Walmart says it will be offering a 15.6-inch notebook for under $200 in its post-Thanksgiving “Black Friday” sale. The eMachines eME528-2325 includes a 15.6-inch screen, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard disk drive, an HDMI output, and a DVD drive, according to the reseller.

Walmart's Black Friday laptop is one of the best mobile computing deals we can recall seeing — at least for those who value a device's power more highly than ultimate compactness. Of course, it also ships with a 64-bit edition of Windows 7 Home Premium, and is not available with Linux. However, at the $200 price, the "Windows tax" becomes irrelevant for those who don't mind wiping the hard drive and starting fresh with a Linux distro.

The eMachines eME528-2325

Compared to a netbook that would cost as much if not more, the eMachines eME528-2325 (above) includes a faster processor (the 2.2GHz Intel Celeron 900), and has a DVD reader/writer.

With its full-size keyboard and separate numeric keypad, the 5.5-pound eME528-2325 falls into the category of "desktop replacement" devices. It features a 15.6-inch display (resolution not stated), 2GB of RAM (expandable to 4GB), and a 250GB hard disk drive, eMachines says.

According to eMachines, the eME528-2325 has a four-cell, 2800mAh battery, though no claims are made as to how long this will last. The device lacks a webcam, unlike most netbooks, but on the plus side there's an HDMI port, the company adds.

Oddly, eMachines' product page doesn't say whether the eME528-2325 includes wireless networking (if not, that certainly dampens the deal). The company does allow that the laptop has three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, a headphone/speaker/line out jack, a microphone input, and an Ethernet port.

Features and specifications listed by eMachines for the eME528-2325 include:

• Processor — Intel Celeron 900 clocked at 2.2GHz
• Memory — 2GB of RAM, expandable to 4GB
• Chipset — Intel GL40 Express
• Display — 15.6-inch screen (resolution n/s)
• Storage:
  • 250GB hard disk drive (5400rpm)
  • double-layer DVD reader/writer
• Expansion — SD/MMC card reader
• Networking:
  • LAN — Ethernet port
  • WLAN — n/s
• Other I/O:
  • 3 x USB 2.0
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 1 x VGA
  • audio — mic in; headphone/speaker/line out
• Battery — 4-cell, 2800mAh
• Dimensions — 14.6 x 9.6 x 1.4
• Weight — 5.5 pounds

Further information

Listing the eME528-2325 as a Walmart exclusive, eMachines cites an MSRP of approximately $370. However, the device will be offered for just under $200 from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Nov. 26 at Walmart stories, according to the retailer.

The eMachines product page for the eME528-2325 can be found here, while Walmart's circulars advertising the device for $200 may be found here.

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