Which personal laptop?

I often get asked about which is a good laptop to buy. Given the vast choices out there, it's easy to get lost in all that marketing jargon while selecting your perfect portable processing partner. Cheesy alliteration, but what the heck.

Basically, for home applications you would want to look at any laptop with the following specifications:

Processor speed	At least 1.8 GHz (preferably Intel Core 2 Duo)
RAM	At least 2 GB
Hard disk	At least 160 GB
Screen size	14.1-inch is ideal
Other must-haves	DVD writer, Wi-Fi, Windows Vista Home / XP
If these are also included, great	Bluetooth, integrated Webcam, TV tuner, media card reader
Price	Between Rs 36,000 and 42,000 depending on the brand

A good entry-level laptop for most home and personal productivity applications would be something like the Lenovo 3000 G410 204958Q.

Its specifications are: Intel Core 2 Duo T2390 processor (1.86 GHz, 533 MHz FSB), 14.1-inch WXGA TFT, 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM (running at 667 MHz), 160 GB Serial ATA hard disk, DVD recorder drive,  Bluetooth Version 2.0 + EDR, 802.11a/b/g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950.
Price: Rs 31,490 (approximately)
Note: You will need to buy Windows XP/Vista separately in this model – that should cost an additional 5,000 to 7,000.

At the higher end, I would suggest a laptop like the Lenovo 7758 69Q.

Its specifications are: Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 (1.83 GHz, 667 MHz,  2 MB L2 cache), 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250 GB Serial ATA hard disk, DVD recorder drive, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, 802.11a/b/g wireless, 6-in-1 media card Reader, 1.3 megapixel webcam integrated, 15.4-inch WXGA screen, Vista Home Basic.
Price: 48,500 (approximately)

There are numerous other great laptop brands to choose from. I'd recommend Lenovo, Acer or Dell -- I've always had the best experience with their laptops. Find out more about their entry-level offerings at their respective Web sites here (Lenovo), here (Acer) and here (Dell).