School Laptop Pricewatch

2003 retail/educational prices of new computers in Australia
prices in Australian dollars including tax

minimum spec's: networkable/secure operating system, 512Mb memory, 40gig HD, 32Mb VRAM, 1394/firewire, wireless card and three year warranty

bold number in brackets for each item indicates extra purchase to be equivalent with other laptops

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August 2003	15" mobile laptop with built-in wireless card and CD-RW and DVD-ROM
August 2003	Computer World http://www.cworld.com.au/online 9 August 2003	Computer World http://www.cworld.com.au/online 9 August 2003	Dell Australia online configuration 9 August 2003	AppleStore Education Australia online configuration 9 August 2003
	Acer TravelMate 800 series	Toshiba Tecra S1	Latitude D800	15" PowerBook
Processor	Intel® Pentium® M 1.3 or 1.6GHz (varies by model)	Mobile Pentium4-M 1.4Ghz	Pentium-M 1.3ghz	867Mhz PowerPC G4
Level 2 cache / front side bus	?1024 KB L2 on-die / ?	???k / ???mhz	1Mb / ?	1Mb @900Mhz / ???mhz
Memory	512Mb	512Mb	for 512 MB DDR (add $167 to base price)	256 Mb SDRAM + 256Mb (add $120)
Hard disk drive	From 40GB Ultra ATA/100	40GB Ultra ATA	40GB (add $121 to base price)	40 GB ultra ATA/66
Graphics	15" Active Matrix SXGA+ or 14.1" Active Matrix XGA (varies by model) 64Mb ATI® Mobility Radeon® 9000 with 3D & 4x AGP	TFT Active Matrix colour display XGA (1024 x 768) 15” 32Mb ATI Mobility radeon9000 3D graphcis	15.4" lcd xga 32Mb 4x AGP GeForce 4200	15.2" lcd 1280x854 resolution ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 with 32 Mb DDR RAM
Optical drive	?8X DVD + 24/10/8 CD-RW combo	DVD-ROM and CD-RW	DVD-CDRW (add $155)	DVD-CDRW
USB and FireWire	1 x external VGA port 1 x IEEE 1394 FireWire port	3x USB ports ?? Firewire ports	? Firewire port USB not stated	2 USB ports 1 Firewire 400 port
Ethernet and Wireless networking	?Integrated 802.11b Wi-Fi LAN card & antenna 1 x 10/100 broadband-ready ethernet port wireless card (add c $110)	Built in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45 connector);built in antenna wireless LAN PC card (add $205) no external antenna	Built in 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet (Gigabit) wireless card included	Built in 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet (Gigabit) AirPort internal wireless card (add $145) no external antenna
Modem	Internal 56k V.92	Internal 56K V.90 fax/modem (RJ-11 connector)	Internal 56K V.90 fax/modem	Built in 56K V.90 fax/modem (RJ-11 connector)
System Software	Windows XP Pro	WinXP Pro	Windows XP Pro	Mac OS X 10.2 and Mac OS 9.2
Bundled Software etc	Notebook Manager, Launch Manager, PlatinumSecret™ suite (for Smart Card), Norton Anti-virus, NTI CD Maker™, CyberLink Power DVD® *Battery Life: 5.5 hours according to the website**	nil Battery Rechargeable, removable Lithium-Ion battery (10.8V, 3600mAh) 3+ hours battery life with main battery according to website	nil Battery life not stated	the latest versions of iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes Internet iChat, Address Book, iCal, Sherlock, QuickTime, DVD Player, Mac OS X Mail. Publishing Tools Art Director’s Toolkit, FAXstf, FileMaker Pro Trial, Graphic Converter, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, Preview. Developer Tools Project Builder, Applescript Studio, Interface Builder, gcc compiler ; Apple Hardware Test CD Service; complete setup, learning, and reference documentation. 6 hour battery life according to the website
notes	Weight: 3.1 kg 330 (W) 272 (D) 29.5 (H) mm (15" LCD) base price 800XCi (14"): $3,595.00 NOTE: Reseller may offer an educational discount - these prices are retail. Warranty: 1 year worlwide limited warranty, including pick-up from anywhere within Australia with a 48 hour service workshop turnaround repair time. Centrino chipset Add three year warranty $??? will need to add antivirus software not included: extra batteries $???	Weight: ? kg Height ? cm Width: ? cm Depth: ? cm advertised retail price $3,399 (Toshiba rec. retail= $3,630 inc GST) will need to add antivirus software 1 Year Parts and Labour International Warranty with FREE Courier Pickup in Australia Centrino chipset not included: extra batteries $245 Add three year Toshiba warranty from $249	Weight Kgs Height ? mm Depth ? mm advertised price $3,051 Warranty details are unclear: Either 1.Free 3 year warranty next business day + onsite labour or 2. May start from $170 for 3 years NOTE: Dell may offer an educational discount - these prices are retail. will need to add antivirus software Centrino chipset not included: extra batteries $139	Weight: ?kg Height ? cm Width: ? cm Depth: ? cm advertised price $3,418 (retail=$3,799) compared to others • significant software bundle including video editing software and two operating systems preloaded • longer battery life • smaller & lighter • slower processor antivirus software not needed FREE 3 year limited education warranty http://store.apple.com/Catalog/ Australia/Images/salespoliciesedindiv.html #Warranty not included: extra batteries $259
comparable price	$3,705(for 14" retail) +warranty	$3,853 (retail)	$3,494 (retail) + warranty??	$3,683 retail =$4,064

