With the back-to-school season upon us, many laptop and desktop shoppers are looking for a new system suitable for dorm room living or high school homework. We've hit the well-stocked store shelves of brick-and-mortar retail stores to find boxed versions of popular PCs, from entry-level systems starting at less than $300, to $1,000-plus high-end multimedia and gaming rigs.
These specific retail models are similar to those you'd be able to configure online from companies such as Dell and HP, but they may have slightly different names and features. Also worth noting, thanks to frequent retail discounts, they can sometimes be a better deal than buying directly from a PC maker.
In addition to browsing the list below, if you pick up a Sunday newspaper sales circular to look for onsale computers, be sure to check here for a review for that specific model number before heading out to the store.
We've got a preview of the entire list of models that will be included in our retail review roundup, and we'll update this page with the final ratings and live links as the systems get reviewed over the next several weeks.
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LAPTOPS
Netbooks
Budget
Mainstream
High-end
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DESKTOPS
Budget (up to $599)
Mainstream (up to $899)
High-end ($950 and higher)
All-in-one |
Updates:
> See our favorite picks in the Netbooks category here.
> See our favorite picks in the budget laptop category here.
> See our favorite picks in the mainstream laptop category here.
See more news, reviews, and recommendations in our Laptops and Desktops sections.