All Laptops

The Bottom Line: Swelling the ranks of 11.6-inch Netbooks, the Asus Eee PC 1101HA impresses with its design and battery, but having to overclock a slower version of Intel's Atom CPU is a dodgy workaround.

Specs: Intel Atom, 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, 3 lbs, 11.6 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: Dell's Mini 10v keeps a lot of the features of the more expensive Mini 10, while dropping the price below $300. It's one of only a handful of $299 Netbooks that doesn't look and feel especially cheap.

Specs: Intel Atom (1.6 GHz), 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP3, 10.1

The Bottom Line: If you're searching for a great-looking thin-and-light laptop at a good price, the Lenovo IdeaPad U350 bridges the gap between personal and professional and is worth checking out. But its design is more successful than its horsepower.

Specs: Intel Pentium (1.3 GHz), 3 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 250 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, 3.5 lbs, 13.3 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, RoHS

The Bottom Line: As a highly configurable budget-range black box, Dell's Inspiron 1545 laptop line can be a good value--as long as you don't pile on the upgrades.

The Bottom Line: A fair price, an attractive design, and multitouch support may allow tablet shoppers to overlook the HP TouchSmart tx2-1275dx's middling performance and poor battery life.

Specs: AMD Turion X2 mobile processor (2.2 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition, 4.6 lbs, 12.1 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: The Dell Studio XPS X1340-024B is an attractive 13-inch laptop and a capable performer, but it tends to run hot and its poor battery life will leave you cold.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4 GHz), 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, 4.9 lbs, 13.3 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: With its low-end single-core processor, dedicated GeForce graphics, and 16:9 display, the unquestionably sleek, entertainment-minded Asus UX50V-RX05 is a good fit for a specific user profile: the movie lover/sometime gamer.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Solo (1.4 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, 5.7 lbs, 15.6 in TFT active matrix, RoHS

The Bottom Line: Its massive battery extends awkwardly from the bottom of the laptop, but the HP Pavilion dv3-2155mx is an otherwise compact thin-and-light laptop that should get students to class and back on a single charge.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 4.9 lbs, 13.3 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: Aimed primarily at school kids, the Dell Latitude 2100 is an interesting new take on the Netbook. It's worth a look if the unique features--including an especially rugged design and a touch screen--are important to you.

Specs: Intel ATOM (1.60 GHz), 1024 MB DDR II SDRAM, 16 GB, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, SP3, with media, 2.8 lbs, 10.1 in TFT

The Bottom Line: It may not inspire, but for less than $600, the Gateway NV5807u is a great value as an all-around 15-inch laptop.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 6 lbs, 15.6 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star