As the holiday season approaches in the midst of an economy recovering from a major recession, countless shoppers are searching through retailers and websites for the cheapest laptop that is both affordable and reliable. Thankfully, it appears that there are some very real options available this year for shoppers on a budget. As the age of netbooks come into its own and laptop manufacturers release bare bones models to match the needs of thrifty consumers, this may well end up being the year of the affordable laptop.
Given the jobless recovery that our economy is currently undergoing, the laptop industry has gotten with the times and begun to offer very basic laptops for less than five hundred dollars. For bargain minded shoppers who know how to hunt for rebates and other discounts, it is occasionally possible to even find a new, name brand laptop for less than $300 dollars. If this year’s shopping season is anything like that of 2008, it is quite likely that most big box retailers will be offering some incredible deals on laptops around Black Friday and Cyber Monday just in order to get their customers in the door. As a result, a patient consumer just might find the bargain of a lifetime on a laptop if he knows how to play his cards right. However, it is the netbook that will be the most popular form of mobile computing under the Christmas tree this year. With basic models that can easily be found for less than $300, this might be the very first year for many middle and lower class consumers to finally have a mobile computer in their household.
As consumers of all income levels begin to realize that owning a laptop is finally within their grasp, it is easy to forget the philanthropic principles that helped make affordable laptops a reality. For over five years, industry watchers and bloggers alike have been spreading rumors that the much anticipated $200 laptop is just around the corner. The goal of manufacturing a $200 laptop began with the inspiration of marketing a laptop that could be affordable enough for nonprofit organizations to purchase at wholesale and provide as a free resource to needy families and communities. While many naysayers denounced to program by stating that it was pointless to handout laptops to communities who could barely gather enough resources to stave off starvation, proponents of the program stood firmly by their convictions that, above all else, knowledge is power. Now that the age of the netbook has finally come into its own, incredible programs such as One Laptop Per Child are opening up doors to the true power of the information age in communities who would have otherwise been left behind.
