DATE: November 27, 2009 TO: John Rambo, Dean of Business Management FROM: Bryan, Executive Assistant SUBJECT:

LAPTOP COMPARISON FOR BUSINESS MANAGEMENT STUDENTS

The following is the report you asked for comparing the best laptops to use for next years Business Management students. The laptops that I have narrowed down to are the Dell E6400, the HP Mini 311, and the ACER Aspire 8940G. The Dell E6400 is the laptop that the ITM students are currently using. The HP Mini and the ACER are top of the line computers from their respective companies. Here is a brief background on the three laptops:

Dell E6400: Company: Dell Product Line: Latitude Month, Year Introduced to Market: August, 2008

HP Mini 311: Company: Hewlett-Packard (HP) Product Line: Mini Month, Year Introduced to Market: September, 2009

ACER Aspire 8940G: Company: Acer Inc. Product Line: Aspire Month, Year Introduced to Market: August 2009
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I have found the following six qualities to be most important when deciding on a laptop to best fit the needs of a business management student. The first is the price of the laptop. The next three features are performance factors regarding the laptops wireless speed, RAM capacity, and battery life. The last two are physical features measuring the laptops screen size and weight. The following is an in-depth analysis comparing each of these features in the three laptops. 1. Cost The price of a laptop is the most important factor to both the students and the faculty. Students are the biggest target market for inexpensive laptops for a good reason they have no money. It is important to the school that the cost stays within a reasonable range ($350 - $1,500). A high laptop price may impact a prospective students decision to join Ryerson. If the potential student finds out that they are required to buy a $2,000 laptop on top of tuition fees, (add comma) it will not look good on Ryerson. A. Dell E6400:

The E6400 laptop ranks second in the pack in terms of the price at a cost of $739.99. Dells underlying business strategy is to create standard parts on its laptop models to save money. Dell minimizes the variety of parts it needs to produce by standardizing. More demand for fewer parts allows Dell to maximize its productivity. Dell does this by using cost saving techniques such as buying in bulk and mass producing. B. HP Mini 311:

The HP Mini is by far the cheapest laptop costing only $399.99. Netbooks are the fastest growing segment of laptops. A big reason for this is their affordability. Netbook producers reduce the cost by taking away from the (delete the) some of the laptops other features such as its processing speed and physical dimensions.
C.

ACER Aspire 8940G:

The ACER Aspire is the most expensive laptop at a price of $1,349.95. The ACER is still relatively cheap compared to the rest of the laptop market. However, the worlds number one (HP) and number two (Dell) laptop companies definitely have a competitive advantage over ACER when it comes to price. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/18/biz_07forbes2000_The-Global2000_MktVal.html The HP Mini is the best choice when using cost as the deciding factor for the laptop choice. The Mini is nearly half the cost of the Dell and less than one third the cost of an ACER.

2. Wireless Speed
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The demand has never been higher for wireless internet. Students have a need to be connected to the world all the time whether it be at home, at work, or at school. At Ryerson, the only way for a student to connect their laptop to the internet is wirelessly. The faster the wireless card is, the more productive the student is. Most new laptops have an 802.11b and/or 802.11g wireless card. These cards allow the user to have a net bit rate of 54 megabits per second (Mb/s). http://wndw.net/pdf/wndw2-en/wndw2-ebook.pdf However, in September of 2009 the 802.11n was released. This is much faster than the 802.11b and 802.11g cards with a net bit rate of 600Mb/s. This clear advantage over the b/g wireless cards may not be so useful to students at Ryerson University because it has not yet upgraded to an 802.11n transmitter. This means that students at?? with an n card will be at the same internet speed as those with b and g cards. http://www.wirevolution.com/2007/09/07/how-does-80211n-get-to-600mbps/ A. Dell E6400:

The Dell laptop comes with the 802.11 b/g wireless card. B. HP Mini 311:

The HP Mini 311 comes with the 802.11 b/g wireless card.
C.

