EPEAT Gold Laptops

The Bottom Line: Samsung brings a different look to a generic Netbook build with the N310, but is there any good reason this costs almost $500?

Specs: Intel Atom (1.6 GHz), 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, 2.9 lbs, 10.1 in TFT active matrix, EPEAT Gold, EPEAT gold

The Bottom Line: The stylish design and high-end feel of the Toshiba U505-S2940 don't make up for mediocre ergonomics and performance that can be had for less in other laptops.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 4.9 lbs, 13.3 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star, RoHS, EPEAT Gold

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, RoHS, EPEAT Gold

The Bottom Line: HP's biz-minded Mini 5101 is a successor to the Mini 2140 (one of our all-time favorite Netbooks). It looks and feels great, but for a premium-price Netbook, we expect to get more features, not fewer.

Specs: Intel Atom (1.66 GHz), 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, 2.9 lbs, 10.1 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold

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, EPEAT Gold, RoHS

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, EPEAT Gold, EPA Energy Star, RoHS

The Bottom Line: The Toshiba Satellite P505D-S8930 is perfect if you need a large-screen portable computer, but you're not too much of a multitasker or in need of a long battery life.

Specs: AMD Turion X2 mobile processor (2.2 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 9.7 lbs, 18.4 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star, EPEAT Gold, RoHS

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, RoHS, EPEAT Gold, EPA Energy Star

The Bottom Line: 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.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.53 GHz), 4096 MB DDR3 SDRAM, 250 GB, Apple MacOS X 10.6, 5.5 lbs, 15.4 in TFT active matrix, EPEAT Gold, EPA Energy Star

The Bottom Line: For $999, it's hard to beat this MacBook's nearly MacBook-Pro-level specs if you're in the market for a budget Apple laptop.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.13 GHz), 2048 MB DDR2 SDRAM, 160 GB, Apple MacOS X 10.5, 5.1 lbs, 13 in TFT active matrix, EPEAT Gold, EPA Energy Star