Laptops Cost on Average $1,300 This Month
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little 'Business Buzz' right now. Just in time for the holidays, buying a laptop will not wipe out your savings. Sasha Salama has the story from the Nasdaq market site. Good morning.</s>SASHA SALAMA, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That's right, if you are looking for a real bargain this holiday season, you might want to look at laptop computers. According to NPD Group, they are real bargains, partly because of some stiff competitions between two of the key computer makers out there, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. They are trying to get a lot of business. And what we are seeing is that on average laptops are selling for $1,300 and NPD Group says that is a new low. Some savvy shoppers may even be able to find some better deals. Best Buy recently sold an entry level Toshiba laptop with a DVD player and Windows XP for $499, that was after rebates. Overall, in terms of global sales in the third quarter, laptop sales were up 40 percent from a year ago. That's according to IBC. And desktop sales are up just 11 percent. So laptops seem to really be outpacing the desktops, in part because there is something called Wi-Fi out there. Wireless Fidelity means that you can -- you don't have to plug in your laptop, you can just bring it and work off of it and you are wireless. That's been very hot. And there's more power in laptops. They are pretty much as powerful as traditional PCs. So, Carol, if you are looking for a very special gift and you are willing to spend about $1,300, a laptop may be your item for this holiday season.</s>COSTELLO: I'd have to really like that person.</s>SALAMA: Yes.</s>COSTELLO: Sasha Salama live from the Nasdaq market site. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com