Top 10 laptops of August

The quarterly IT shows in Singapore are a great time to buy laptops. Expensive models get cheaper, while budget portables go for even lower prices. So it's little wonder that, in August, most consumers waited for COMEX before buying a notebook.

The most popular and bestselling models seemed to be mainly budget laptops, with almost half of them Netbooks. This category of machines are the hottest this season, with new models from Dell, Lenovo and even LG joining the fray later in the year. For those looking for a conventional laptop, the decision seemed to be an even split between HP/Compaq and Acer, especially for the lower-end models.

To find out which were the hottest models last month, we polled what readers searched for on our site, as well as sales figures from Singapore stores AAAs Com Solution and MC2 for our latest chart-busters.

	1.	Acer Aspire 2920Z (Pentium Dual-Core T2330 Processor 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM)   CNET Asia rating: 8 out of 10 The good: Good connectivity options; reasonable performance for the size. The bad: Speakers aren't great; no digital video-out. The bottom line: The Aspire 2920 should suit most people who are on a budget and like to stay portable, but who still need a bit of grunt. If this had an HDMI port, it'd almost be the perfect solution. Review | See full specs | Rate this
	2.	Compaq Presario V3800 series (Core 2 Duo T5750 Processor 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM) Outlook The Compaq Presario V3000 delivers a strong set of components and decent basic features for a competitive price. Optional addons like the HP XB 3000 expansion base further expand the functionality of this series with more connectivity ports and a better speaker setup. See full specs | Rate this
	3.	Acer Aspire One (Intel Atom N270 Processor 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM)   CNET Asia rating: 7.6 out of 10 The good: Secondary SD slot expands primary storage; slim and light form factor; inexpensive. The bad: Limited 8GB SSD; poor battery life; no Bluetooth. The bottom line: The Acer Aspire One may not be as feature-packed as the Eee PC 901, but the keyboard is certainly much better and could tip the scales in its favor. Review | See full specs | Rate this
	4.	HP Pavilion dv2700 (Core 2 Duo T7300 processor 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM)   CNET Asia rating: 7.4 out of 10 The good: Attractive new "special edition" bronze theme; includes media remote control and an HDMI port; dedicated graphics. The bad: Heavier than it should be; tinny speakers, unimpressive battery life. The bottom line: The 14-inch HP Pavilion dv2700 Special Edition packs plenty of extra features and a cool new paint job into a slightly too-heavy package with an uninspiring battery. Review | See full specs | Rate this
	5.	Acer Aspire 4920G (Core 2 Duo T7100 Processor 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM) Outlook The Aspire 4920G may be cheap, but it's definitely not boring with its Gemstone design. Billed as a portable entertainment notebook, it sports a dedicated ATI graphics card for additional video performance. Users who frequently edit videos or produce presentations will appreciate this affordable Acer PC. See full specs | Rate this