$700 - $800 Laptops

The Bottom Line: The Dell Studio 1745-3691MBU is an excellent desktop replacement, but others include a Blu-ray drive for around the same price.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.2 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 7.7 lbs, 17.3 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star

The Bottom Line: The HP Pavilion dv7-3065dx is a low-cost, big-screen laptop that will win you over with its Blu-ray player and pleasing design. It may lose you, however, when you hear its speakers.

Specs: AMD Turion X2 Ultra (2.4 GHz), 4 GB, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 7.7 lbs, 17.3 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: The Sony Vaio VGN-NW270F/S is a low-cost, Blu-ray-equipped laptop that makes a great choice for home use and, should you be willing to tote around a 15-inch machine, a decent choice as your everyday, take-it-with-you laptop.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.2 GHz), 4 GB DDR II SDRAM, 320 GB, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 6.0 lbs, 15.5 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: The Toshiba Satellite U505-S2870 is rather tank-like for a 13.3-inch thin-and-light. We'd be more willing to tote it around if its heavy-armor feel extended to the flimsy keyboard.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.13 GHz), 4 GB DDR II SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 13.3 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: With an ultra-low-voltage CPU, the Dell Inspiron 1470-3282 runs longer but slower than competing laptops. We're not thrilled with the performance hit, but we still found lots to like about this well-designed, 14-inch laptop.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (1.3 GHz), 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 320 GB, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 4.6 lbs, 14 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star

The Bottom Line: As a midsize entertainment laptop, the 14-inch HP Pavilion dv4-1555dx hits some right notes, but its poor battery life sours the deal.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.2 GHz), 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 320 GB, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 5.1 lbs, 14.1 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: 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

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.13 GHz), 4 GB DDR II SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 14.1 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: Dell's middle-of-the-road Inspiron 14 offers a decent low-cost mainstream Core 2 Duo package, but we would have liked better battery life and more graphics options.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.13 GHz), 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250 GB, Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English, 14.0

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: Reasonably priced, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y450 is a style-savvy, media-friendly laptop that unfortunately lacks gaming graphics.

Specs: Intel Pentium (2.16 GHz), 3 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 160 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, 4.6 lbs, 14 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, RoHS