With many hundreds of laptops on the market, choosing the right one is no easy task. And after you've figured out which model to buy, things get even more complicated. Almost all laptops, especially those sold online, are highly configurable, offering a number of processor, hard drive, and memory options, among a bevy of other choices. Make no mistake, your choice of components is key, because how your laptop performs and how long its battery lasts can vary wildly depending on what's inside.

For most users, the goal is to choose balanced components within their budget that deliver adequate performance and a decent amount of battery life. But how exactly do you do that? Should a large portion of your funds go toward a blazingly fast processor while you skimp on memory? Or should you stock the laptop with gobs of RAM and settle for a slow hard drive? The good news is that by concentrating on three main components--hard drive, memory, and processor--you can get the best mix of performance and battery life.

Of course, everyone has a different set of computing needs. Some want maximum performance--battery life be damned! Others need very little computing power but need to extend battery life for as long as possible. In future installments of "Paths to power," we'll be looking at a wider variety of processor brands and speeds, pitting AMD against Intel to see who offers more bang for the buck. (Be sure to check out the desktop team's Dual-core desktop CPU bout: AMD vs. Intel for more along those lines). In this first installment of "Paths to power," however, we take a close look at eight different ways to set up a laptop with a focus on two different Pentium M processors. The results might surprise you.


Brian Nadel is a freelance writer based in New York who is a regular CNET contributor. He has also written for Popular Science, PC Magazine, Mobile Computing & Communications, and Business Tokyo.