Eurocom D901C Phantom-x

Eurocom D901C Phantom-X Review
by Nate Ralph, PC World
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Feb 5 - When it comes to the desktop replacement category of laptop PCs, users want the power and utility of a full-fledged computing rig without the hassle of being chained to a particular desk. Eurocom obliges with the D901C Phantom-X, a boxy behemoth that makes a few questionable compromises to deliver potent performance in a (theoretically) portable package.

Lenovo Thinkpad W700

Lenovo ThinkPad W700: The Graphic Artist's Notebook Review
by Alan Stafford, PC World
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Dec 13, 2008 - Can't decide between a desktop PC and a laptop? How about a workstation and a laptop? Lenovo's ThinkPad W700 desktop replacement (and desktop-size) laptop incorporates many of the latest mobile workstation features while also packing in a few unusual--and very welcome--goodies for the graphic artist or CAD designer.

Lenovo Thinkpad X200

Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Ultraportable Laptop Review
by Carla Thornton
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Aug 6, 2008 - Equipped with the new Centrino 2 processor, Lenovo's ThinkPad X200 looks a mild-mannered ultraportable, and yet it can leap tall workloads in a single bound. Its battery life is phenomenal, and the keyboard is huge. In short, this is a much better notebook than the ThinkPad X61, which it replaces, and a surefire winner for on-the-run execs.

Because it bears a lower model number, you might imagine that this a less-powerful version of the ThinkPad X300, but the X200 actually has a more recent processor. The X300 has a 13.3-inch display, however, while the X200 has a 12.1-inch screen. Ah, but what you'll see when you fire this baby up!
At just under 3 pounds with its lightest battery installed, the X200 weighs a few ounces less than the ThinkPad X61, despite offering the same 12.1-inch wide screen and a bigger keyboard. The bright little screen has an easy-to-read 1280-by-800-pixel resolution, making it quite comfortable for work on the go. And the built-in Webcam keeps you in visual touch with your colleagues.

Toshiba Satellite A205-S6808 Notebook

Multitask and Not Bog Down
The more memory a PC has, the faster your programs run and the more windows you can work in simultaneously. Equipped with memory between 1GB and 3GB, this laptop should be able to handle just about any task you can throw at it without bogging down too much. For instance, if you're a multitasker and you'd like to burn a music CD in one window while watching your favorite DVD movie (for the umpteenth time) in another--while flipping between your inbox and your browser to work on your blog during the movie's boring parts--this laptop can manage it all without a hiccup.
Suited for Commuting and Other Short Trips
Because of its midsize screen and other middle-of-the-road characteristics, this notebook qualifies as an all-purpose portable. Though it might not have the biggest hard drive or all the latest card slots, its features--and accordingly, its price--are a good fit for most people who need to get work done in mainstream applications. On this laptop, you'll be able to compute comfortably in word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail, and browser applications, and enjoy music or a DVD movie with headphones. This laptop, lighter and easier to carry than a desktop replacement, is also a better choice for commuting and other short trips.

Micro Express JHL9050

The JHL9050 laptop might not be much to look at, but Micro Express once again delivers speed at a reasonable price.
Micro Express has done it again. Following speed demons such as the JFL9226 and the IFL9025, the JHL9050 provides power and performance in spades. If only the company could iron out the lingering design faux pas, there'd be little to stop this unassuming $1199 all-purpose laptop from climbing to the top of the budget-notebook hill.

The JHL9050 comes equipped with Windows Vista Business; it's built for productivity, too, with 3GB of RAM and Intel's Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz T9550 processor. Impressive hardware begets impressive WorldBench 6 scores: It earned a mark of 110 during our litany of tests. In battery-life tests, it lasted 3 hours, 23 minutes--about the average for all-purpose laptops we've played with in the labs.

Polywell Poly X4800-EXTREME

Expensive desktop provides knock-your-socks-off performance and lots of rear-port connectivity.
Polywell certainly named this power desktop computer correctly. Its 3.2-GHz Core 2 X9770 CPU is Intel's current state-of-the-art Extreme (overclockable) chip, which means that this is an extremely fast desktop. At $4799 (as of August 8, 2008), it's also extremely expensive. Then again, no one ever said state-of-the-art would be cheap; the X9770 CPU alone costs nearly $1500; the equally fresh-from-the-mint MSI nVidia GeForce GTX280 graphics card, about $500; and the 4GB of DDR3 1600 memory goes for nearly as much. But the steep cash outlay that's called for buys you a knock-your-socks-off WorldBench 6 score of 141, as well as a gaming experience of 207 to 266 frames per second. Extremely fast indeed.

