If you have stumbled upon this page whilst looking for a laptop with a $700 budget then congratulations, your budget is simply perfect when shopping for a multimedia laptop. A true multimedia laptop costs more than a standard laptop, that much is a given, you want to find the perfect entertainment system and not simply a networking tool. As a result we personally recommend a budget of at least $600 when shopping for a fantastic laptop.
For weeks we have been researching the 2012 laptop market and after wading through page after page of rubbish laptops we have found ourselves in the position to offer two great laptops for a $700 budget. These are, simply, the best multimedia laptops under $700 for 2012; continue reading for our justifications.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Sony VAIO VPCEH34FX/W 15.5-Inch Laptop Widescreen Entertainment Laptop
Sony made this laptop for entertainment, they marketed it as an entertainment laptop, and that is precisely what they have delivered. Not only have they delivered a fantastic system, they have delivered a mid-range laptop at a high-end price. Despite a list price of $749.99, which it could probably justify, it is typically available for a little above $600 on Amazon – where it can be found at the very best online price. For that you are getting a system which, owed to its Intel Core i3 processor and 1080p. HD LCD widescreen display, is perfect for movies and games. The graphics will blow you away.
Whilst the picture quality on the Sony VAIO, this one at least, is second only to the Apple Mac, you can also hook up your laptop to any HD TV via the HDMI port to watch downloaded HD movies on your big screen for cinema quality. There is one downside to this model, there is no blu-ray player, but that can be expected in this price range. You will of course still be able to watch DVDs on that magnificent screen. You are also able to Skype in High Definition thanks to the integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam and microphone!
This isn’t just an all-in-one entertainment system, it is also a top business or networking laptop, features include the ability to connect to both 802.11n routers and 802.11b/g networks for great wireless connectivity. Talking about connectivity, did we really suggest connecting to your TV via HDMI port? Forget that, you can actually stream movies from your Sony Vaio to your HDTV without any wires whatsoever.
Everything about this VAIO is majorly cool, it looks incredible – as you can see – whilst smart features include a desktop based YouTube search engine for instant access to hours of fun. Everything about this laptops components is just far superior to pretty much everything else on the market for the price, from the ultra-powerful 2.53 GHz Intel Core i3-380M dual-core processor, to the huge 640 GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive, and the 4 GB of installed system memory which can be upgraded to 8 GB should that be needed a few years down the line.
The last thing that needs to be mentioned, one of the characteristics which can really separate a multimedia laptop from a standard laptop, is the quality of this laptops speakers. Without great speakers a laptop can never genuinely be considered an entertainment laptop or a multimedia laptop, so it’s a good job that the built in stereo speakers on this beauty are loud, crystal clear, and benefit from third generation Dolby technologies!
You will find it extremely difficult to beat the Sony VAIO VPC-EB43FX for value for money in 2011 on a $700 budget, head over to Amazon to find out more or to buy! It is available in four colors – black, blue, pink, and white, click through to Amazon to find out more about this awesome machine!
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Toshiba Satellite P775D-S7230 17.3-Inch LED Laptop
Another great alternative in the price range is this, the Toshiba Satellite P775D-S7230 17.3 inch LED Laptop, a laptop which retails at $729.99, but can found at time of writing for $699.99 plus free shipping on Amazon. Toshiba laptops are famously reliable, a fact supported by a major study of 30000 laptops by laptop insurance specialists SquareTrade! A Toshiba laptop is half as likely to experience hardware failure in their first three years of life than laptops from many other brands, the only brand deemed more reliable was ASUS, we recommend plenty of ASUS laptops on this website too!
A large 17.3 inch HD screen (genuine 16:9 aspect ratio) with LED backlit display offers perfect crystal clear graphics for movie buffs and gamers, a decent AMD Radeon HD 6520M graphics chip is sufficient for gaming and your HD movie downloads. A powerful 2.3 GHz AMD A6-3400M quad-core processor, a processor which is only really currently beaten by the Intel i7 chips most commonly seen in more expensive laptops, and a more than plentiful 6 GB of DDR3 RAM (1333 MHz) adds up to a laptop which can handle even the most graphically demanding media and applications.
The RAM can actually be extended to 8GB at any stage, so you won’t find yourself limited in the future should you decide that you would benefit from the upgrade. The factor which really seals the deal in terms of referring to this laptop as ‘multimedia’ is the awesome integrated Harman Kardon speakers with Dolby Advanced Audio. So many great laptops are ruined by quiet tinny speakers, effectively rendering them useless without headphones. Not this laptop, it sounds ace! For a big laptop the Toshiba Satelitte P775D-S7230 offers a decent battery life of up to 4.2 hours, many larger laptops are restricted by a battery life of as low as 2 or 3 hours.
It’s not overly-heavy for a 17.3 inch laptop either, at 6.6 pounds it won’t break your back. A generous 640GB SATA hard drive (5400 RPM) will meet the needs of most, although all laptop owners should own an external hard drive too these days! A single USB 3.0 port accompanies two USB 2.0 ports, and is compatible with your USB 2.0 devices to offer superior transfer speeds, an HDMI port enables you to connect your laptop to your HDTV to allow you to watch your streamed HD movies in HD quality on a much larger screen.
In conclusion we can consider this Toshiba an awesome laptop, and one which is worth your money if you can’t extend past that $700 budget, if you want a little more information or to buy then head over to Amazon. If you can extend your budget however you may want to check out the ASUS N53SV-XE1, as featured in our selection of the best multimedia laptops under $900, and top rated laptops under $900. Despite costing under $900 we consider it to be possibly the best value laptop on the market for 2012 in any price bracket!