ACER Aspire 8940G:

The ACER Aspire comes with 802.11 b/g/n wireless card. The ACER Aspire has the fastest wireless connection of the three laptops with the 802.11n wireless card. This does not make a difference because Ryerson doesnt have the n technology. However, it will be useful in the coming years as Ryerson makes the change to the faster wireless technology.
3. RAM Capacity

When it comes to RAM capacity, 2 gigabytes (GB) RAM is the optimal amount. Anything less than 1 GB is too little and will not run the laptop fast enough. Anything over 4 GB is the best choice for RAM. A. Dell E6400:

The Dell E6400 comes with 2 GB of RAM. Again, this is the optimal amount, but it could be better. B. HP Mini 311:

The HP Mini comes with 1 GB RAM memory with the option to upgrade to 3 GB. However, this will cost more money for the upgrade.
C.

ACER Aspire 8940G:

The ACER has the most RAM by far with 8 GB. The ACER Aspire is the best choice when looking at RAM. Having more RAM will not be a huge advantage for Business Management students. Most the tasks they carry out are simple
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things like creating a word document, take comma out or powerpoint document. These tasks can run just fine on 1 GB of RAM.

4. Battery Life Classrooms at Ryerson do not have enough outlets for every student to plug in their laptop. Students require their laptop to have enough battery power to last them through class. The maximum length class offered by Ryerson is 4 hours long. It is therefore important to have a battery life in the 3-5 hour range. Anything that lasts longer would only be a benefit, giving students more flexibility. A. Dell E6400:

The Dell E6400 laptop comes with a 6 cell lithium ion battery. The battery allows the laptop to be powered for 4 hours, ranking second among the three laptops. B. HP Mini 311:

The HP Mini 311 also comes with a 6 cell lithium ion battery. The HP Mini is smaller than the average laptop, resulting in more efficient power use. The 6 cell battery can power the Mini for 5.5 hours, ranking the best among the laptops. This is a big advantage because students can go to two classes without having to plug in their computer.
C.

ACER Aspire 8940G:

The ACER Aspire uses an 8 cell lithium ion battery. The ACER is has the biggest dimensions out of the three laptops (440mm X 295mm). This requires more power and only keeps the laptop alive for 3 hours on battery life. The HP Mini 311 has the best battery performance. The Dell and the ACER lag well behind with almost half the battery life.
5. Screen Size and Weight

When it comes to screen size, the smaller the screen, the better. A big screen will take up too much room on a students desk. A big screen size will normally drain the battery faster than a small screen. Bigger screens also add weight to the laptop. Students will be traveling often with their laptops from home to class. It is important for the laptops to not weigh too much as it will cause an inconvenience to students.

A.

Dell E6400:

The Dell laptop is second in screen size and second in weight. The screen size is average for a laptop, measuring 14.1 inches. The Dell weighs 4.3 lbs. This is the typical weight of a school textbook, and slightly longer than a textbook length wise.
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Therefore, it should fit in a students backpack and be fit for transportation at no inconvenience. http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/BettyTan.shtml B. HP Mini 311:

The HP Mini is a very small laptop with a screen diagonal measuring 11.6 inches. A small screen size results in reducing the weight. The HP Mini weighs only 3.22 lbs. This makes the laptop the best choice from a carrying standpoint. The small screen size also means that the laptop can fit onto the students desk with lots of room to spare.
C.

ACER Aspire 8940G:

The ACER Aspire has the largest screen at 18.4 inches long. Students can have trouble fitting a laptop this bid onto their deskspace at school and into their backpack. The large screen is the number one factor behind why the laptop also weighs so much. Its weight is 10.1 lbs. This is more weight than two school textbooks. It can be inconvenient to carry around this much weight to and from school every day. The HP Mini is the best choice when considering screen size and weight. It has the smallest screen size by far of the three laptops. Its weight is also less than the other two laptops. Best choices among different features Feature: Dell E6400 HP Mini 311 ACER Aspire 8940G Cost Wireless Speed RAM Capacity Battery Life Screen Size Weight

There are many other important features in laptops too look for. Things like high definition screens, windows 7, and storage space are necessary. All these things were present in the three laptops so comparing these features was not needed. My recommendation for the choice of laptop is the HP Mini 311. It is superior to the Dell and ACER in cost, battery life, screen size, and weight. In the areas where it is not the best (wireless speed and RAM capacity) it is not far behind.
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&series_name=mini311_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/noteb ooks/Mini/mini311_series http://www.acer.ca/acer/datasheet.do? LanguageISOCtxParam=en&sp=page17e&ctx2.c2att1=27&CountryISOCtxP aram=CA&ctx1g.c2att92=474&kcond65e.c2att101=69443&ctx1.att21k=1 &CRC=4032346837