Part of the X4800-Extreme's excellent performance is due to a hard-drive setup we're beginning to see often on the power chart--pairs of 10,000-rpm, 300GB Western Digital WD3000GLFS VelociRaptor hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration. Not only are these 2.5-inch models mounted on 3.5-inch adapter sleds (as Western Digital calls them), they're energy-efficient. The sleds function as giant heat sinks that work so well that the drives are nearly cool to the touch even when in heavy use.
The X4800-Extreme is built around an extremely capable Gigabyte X48T-DQ6 motherboard with the most comprehensive array of rear-panel connections that I've ever seen in a PC. Besides a whopping eight USB 2.0 ports, the machine has both normal and 4-pin (mini) FireWire ports, optical and coaxial S/PDIF audio-out, six analog audio (7.1), and two gigabit ethernet ports. It also has motherboard headers for a pair of 2-port eSATA rear-slot breakout panels.

Aeoncraft AEON-8010

This high-powered system offers impressive graphics but a strange case design.
If you're on the prowl for a superfast PC, check out iBuyPower's new luxury brand, Aeoncraft. We tested Aeoncraft's Aeon-8010, which delivers the same hardware and superlative performance of a $5000-plus PC at the relatively reasonable price of $3595 (as of 3/23/06).

Our test unit owes its first-rate performance scores in part to AMD's dual-core, 2.6-GHz Athlon 64 X2 FX-60 processor and 2GB of DDR400 SDRAM. With this configuration, the system posted a score of 141 on PC World's WorldBench 5 tests--matching the second-fastest score we've recorded thus far and missing the top mark by a single point. (Xi Computer's MTower 64 AGL-SLI scored 142.)
The unit's graphics test results were also impressive thanks to ATI's top-of-the-line graphics card, the Radeon X1900 XTX with 512MB of DDR3 on-board RAM. With a frame rate score of 169 on our Return to Castle Wolfenstein gaming test at 1024-by-768-pixel resolution and 16-bit color, the Aeon-8010 ties for the highest score among our currently tested systems (as of 4/12/06). Not surprisingly, informal game play on Doom 3 was very smooth.

Enano EX7200

Mini-PC offers nice balance of low power consumption and good performance.
We tested Enano Computers' EX7200 ($1500 as of 9/12/07) for "Green PCs: A First Step," a story on energy-efficient computing. What we found was a cute, compact PC that's peppy in performance and light on power consumption.

The reason for both traits, partly, is that the EX7200 uses a 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 notebook processor, which uses less power than a desktop processor. Equipped with 3GB of RAM, our test unit earned a 79 in our WorldBench 6 Beta 2 benchmarking tests. That score is above average among recently tested value desktops. Its integrated graphics, however, gave our test unit a bottom-of-the-barrel graphics score.
But the EX7200 does well as an energy-efficient PC, consuming the least energy among the three desktops tested for this story. (The other two were HP's rp5700 Long Lifecycle Desktop and Dell's OptiPlex 755 Mini-Tower.) When idling, it drew a constant 24 watts. While performing our WorldBench beta's multitasking and Photoshop scripts, it consumed 4.6 and 5.2 watt-hours, respectively. (Watts measure a static rate of energy consumption. Watt-hours measure the energy used for a time-based task.)

Tangent Pendant LCD-7500

Tangent Pendant LCD-7500 Review

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Oct 30, 2005 - The Pendant LCD-7500 belongs in a crowded dorm room, on a cluttered kitchen counter, or anyplace else where space is at a premium. This all-in-one unit grafts a 3-GHz Pentium 4 530 PC onto the back of a 17-inch LCD display; it can act as a PC, a display, and even a cable-ready television. Another big space-saving plus: The unit's wireless mouse and keyboard dispense with cables and are convenient to store or move out of the way when not in use.

Priced at $1549, the Pendant LCD-7500 costs a bit more than a separate PC and 17-inch LCD display, but it's hundreds of dollars cheaper than similar all-in-one systems from big name manufacturers like Sony and HP. The unit we looked at comes with 1GB of DDR400 SDRAM, a double-layer DVD+/-RW drive, a 250GB hard drive, a seven-in-one media-card reader, and a television tuner with its own remote control.

Dell Inspiron 530

Impressive performance aided by dedicated graphics makes this model the best value in our test group of low-cost desktops.
The Dell Inspiron 530 was powerful enough to earn superior scores (for a value PC) in both its productivity and graphics performance tests, yet it's quite inexpensive at $689 (as of 2/7/08).

Our test system was based on a 1.8-GHz Intel Pentium dual-core E2160 processor and had two sticks of 1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM, for a total of 2GB of memory. It came with a 19-inch Dell SE198WFP wide-screen LCD (1440 by 900 native resolution), as well. Most value systems use integrated graphics that rely on main system memory, but the 530's graphics duties are handled by a 128MB nVidia GeForce 8300GS graphics card. The 250GB Western Digital Caviar hard drive provides an average amount of storage space for PCs in this price range, and our test unit had a DVD/CD combo writer, too.
As for performance, the 530 earned a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 73--commendable in the value desktop category, and slightly better than the 71 earned by the Compaq Presario SR5350F, which uses the same Intel Pentium dual-core E2160 CPU. The Inspiron 530 provided the best performance in the 3DS Max DirectX component of the WorldBench suite of all the value systems recently tested. Not surprisingly, therefore, it also earned the top scores among value systems for its graphics performance, making it the best choice for playing simple games. Because its graphics card has only a modest 128MB of memory, however, it still isn't powerful enough for intensive gaming titles, such as Doom 3 and Far Cry. In our Doom 3 tests, the system earned only a subpar score of 20 frames per second running at 1024 by 768 resolution with antialising turned on.

