All Laptops

The Bottom Line: Lenovo's popular IdeaPad S10 Netbook has been slimmed down and its price reduced, making it a better Netbook--as long as you can live without ExpressCard.

Specs: Intel Atom (1.6 GHz), 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, 2.6 lbs, 10.1 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star, RoHS, EPEAT Gold

The Bottom Line: Positioned as an affordable design-conscious Core 2 Duo laptop for less than $700, Toshiba's Satellite M505-S4945 is better for media than it is for all-day office work.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz), 3 GB DDR SDRAM, 160 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, 5.1 lbs, 14 in TFT active matrix, RoHS, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold

The Bottom Line: Alienware's new version of the M17x makes some welcome design tweaks and offers the best laptop gaming hardware you can get. Just be warned: it ain't cheap.

Specs: Intel Core2 Extreme Quad (2.53 GHz), 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English, 17

The Bottom Line: Saddled with a processor that's bottom-tier, the CQ60-417DX is a budget laptop with the chassis of a superior machine but the guts of an inferior one.

Specs: Intel Celeron (2.2 GHz), 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista, 15.6 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: Asus does a good job combining a Netbook and a touch screen in the Eee PC T91, even if the system hits a couple of first-generation snags.

Specs: Intel ATOM (1400 MHz), 1024 MB DDR II SDRAM, 16 GB, Microsoft Windows XP Home, 2 lbs, 8.9 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: Acer's 11.6-inch Aspire One AO751h might usher in a new standard for Netbook sizes, but the slower-than-usual processor can lead to frustration.

Specs: Intel Atom (1.33 GHz), 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, 2.9 lbs, 11.6 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: As long as you won't need more than what it already has, the budget-friendly Asus K50IJ-RX05 is money well spent.

Specs: Intel Pentium (2 GHz), 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, 5.7 lbs, 15.6 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: For a price just north of Netbook territory, Toshiba's chunky 15.6-inch Satellite L505D-S5965 has a solid, but uninspiring, selection of specs that at least won't hinder your basic computing needs.

Specs: AMD Athlon X2 (2.1 GHz), 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, 6 lbs, 15.6 in TFT active matrix, RoHS, EPA Energy Star

The Bottom Line: The Asus G71GX-RX05 is a solid gaming-oriented desktop replacement, but with a few shortcomings that could make or break a purchasing decision.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.53 GHz), 6 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 8.8 lbs, 17.1 in TFT active matrix, RoHS

The Bottom Line: HP makes excellent, slick multimedia machines, such as the Pavilion dv7-2185DX, but we'd still trade its quad-core CPU for a full HD 1080p display and Blu-ray.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Quad (2 GHz), 6 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 7.7 lbs, 17.3 in TFT active matrix