Hot Weekend Deals Include 9-hour Notebooks and Netbooks

It’s getting down to crunch time when it comes to shopping for the 2009 holiday season. Hanukkah starts tonight and runs for 8 days and Christmas is under two weeks away. If you want to shop online — usually the best way to shop for technology gifts — you only have a few days left to order. Fortunately, there are still plenty of great deals, some better than we found on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Here are some of our favorites for this weekend.

Notebooks

• HP ProBook 5310m for $816 after $50 cashback. Many times, consumers are better off buying business notebooks and this is the best example. The ProBook 5310m has a drool-worthy anondized aluminum lid and deck, extremely responsive rubberized keys, and sturdy magnesium bottom. If the sleek, raven black looks don’t get you, perhaps the light weight (3.7 pounds), strong performance, and great battery life will. While you can get the notebook cheaper with a low-performance Celeron CPU, our recommended configuration usually goes for $899 and has the a 2.26-GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 320GB 7,200 rpm hard drive, 13-inch screen, and 2GB of RAM. Buy the notebook for $886 using Amazon PayPhrase as your payment method and get $50 back (Read Review | Buy)
  
  
• ASUS UL30A for $649.99. Want over 9 hours of battery life in a 3.7-pound, 13-inch system with a 1.3-GHz Intel SU7300 Core 2 Duo CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive?  If you’re answer is yes, this is your notebook. (Read Review | Buy)
• Acer Aspire AS573z for $499.99. You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much RAM. For under $500, you get a 15.6-inch notebook with a full 4GB of RAM, a 2.1 GHz Pentium Dual Core CPU, and a 250GB hard drive. It won’t be the fastest or lightest system in the world but it’s a great budget notebook for families and students. (Buy)

Netbooks

• Toshiba NB205-N210 for $309. While not as glitzy as the pricier, metallic NB205-N330, the plastic NB205-N210 still has a good keyboard and screen to go with its incredible 9.5 hours of battery life. (Read Review | Buy)
• MSI Wind U123 for $299.99. As inexpensive as netbooks have become, it’s still rare to find one with a long-lasting 6-cell battery for under $300. The MSI Wind U123 combines a great keyboard, wonderful performance, and long battery life in a stylish package. (Read Review | Buy)
• Acer Aspire One AOD250  with Android / Windows for $334. Acer’s 10.1-inch AOD250 has always been popular for its strong battery life and solid build quality. This version is the only major brand netbook we’ve heard of that offers both Windows XP and Android OS in a dual-boot. (Buy)

Peripherals

• HP Color LaserJet CP1215 for $179.99 (with coupon SVMY478761). Who needs inkjet printers, when you can get a color laser, complete with a removable paper drawer that makes jams much less likely. (Buy)
• Iomega 320GB USB hard drive for $64.99. Easily back up and carry your data. No AC adapter is necessary as the drive is USB-powered. (Buy)
• Microsoft Wireless Mouse 3000 for $13.99. A great stocking stuffer, this portable mouse is incredibly comfortable and its RF receiver pops into your notebook and just works. (Buy)