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August 2003	14" mobile laptop with wireless card and CD-RW and DVD-ROM
August 2003	Harris Technology http://hpstore.ht.com.au/ 9 August 2003	Sunshine Computers http://www.sunshinecomputers.com.au online configuration 9 August 2003	Dell Australia online configuration 9 August 2003	AppleStore Education Australia online configuration 9 August 2003
	Compaq Evo N1020v	Toshiba Satellite Pro TE 2300	Inspiron 5100 C2200GT	14" iBook
Processor	Pentium 4-M 1.8Ghz	Mobile Pentium4-M 1.3Ghz	Pentium 2.4ghz	900Mhz PowerPC G3
Level 2 cache / front side bus	512kb / ?	256k / 400mhz	512k / ?	512K @900Mhz / 100mhz
Memory	256MB DDR SDRAM + 256Mb (add $120)	256MB DDR PC + 256Mb (add $120)	512 Mb DDR SDRAM S0-DIMM	256 Mb SDRAM + 256Mb (add $120)
Hard disk drive	40GB Hard Drive	40GB Ultra ATA	40GB (add $96 to base price)	40 GB ultra ATA
Graphics	14.1” XGA TFT ATI Radeon IGP 340M (AGP 4x)	TFT Active Matrix colour display XGA (1024 x 768) 14.1” diagonal with up to 16 million colours 32MB UMA video memory DirectX7/X8/X9 supported	14" lcd xga 32Mb 4x AGP Mobility Radeon 7500 (add $45)	14.1" lcd ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 with 32 Mb DDR RAM
Optical drive see note under Cost regarding effective drive speeds	8X DVD/CDRW Drive	DVD-ROM and CD-RW)	DVD-CDRW 8x16x10x24x (add $80)	DVD-CDRW
USB and FireWire	1xFirewire ; 2xUSB; 1xInfrared IrDA port	2x USB ports NO Firewire ports	1 Firewire port USB not stated	2 USB ports 1 Firewire ports
Ethernet and Wireless networking	Built in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45 connector) wireless card (add c $110)	Built in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45 connector);built in antenna wireless card (add c $110) no external antenna	wireless card (add $98) Dell wireless card is PCMCIA with external aerial	Built in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45 connector) AirPort internal wireless card (add $145) no external antenna
Modem	Internal 56k V.92	Internal 56K V.90 fax/modem (RJ-11 connector)	Internal 56K V.90 fax/modem	Built in 56K V.90 fax/modem (RJ-11 connector)
System Software	Windows XP Pro	WinXP Pro	Windows XP Home (add XP Pro $130)	Mac OS X 10.2 and Mac OS 9.2
Bundled Software etc	nil 2 hour battery life according to the website	nil Battery Rechargeable, removable Lithium-Ion battery (10.8V, 3600mAh) Up to 3.5 hours battery life with main battery	• WordPerfect • Quattro Pro • Dell Movie Studio with MGI VideoWave 4 video editing software (www.videowave.com) battery life not stated	iCal, iChat, iLife (includes iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie), iSync, AppleWorks, Mac OS X Mail, World Book 2003 Edition, Mac OS X Chess, Otto Matic, Deimos Rising, FAXstf ; Apple Hardware Test CD Service; complete setup, learning, and reference documentation. 6 hour battery life according to the website
notes	Weight: 3.1 kg base price: $2,595.00 NOTE: Reseller may offer an educational discount - these prices are retail. Warranty: 1 year worlwide limited warranty, including pick-up from anywhere within Australia with a 48 hour service workshop turnaround repair time. Add three year warranty $499 will need to add antivirus software not included: extra batteries $197	Weight: 2.7 kg Height 3.8 cm Width: 31.6 cm Depth: 27.5 cm advertised price $2,933 (Toshiba rec. retail= $3,025 inc GST) will need to add antivirus software 1 Year Parts and Labour International Warranty with FREE Courier Pickup in Australia not included: extra batteries between $100 and $500 depending on model Add three year Toshiba warranty from $249	Weight ? Kgs Height ? mm Depth ? mm advertised price $2,198 add 3 year warranty $268 NOTE: Dell may offer an educational discount - these prices are retail. will need to add antivirus software not a Centrino / Pentium-M not included: extra batteries $148	Weight: 2.7 kg Height 3.4 cm Width: 32.3 cm Depth: 25.9 cm advertised price $2,627 (retail=$2,795) compared to others • significant software bundle including video editing software and two operating systems preloaded • longer battery life • smaller & lighter • slower processor antivirus software not needed FREE 3 year limited education warranty http://store.apple.com/Catalog/ Australia/Images/salespoliciesedindiv.html #Warranty not included: extra batteries $259
comparable price	$3,324 (retail)	$3,412 (retail)	$2,915 (retail)	$2,960(retail eduprice=$2,892