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Best mainstream laptops

(Nov 23, 2009)

Dan Ackerman Dan Ackerman
Senior Editor
Mainstream used to mean the standard, 15.4-inch laptops everyone lugged around in backbreaking shoulder bags before ultraportable systems became popular. For general household computing, both 15- and 14-inch laptops will work fine, but we're seeing more people turning towards 13-inch and smaller laptops for travel, and larger desktop replacements for home use.

Apple MacBook Pro Summer 2009 (Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512MB, 15-inch)

Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro makes only minor tweaks to the previous version, but cutting prices and swapping the ExpressCard slot for an SD card slot are enough to make it a solid improvement over its predecessor.

Price: $2,114.98 - $2,299.00 (check prices)

Review date: Jun 11, 2009

  • 4 stars

      Overall score: 8.2 (4.0 stars)

Excellent

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Alienware M15x (Intel Core i7 720QM, 250GB HDD, 3GB)

Alienware's big and bulky 15-inch M15x pulls out most of the stops, thanks to a superpowered CPU.

Price: $1,499.00 - $1,849.99 (check prices)

Review date: Nov 13, 2009

  • 4 stars

      Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)

Excellent

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Toshiba Satellite E105-S1802

As a general purpose productivity machine, the Toshiba Satellite E105-S1802 strikes a number of right notes. Its dreadful speakers, however, limit its entertainment value

Price: $799.99 (check prices)

Review date: Nov 16, 2009

  • 3h stars

      Overall score: 7.8 (3.5 stars)

Very good

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Sony Vaio NW160J

HP's new Envy 15 packs high-powered components into a svelte 15-inch body. The result is an upscale status symbol that still shows a few first-generation rough edges.

Price: $1,899.90 - $1,924.99 (check prices)

Review date: Nov 19, 2009

  • 3h stars

      Overall score: 7.5 (3.5 stars)

Very good

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Toshiba Satellite A505-S6980

Good design and some really nice-sounding speakers round out the Toshiba Satellite A505-S6980, a very affordable mainstream laptop with excellent battery life for its size.

Price: $629.99 (check prices)

Review date: Nov 4, 2009

  • 3h stars

      Overall score: 7.7 (3.5 stars)

Very good

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