Online Consumers Prefer Smaller and Lighter Portable-Style Laptops

On March 18, 2008, PriceGrabber.com® published a survey that research portable-style laptop trends in its latest Consumer Behavior Report. Results are based on a survey of 1,868 online consumers conducted in late February 2008. PriceGrabber.com defines portable-style laptops as weighing less than six pounds and having a screen size of less than 15 inches measured diagonally. Of the 72 percent of respondents who indicated owning or using a laptop, 58 percent own or use a portable-style laptop. The consumers who owns different laptops for different use: work/school and personal use, carry the burden of traveling with multiple laptops. Of those surveyed, 38 percent need two or more laptops. The demand for portable-style laptops has increased over the past year as more consumers find it unpleasant to carry around the standard-size laptop. 88% of respondents say they would consider a portable-style laptop when purchasing a new laptop and 44% of online consumers say they would travel more often with a laptop if it were smaller and lighter. 46% of consumers stated that performance is the most important feature to consider when purchasing a portable-style laptop. Of the nine percent of respondents who anticipate spending more than $2,000 for a portable-style laptop, 62 percent said they value performance as the most important feature, while 11 percent value battery life and nine percent value weight. PriceGrabber.com also reveals that Sony Vaio was the highest year-over-year traffic of the most popular portable-style laptops on the market, between January 2007 and January 2008. PriceGrabber.com is a major online comparison shopping engine, with approximately 26 million consumers each month and up-to-date daily pricing of products supplied by more than 12,000 sellers.