acer Aspire 5102 Reviews | Acer Aspire 5102 User Opinions
	9. Toshiba Tecra M5 (New to top 10) - The Toshiba Tecra M5 is a 14.1" Core Duo business laptop available online and in stores. It's one of the few business laptops that made it into our most popular list, and the second from this company in the Top 10. Pricing for this machine starts at around $1,500. Toshiba Tecra M5 Reviews | Toshiba Tecra M5 User Opinions
	10. Dell XPS M1210 (Previously #5) - The XPS M1210falls a few spots to #10 this month. But it may start to climb again now that it's available with Core 2 Duo. And let's not forget the optional nVidia Go 7400 card! Dell XPS M1210 Review | Dell XPS M1210 User Opinions

And here's the rest of 'em rounding out the top 20 most viewed and popular notebooks on NotebookReview.com for the month of August:

11. HP Pavilion dv6000z
12. Sony VAIO FE
13. Lenovo (IBM) 3000 N100
14. HP Pavilion dv5000t
15. Sony VAIO FS
16. HP Pavilion dv8000t
17. Apple MacBook Pro
18. Toshiba Satellite M105
19. Compaq Presario v2000
20. Sony VAIO TX Series

Notebooksthat fellout of this month's Top 10:

• Sony VAIO FE
• Toshiba Satellite M105
• Apple MacBook Pro

To see how the Top 10 Notebooks ofJuly looked view this article. And remember, to get advice on which notebook to buy don't just go with what's popular, visit our What Notebook Should I Buy forum to ask what everyone else thinks you should buy based on your needs.Check out how the current standings forthis weeksmost popular notebooks looks.

 

I find it interesting that Asus was left off this list. Based on what I've seen here on NBR, the Asus forum is consistently #1 or #2, trading places with Dell for the most number of members viewing. If you ask me, thats a quantifyable representation of popularity that is not reflected on this list!

 

This is a good point, but strangely while the forums are extremely active with Asus members the main page of the site gets more mainstream visitors of the type that go into retail stores to buy and thereby brands like Acer, Toshiba and Sony are more popular to view on the front of the site. The Asus A8J is moving up the list this month though. Remember, Asus isn't in the top 8 of notebook resellers in the U.S. It's 1. Dell, 2. HP, 3. Toshiba, 4. Acer, 5. Lenovo, 6. Sony, 7. Apple, 8.Fujitsu for that.

 

It's not based on forum activity but the main site - so its understandable

 

Only a matter of time before Asus becomes mainstream...

 

They should start selling it in stores (retail ones like BestBuy or Circuit City - as much as I hate those stores ) so that they get more exposed to the "layman". I'm sure they'll pretty successful!

 

Actually, in BC they're now sold in a chain store called A&B Sound. The prices are very similar to the best online resellers also!

 

Actually I am not sure Asus will ever be mainstream. I believe they are happy making everyone else's notebooks. Why worry about marketing and supporting your line when you can make the laptops for someone else and let them deal with it.

 

good point, it really depends on what direction Asus wants to take -- right now it seems like they're pushing into more retail outlets, hopefully they don't decide to play the game of trying to make the cheapest laptop with the highest profit margins because that generally hurts a companies reputation. As a note, Circuit City in the U.S. had a couple of Asus laptops last month I think.

 

In Canada, they have ASUS laptops in Office Depot and The Source by Circuit City(Aka, TSbCC ), as well as massive poster ads that are 10 feet tall in malls, on billboards, and in magazines. They are quite pushing their ENSEMBLE units.

As well, I've also seen barebones in ads, "Tailored to fit" is their motto for it, and they list dealers to go to for the barebones.

I'm sure we all know that the simple fact is, ASUS will not gain money from selling laptops as much as they do on contracts with such large companies as Dell, HP, Sony for making notebooks, as well as other electonics, a la PlayStation 3, and making motherboards, graphic cards and other fine products.

 

I agree that Asus is not looking to really push its own laptops. I'm sure they have people who use complicated algorithms to determine exactly what's best for the company... but when you build at least a good portion of the computers for everybody else, it doesn't give you much of an incentive to put them out of business, especially when you're good at it and it's what you're already set up for.

~ Brett