Many people have contacted me and asked about pink laptops under $500, so I thought we’d do a little overview of which companies offer them, and what you can get for under $500. First out is Dell, who do have quite a few in that price range, and on a few, you’re even able to add some upgrades and still stay within budget.

Here’s the list:

Inspiron Mini 10 (1012) – $299.99 and up
This mini laptop comes in several different configurations, ranging in price from $299.99 to $449.99, but not all are offered in pink. The ones that do cost between $309.99 and $409.99, but you have to add $40 to the price for pink, so the price range for pink Mini 10s is really 349.99 to $449.99.

On a few of them, you also have the option to select a different look from Dell’s Design Studio for $85.00 extra, so if you want a “swirly pink” instead of the standard solid one, you’ll end up with a base price of $434.99 – $494.99. How about other upgrades? There are none (for hardware).

Inspiron 11z – $349.99
Same thing for this one – it starts at $349.99, with an additional $40 for pink resulting in a price of $389.99. But if you want to spend up to $500, you can add a few performance-boosters without going over budget. For an extra $75, you can either upgrade the processor from a Celeron to a Pentium, or the hard drive from a 5,400 rpm 160GB SATA to a 5,400 rpm 320GB SATA, putting you at a price of $464.99. If you prefer to add more RAM, you can almost stay within budget. If you keep the Celeron processor and 160GB HD and instead upgrade from 2 to 4GB or RAM, you end up at $509.99.

Inspiron 15 (1545) – $379.99
This midsize laptop starts at $379.99 + $40 for pink = $419.99. There are a few upgrades that will keep the price under $500: upgrading the RAM from 2 to 3GB is an extra $45.00 (=$464.99); upgrading the hard drive from 250 to 320GB is $25 (=$444.99), and 500GB is $45 (=$489.99). You could also upgrade the battery to a 6-cell for $40 extra (=$459.99).

Inspiron 14 – $449.99
Starting out at $449.00 with an additional $40 for pink (=$489.99), the price for this laptop does not leave a whole lot of room for upgrades, so you’d have to stay with the basic configuration on this one

Inspiron 15R – $449.99
One of the newest laptops from Dell (read our review in the “Dell’s Latest Pink Laptop – The Inspiron R” post), the 15R is priced exactly like as the 14 – $449.99 + $40 for pink = $489.99, so no room for upgrades.

Inspiron 17 (1750) – $449.99
Same thing here – $489.99 in pink.

So these last three are exactly the same price, but how do they differ? Here are the specs:

Processor – Inspiron 14 & 17: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4500 (2.3GHz/800MHz FSB/1MB cache)
Processor – Inspiron 15R: 2010 Intel Pentium P6000 1.86GHz (2 Threads, 3M cache)

Operating System – All 3: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit

Graphics -14: Intel GMA 4500MHD
Graphics -15R: Standard Intel HD Graphics
Graphics -17: Intel GMA X4500HD

RAM – 14 & 17: 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz
RAM – 15R: 2GB Shared Single Channel DDR3

Hard drive – All 3: 250GB SATA, 5400rpm

Battery – 14 & 17: 4-cell Li-Ion
Battery – 15R: 6-cell Li-Ion

Screen – 14: 14.0″ High Definition (720p) LED Display
Screen – 15R: 15.6″ High Definition (720p) LED Display
Screen – 17: 17.3″ HD+ WLED

Size – 14: 13.3×9.4×1″
Size – 15R: 14.8×10.31×1.25″
Size – 17: 16.4×10.9×1.2″

Weight – 14: 4.96 lbs
Weight – 15R: 5.83 lbs
Weight – 17: 6.8 lbs

Dell recently announced the release of their latest laptop series: the Inspiron R.

This new take on the Inspiron laptops comes in three sizes (14″, 15″ and 17″) and four colors (“Tomato Red”, “Mars Black”, “Peacock Blue”  and “Lotus Pink”). However, only the 14R and 15R are offered in pink (for $40 extra) and as always when you buy pink laptops from Dell, they donate $5 to Susan G. Komen for the cure.

They are not the most exciting-looking laptops we’ve ever seen (Ego Lifestyle, HP’s Vivian Tam and Sony VAIO Limited Editions get that award), but with their rounded corners and brushed metal look, they are pleasant enough to look at.

Glen Robson, Vice President of product marketing at Dell says: “The Inspiron R takes the rock solid Inspiron line and amps up the cool factor with a sexy and practical machine for entertainment and social networking along with all the usual home, school and work functions”.

One major difference between the Inspirons and the Inspiron Rs is that the customization options in the Rs are limited to color choices, warranties, 2 versions of Office and a whole bunch of gadgets. In fact, for the R series, it is not even called “Customize”; it is called “Personalize”. Oh, and you can also choose to Plant a Tree (for $2 extra) to offset your PC’s gas emissions. A true sign of the times.

What they have done instead is to create several pre-configured versions of each laptop, ranging in price from $449.99 for the most basic version of the 15R to $1009.99 for the most juiced-up 17R. However, since the 17R only comes in black, red and blue, we will leave that one out of our review.

The Inspiron Rs are not the smallest and lightest pink laptop computers currently on the market, but they are solid machines with some nice features. They all come with the Dell Dock – a bar of icons for your most often used applications (organized by category with “drop down icons” so your desktop stays uncluttered), which looks a bit Mac-inspired if you ask me.

