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Best laptop deals of the week

Best laptop deals include a Sony VAIO S Series and a Lenovo Utrabook.

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Courtesy of Sony Electonics/File
Sony's S Series laptops cram lots of technology into its 3.8 pound, 13-inch frame.
  • By Louis Ramirez Guest blogger

We've been sitting behind our laptops all day, putting together a roundup of the hottest notebook deals from the past week that are still available for you to compare. This week's top laptop deals include the second least-expensive Sony VAIO S Series 13" laptop we've seen for $650, and the highly-rated Lenovo U410 Ultrabook for $849:

  1. Sony VAIO S Series Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5 2.5GHz 13.3" LED-Backlit Widescreen Notebook
    Store: Sony
    Price: $649.99 via coupon code "VAIOSCT75" with free shipping
    Lowest By: $75
    Expires: September 26

    Is It Worth It?: Sony is renowned for its thin and light laptops and the VAIO S Series proves why. This 3.8-lb. laptop crams in tons of tech into a laptop with a 13" frame. For power users, the notebook runs on Intel's latest Ivy Bridge Core i5 CPU. Complimenting the processor are 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. And whereas most manufacturers would omit a DVD burner in a laptop this size (we're looking at you Apple), Sony keeps its optical drive. Best of all, at $650 it's the second least-expensive price we've seen for any Sony VAIO laptop with this configuration.

  2. Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 Intel Core i7 2.1GHz 15.6" LED-Backlit Widescreen Notebook
    Store: Lenovo
    Price: $699 via coupon code "DOORBUSTERS" with free shipping
    Lowest By: $500
    Expires: September 26

    Is It Worth It?: Although it costs $100 more than last week's mention, this IdeaPad Z580 packs a quad-core Ivy Bridge Core i7 CPU (last week's mention had a dual-core Core i5.) A great buy for users in search of a laptop that will last them more than one year, the 5.8-lb. notebook also features a hefty 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and an HDMI port.

  3. ASUS Intel Pentium 2.3GHz 14" Widescreen Notebook
    Store: Best Buy
    Price: $299.99 with free shipping
    Lowest By: $30

    Is It Worth It?: If you missed it earlier, the ASUS X401A is back again at the same low price we saw last week. Based on a Sandy Bridge Pentium B970 processor, a power notebook this is not. However, this 4.1-lb. laptop is a steal for day-to-day use. Released in July for the back-to-school crowd, it packs 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and USB 3.0 connectivity. Just keep in mind, it lacks an optical drive.

  4. Toshiba Satellite L875D-S7230 AMD A6 2.7GHz 17.3" LED-Backlit Widescreen Notebook
    Store: OfficeMax
    Price: $399.99 with free shipping
    Lowest By: $190

    Is It Worth It?: This 6.2-lb. desktop replacement uses AMD's Trinity AMD A6-4400M to provide an overall balanced computing experience at a very affordable price. In addition to the dual-core APU, it packs 4GB of RAM, a 640GB hard drive, USB 3.0 connectivity, and an HDMI port.

  5. Lenovo IdeaPad U410 Ultrabook Intel Ivy Bridge Core i7 1.9GHz 14" LED-Backlit Widescreen Notebook
    Store: Lenovo
    Price: $849 via coupon code "DOORBUSTERS" with free shipping
    Lowest By: $50
    Expires: September 26

    Is It Worth It?: By now every major laptop manufacturer has an ultrabook in their product lineup. For Lenovo, the U410 is that laptop. Weighing in at 4 lbs, Laptop calls it, "an affordable Ultrabook that offers strong performance in a striking design." Indeed, this mobile powerhouse includes a dual-core Core i7 Ivy Bridge CPU, 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive with a 32GB SSD, and NVIDIA GeForce 610M 1GB graphics.

  6. ASUS Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5 2.5GHz 15.6" LED-Backlit Widescreen Notebook
    Store: TigerDirect
    Price: $449.99 with free shipping
    Lowest By: $30

    Is It Worth It?: Since its September appearance in our laptop roundup, the ASUS K55A has dropped about $40, yet kept the same modern-day specs as our last mention, re-defining what a mainstream laptop should look like and cost. The 5.6-lb. system is built around an Ivy Bridge Core i5 CPU with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive.

Louis Ramirez is a senior feature writer at dealnews.com, a website devoted to finding the best deals on consumer goods. The site pledges to list the best deal, whether or not it's from an advertiser, although it does work with advertisers to craft deals for readers. This feature first appeared in dealnews.com. 

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