If Acer offered a fantastic deal with its 5101ANWLMi, the Dell offering in the budget space is even better. Dell has recently updated its Inspiron 1501 laptop and equipped it with AMD’S Turion 64 X2 TL-50 processor. The X2 TL-50 processor is a dual-core affair, which runs on the same core as the MK-36 and has the same power rating of 31 Watts. This makes it a great chip as it not only offers a significant upgrade in processing power as compared to the MK-36 since it’s a dual-core, it consumes exactly the same amount of power as the MK-36 making it a must have for any good laptop.

In case you are wondering as to why is a dual-core better than a single core processor, here are the reasons why. A dual-core processor though running on lower clock speeds offers two cores as compared to a single processor on the same base. This gives the operating system two cores with which to work with and allows it to significantly speed up its operations. A dual-core processor actually offers a 40-60 percent upgrade in productivity cycles as compared to a single–core solution.

Though Dell offers a dual-core processor in its 1501 model, it has not skimped on the rest of its features. The 1501 comes comes with a default 512 MB of RAM, a 80 GB HDD, a 15.4 inch LCD with a native resolution of 1280x800, an 8x dual-layer DVD-RW drive, a Radeon 1150 Graphics chipset with 256 MB of video ram and has support for Wi-Fi via the Dell 1390 802.11g wireless mini-card. For peripheral connectivity the 1501 offers four USB slots, 1 VGA out, headphone and microphone jacks, and a 3-in-1 memory card reader. Firewire is woefully missing. In a good move, Dell offers Windows Vista Basic as the primary OS with the 1501. This saves consumers the trouble of having to hunt for drivers or for purchasing a separate OS. Dell ships the 1501, with a 6-cell battery that gives it a good battery life of around 3 Hours 20 mins. In the accessories package, Dell offers a good nylon bag as the carry bag for the laptop. While this bag is not as sturdy or luxurious like Acer’s Targus offering, it is still a good solution as it saves a consumer nearly Rs. 1,500 which is the cost of standard leather laptop bags.

The Dell Inspiron 1501 is easily the current king of mid-budget laptops. Not only does it offer a powerful dual-core processor system, it has great battery life and retails at a rather low cost of Rs. 37, 300. Our recommendation; like the Acer, the memory of the Dell should be upgraded to 1 GB RAM. This will extend your budget by Rs. 1,500 but will offer not only better processing ability, it allows you to upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium (Rs. 1,250 extra). Windows Vista Home Premium offers a great working experience with its new Aero interface and significantly updated features.