The 15R models have a dedicated 10-key number pad, something I really like. You also have the option of choosing Intel Wireless Display, which allows you to” hook up” your laptop to your TV wirelessly, but that also requires an Intel Wireless Display TV adapter (not included with the laptop).

Here are the specs for the most basic and most upgraded options of the 14R and 15R:

This system sells for $479.99 + $40 for pink = $519.99

Processor: 2010 Intel Pentium P6000 1.86GHz (2 Threads, 3M cache)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics
RAM: 2GB Shared Single Channel DDR3
Hard drive: 250GB, 5400rpm
Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion
Screen: 14.0″ High Definition (720p) LED Display
Size: 13.5×9.69×1.2″
Weight: 4.96 lbs

Other features include:
- An internal 8X CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
- Dell Wireless DW1501, 802.11 g/n 1×1 Half Mini Card
- An integrated 1.3 Megapixel webcam with microphone
- 7-in-1 Media Card Reader
- Integrated 10/100 Network Card

This configuration sells for $939.99 + $40 for pink = $979.99

Processor: 2010 Intel Core i5-450M 2.4Gh (Turbo boost up to 2.66Ghz, 4 Threads, 3M Cache)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Basic, 64bit
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD5470, 64-Bit, DDR3 1GB
RAM: 6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3
Hard drive: 500GB, 5400rpm
Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion
Screen: 14.0″ High Definition (720p) LED Display
Size: 13.5×9.69×1.2″
Weight: 4.96 lbs

The extra features are the same as for the basic 14R, plus
- Dell Wireless 365 Internal Bluetooth

This system sells for $449.99 + $40 for pink = $489.99

Processor: 2010 Intel Pentium P6000 1.86GHz (2 Threads, 3M cache)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics
RAM: 2GB Shared Single Channel DDR3
Hard drive: 250GB, 5400rpm
Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion
Screen: 15.6″ High Definition (720p) LED Display
Size: 14.8×10.31×1.25″
Weight: 5.83 lbs

The extra features are the same as for the basic 14R, plus
- Keyboard number pad

This configuration sells for $999.99 + $40 for pink = $1,039.99

Processor: 2010 Intel Core i5-450M 2.4Gh (Turbo boost up to 2.66Ghz, 4 Threads, 3M Cache)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD5470, 64-Bit, DDR3 1GB
RAM: 6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3
Hard drive: 640GB, 5400rpm
Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion
Screen: 15.6″ High Definition (720p) LED Display
Size: 14.8×10.31×1.25″
Weight: 5.83 lbs

The extra features are the same as for the most expensive 14R, plus
- Blu-ray Disc Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
- Keyboard number pad

So, as you can see, the prices vary quite a bit, but you do get what you pay for. Remember, there are several other pre-configured systems for each model if your budget is somewhere in the middle. I have to say though, that I kind of prefer the “old” way of customizing my laptops from Dell. I liked being able to see for example all the hard drive options offered on one page instead of having to go back and forth trying to figure out the differences between each configuration.

Will choosing a pink laptop force you to skimp on performance? Not at all. The computer companies are well aware that their customers are looking for top performance as well as good looks and have configured their notebooks accordingly. These days it’s easy to find lightweight, high-performing fabulous pink laptops.

Dell, for example, has a great selection. In fact, most of Dell’s laptops are offered in pink (as well as many other colors); the Inspiron 1420 and 1525, the Studio 15 and 17, and the XPS M1330 and M1350 are all available in “Flamingo Pink”. All get great reviews from the pros and are equally stylish. If lightness and portability is most important to you, the XPS M1330 is the lightest at 4.7 lbs. If cost is your main concern, check out the Inspiron 1525: it is the most affordable, starting at $499, and weighing in at 6 lbs. The Inspiron 1420, the Studio 15 and the XPS M1330 were all given an “Editors Choice” rating from PC Magazine. The M1330 was described as “both refreshing and really quite amazing once you factor in both design and performance”. They add, “Dell slips all the latest technology trends into a very sleek crimson unit while keeping its performance ahead of the competition”. With a 2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 processor and 2GB worth of RAM, it’s fast and reliable, even when working in such memory-hogging programs as Photoshop

Another good choice is Sony, who offer a variety of their VAIO laptops in various shades of pink; the TZ Series in Luxurious Rosé Pink, the CR Series in Glossy Cosmopolitan Pink, the NR Series in Textured Cherry Blossom Pink, the SR Series in Glossy or Sunset Pink and the VGN-C290 CTO Series in Blush Pink. The Sony notebooks tend to be a tad pricier than some of the others, but they are chic, high performing and very light (the TZ series weighs 2.65 lbs with the battery).

An economical (and super light) choice is the ASUS EeePC (which comes in pink, blue, green, black, and white and can be found for less than $300). PC Magazine calls this 2-lb ultraportable notebook “a tremendous bargain for people with general-purpose computing needs who don’t plan on running any sophisticated software… and it loads everything you need for performing basic office and multimedia tasks.”

There is no shortage of pink laptops to choose from, and I predict that we are going to see many more colors and designs on the market in the coming years. With customization being a huge trend in all areas of life right now, I think we will soon be limited only by our own imagination when it comes to the look of our electronic gadgets.