14 DAY TRIAL // The introduction of lower priced Sandy Bridge processors has enabled notebook manufacturers to release cheaper laptops built around these CPUs, and entry-level prices in the US have now dropped under the $400 mark.
Taking a look at the offer of various retailers, HotHardware has uncovered a handful of Sandy Bridge notebook computers that sell under this price tag from makers such as Toshiba, Acer and HP.
All of these models have in common the Pentium B940 processor that is used without any exception throughout the board.
While certainly no the fastest Sandy Bridge chip in existence, the Pentium B940, which was launch in the first half of June, includes two processing cores that come clocked at 2GHz, 2MB of Level 3 cache memory, as well as an integrated GPU.
The Intel Pentium chip was put to good use by Toshiba in the L755-S5216 Satellite that pairs it with a 15.6-inch screen, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 320GB hard drive with a 5400RPM spindle speed, a DVD burner, Wireless-N and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, all for $380 at Best Buy.
But Toshiba is not alone in its endeavor to supply a low-cost Sandy Bridge notebook, and Acer also uses the Pentium B940 CPU in the Aspire AS7570Z-4830 available at Office Max for $380.
Just like Toshiba's system, this also sports a 15.6-inch screen and 4GB of DDR3 memory, but Acer has upgraded storage space to 500GB.
Users who want an even cheaper notebook, can look at the 14-inch HP Pavilion G4-1104DX that sells for $350 at Best Buy.
Despite the lower price tag this also includes 4GB of DDR3 system memory, a 320GB hard drive three USB 2.0 ports as well as Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
If this is still too much for you than all you have to do is wait just a little bit more as the Back to School season is right around the corner and AMD's A-Series APUs are set to spice things up a bit in the notebook space by then.