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

Are you thinking of getting a new pink laptop this fall? If so, the timing is great. There are several new products on the market (read our overview of Dell’s Studio 14z and keep checking back for reviews of other laptops – they’re in the works), and special deals abound (Dell, Sony and Toshiba offer the most generous ones).

To save you all some time, we’ve put together a list (in alphabetical order) of of who’s offering what (as of today, August 14, 2009):

Aspire One @ B&H, Target, Sam’s Club
Free shipping

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA @ Newegg, Buydig & B&H
Free shipping

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1008HA @ Newegg
$3 rebate
Free shipping

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1008HA @ Buydig & B&H
Free shipping

ASUS Disney Netpal @ Toys-R-Us
Free speaker set

ASUS Disney Netpal @ Amazon
50% off select magazine subscriptions

Mini 10
$248 rebate
Free shipping

Mini 10v
$123 rebate
Free shipping

Studio 14z
$140-$165 rebate
Free upgrade to Windows 7

Studio 15
$148 rebate
Free shipping
Free battery upgrade
Free HD display upgrade
Free upgrade to Windows 7

Studio 17
$25-$50 rebate
Free shipping
Free battery upgrade
Free HD display upgrade
Free upgrade to Windows 7

Inspiron 14
$133-139 rebate
Free shipping
Free battery upgrade
Free HD display upgrade
Free upgrade to Windows 7
Free Microsoft Office Home & Student or Wasabi Photo Printer

Inspiron 15
$50-$75 rebate
Free shipping
Free battery upgrade
Free HD display upgrade
Free upgrade to Windows 7

Mini 110-1037NR XP Edition, swirl pink chic
$40 rebate
$40 rebate on a DeskJet 4940 with purchase of computer
Free HP DeskJet D1560 or D4360 with purchase of computer

IdeaPad S10-2
$90 rebate
Free shipping

MSI Microstar WindBook U100-427US @ J&R
$10 rebate
Free shipping

MSI Microstar WindBook U100-427US @ PC Connection
Free shipping

NC10-11GP @ Newegg, Buy.com, J&R, PC Connection & Buydig
Free shipping

VAIO CS Series
$50 – $100 rebate on processor upgrades
$10 – $100 rebate on memory upgrades
$10 – $30 rebate on hard drive upgrades
$55 – $150 rebate on Microsoft Office
100 free song downloads
Free choice of certain colors (Cosmopolitan Pink is free)
Free engraving
Free shipping

VAIO SR Series
$50 – $100 rebate on processor upgrades
$10 – $100 rebate on memory upgrades
$10 – $100 rebate on hard drive upgrades
$55 – $150 rebate on Microsoft Office
100 free song downloads
Free choice of color
Free engraving
Free shipping

VAIO P Series
100 free song downloads

Mini NB205-N313P @ Amazon
50% off select magazine subscriptions
Free shipping

Mini NB205-N313P @ Newegg
Free shipping

Satellite U500-ST6321
$125.25 rebate
Free upgrade to Windows 7
Free choice of certain colors (Luxe Pink is free)
Free carrying case
Free Norton security for 1 year
Free 2GB flash drive
Free shipping

Qosmio X305 (All models)
Free upgrade to Windows 7
Free “Gears of War” Game
Free carrying case
Free Norton security for 1 year
Free 2GB flash drive
Free shipping

NB205- 313 Netbook @ Toys-R-Us
Free speaker set

Don’t get me wrong, I love Sony’s laptops – the designs are really slick and they always come with a bunch of extras – but I have to say I find their website quite tricky to navigate (to say the least) if you’re trying to find out what’s available in pink.

I recently spent the better part of an afternoon trying to figure out the easiest way to find and compare Sony’s pink notebook offerings, and this is what I found:

• If you go to their homepage and navigate to the lineup of laptops, the different models are displayed. When you click on each one, a little window pops up with a short list of specs and the available colors. Doing this tells us that only the SR and the CS are available in pink.

• However, if you click on the NS, that little window pops up, telling you that this model is available in Nightfall Blue, Granite Silver and Silk White. BUT, if you click on the “Shop Now” button in that window, and then on the “Buy Now” button in the next, what appears on the list if not a NS notebook in “Sunset Pink”. Hm.

• AND, if you instead of clicking on a specific model in the main window, click the “Help me choose” button and in the following window select Color – Pink, you are given 5 models to choose from. The day I did this, my list included a CR590EBP, the CS290JEP, NS235J/P, a TZ250N/P and a TZ350N/P.

Oddly, this list does not include the SR. It does include the CS and NS mentioned above, as well as 3 models from the outlet. But the only way you find out that they are from the outlet is if you click on one of them, and in the resulting product window look up top, right beneath the tabs of the website, for the page thread (it will say: Home>VAIO® Computers Outlet>Notebooks Outlet>VAIO® TZ Series Notebook PC). I could easily have missed that if I wasn’t looking for it, and what bothers me even more is that nowhere in this window does it state whether the laptop is just on sale or a refurbished model.

• If you instead head straight to the outlet for VAIO notebooks, you will find (at the moment) over 200 laptops in various colors, some on clearance, some refurbished. You can’t search on color here, so you have to scroll through the list. Interestingly, I found two clearance (i.e. NOT refurbished) models in pink here, which did not show up in any other search: a TZ340, and a CR190. However, the TZ350N/P from our list above did show up here in the outlet as well.

I also found several pink refurbished models at the outlet: SR290s, TZ2000, TZ340, CR290, CS110, but since they are not mentioned anywhere else, one has to assume that for refurbished models, you need to go straight to the outlet, which is perfectly reasonable.

• I also tried typing in “pink notebook” in the search window on the main notebook page, and got a list with the following models: SR390, CS290, NS235, CS110 (refurbished), TZ350 (on clearance).

• A search for “pink laptops” in the same window resulted in a list of: SR390, CS290, NS235, CS190, SR190, and SR165 (those last 3 are listed as “no longer available for purchase”).

• My search for “pink computers” brought up (as far as laptops): SR390, CS290, NS235, CS110 (refurbished), TZ350 (on clearance), CS190, SR190, and SR165 (“no longer available for purchase”), so that’s the same as the other two searches combined, but there was also an additional model that showed up here: the C290, which is available and as far as I can tell is neither refurbished or on clearance.

I am not trying to do any Sony-bashing here or suggest that they are being dishonest in any way. I think that it’s an oversight on their part and that their website needs a bit of double checking and tweaking.

What I did want to do was to bring it to your attention so that you don’t end up with a refurbished laptop unintentionally, or give up on your search for a particular pink Sony laptop before you’ve tried all possible ways to find one.

Gone are the days when computers only came in dull gray or black. These days, we can all match our computer to our outfit with the addition of colorful laptops. Pink laptops in particular are quickly gaining popularity among women (and even a few men). It comes as no surprise; who wouldn’t rather be showing off a shiny pink laptop computer at their local cafe rather than the run-of-the-mill black or gray one.

So who sells pink laptops? Many of the large computer companies – Dell, Samsung, Asus, Sony to name a few – now offer them in various shades of pink.

This past spring, Dell added several color options to their sleek, high-performance XPS M1330 and M1530. The addition of color was a good idea; they have proven incredibly popular and everyone from customers to reviewers raves about them. The XPS M1330 received 37 awards in 2007; PC World named it their “Winner of Best Buy” and it got “Winner of the A-List” from PC Authority.

What if you have your eye on a particular laptop and it (gasp) is not offered in pink? (hello, Apple fans!) No worries, there are companies that will customize the color for you. Gen-X-PC for example will match any PMS (Pantone) or Hex color and you get a choice of 4 different finishes – solid, metallic, pearl or color shift. They can also add a custom design if you want your notebook to stand out even more.

Colorware, Inc. takes it a step further and offers customized color on a variety of devices in addition to laptops, such as mice, iPods, iPhones, Blackberries, gaming consoles and even HDTV screens! You can buy your laptop (or iPod, iPhone, etc.) directly from them or send in one you already own for customization.

For the most splurge-worthy design, the Tulip Ego laptop made by the Dutch company Ego Lifestyle gets my vote. With rounded corners and a chrome handle that makes it look more like a purse than a computer, it is absolutely stunning. And the colors! Wow! It comes in a ton of designer fabrics and finishes (which can be changed whenever you want) that make you want to throw caution to the wind and slap down that credit card. Just check out the fuchsia “Goddess” and the pale pink “Zephyr” from their Exotic collection, or “Destiny” from the Design collection. Prices range from $5,000 for the basic leather design, to over $300,000 for the diamond-encrusted edition…

Whether you decide to buy one of these new stylish pink laptops or customize the one you already own, you can be sure that your notebook will make you stand out from the crowd.

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.