Cisnet Nascar PC

The NASCAR theme and special offers for racing fans set this system apart from your average value PC.
Are you constantly looking for the fast groove, worrying about stray tire marbles, or fantasizing about snug restrictor plates? If so, you're a NASCAR fan. (Or, at least, I hope you are.) And if you're one of those fans who can never get enough NASCAR, Cisnet (a subsidiary of ZT Group) has a PC for you.

The $868 NASCAR PC never lets racing fans forget their favorite sport. Checkered flags painted on the black minitower case--as well as on the 17-inch Cisnet NCA-701 flat-panel display, the keyboard, and the mouse--definitely catch the eye. Open Windows XP, and you'll see customized NASCAR icons and even a customized Start button. Special offers to NASCAR PC owners include a 30-day free trial to NASCAR.com's Trackpass and Raceday Scanner services, which offer tons of real-time and on-demand racing info and let you listen to live radio communications between racers and the pit on race days.
Ironically, the NASCAR PC itself isn't a particularly high-powered racing machine. Under the hood you'll find a 2-GHz Athlon 64 3200+ CPU and 512MB of RAM, which together helped produce a WorldBench 5 score of 83, about what we'd expect from a similarly configured value PC. (Cisnet does not offer a choice of CPUs with this machine.) And although the system has plenty of horsepower for listening online to live races or performing common computing tasks, it isn't well suited to demanding games; the integrated Radeon Xpress 200 graphics chip, which piggybacks on the system RAM instead of supplying its own memory, posted some of the lowest frame-rate scores we've seen on our Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Unreal Tournament tests.
However, you could substantially improve graphics

Sony Vaio VGC-LT38E Desktop

What You Should Know about the Vaio VGC-LT38E Desktop
All-in-One Design Fits a Limited Work Space
All-in-one computers such as this machine combine the display and the major components (processor, graphics chip, memory, storage, and so on) into a single physical package. Apple popularized the concept with the original Macintosh computer, and continues the trend to this day with its iMac line.
The chief appeal of an all-in-one desktop lies in its style and integration, and such systems are especially suited to people who have limited space in which to work. But all-in-one PCs often have few (if any) slots and bays for internal expansion, and cluttering up your desk with external USB storage and other peripherals could eliminate much of their appeal. If you do go for an all-in-one, it's a good idea to get a machine that has all the features and drive space you'll need over at least the next 18 months.

Dell Studio XPS

Dell Studio XPS Power Desktop Review

Dec 23, 2008 - This Studio XPS (model 435mt) includes a 2.93-GHz Intel Core i7 940 processor, an excellent CPU that delivers powerful speeds in conjunction with the system's 6GB of DDR3 (1066 MHz) memory. As you might expect, a 64-bit Windows Vista version--Home Premium--is this system's operating system of choice. It rests on a single 500GB, 7200-rpm Western Digital Caviar Blue hard drive; a good level of storage, but nothing that hits top-of-the-chart speeds. The PC is priced at $1999 (as of December 3, 2008), and $349 extra gets you a 23-inch Dell SP2309W display.

Micro Express Microflex 82B

Micro Express MicroFlex 82B Value Desktop PC Review

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Aug 27, 2008 - A powerful, fully equipped value-oriented system, the MicroFlex 82B sports a 3-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU, 2GB of memory, a 250GB Serial ATA hard drive, and Windows Vista Business. Unlike many budget PCs, the MicroFlex 82B ships with a dedicated graphics card--an nVidia GeForce 8800GT that carries 512MB of video memory. Thanks to its speedy processor and dedicated graphics, the MicroFlex 82B achieved a WorldBench 6 score of 117. While that doesn't quite reach high-end gaming PC territory, it makes this machine ideal for everyday computing tasks and even some gaming, too.

Apple iMac 2GHZ Intel Core 2 DUO 20" Desktop

What You Should Know about the iMac 2GHZ Intel Core 2 DUO 20" Desktop
All-in-One Design Fits a Limited Work Space
All-in-one computers such as this machine combine the display and the major components (processor, graphics chip, memory, storage, and so on) into a single physical package. Apple popularized the concept with the original Macintosh computer, and continues the trend to this day with its iMac line.
The chief appeal of an all-in-one desktop lies in its style and integration, and such systems are especially suited to people who have limited space in which to work. But all-in-one PCs often have few (if any) slots and bays for internal expansion, and cluttering up your desk with external USB storage and other peripherals could eliminate much of their appeal. If you do go for an all-in-one, it's a good idea to get a machine that has all the features and drive space you'll need over at least the next 18 months.

Apple iMac 2.16GHZ Core 2 DUO 24" Desktop

What You Should Know about the iMac 2.16GHZ Core 2 DUO 24" Desktop
All-in-One Design Fits a Limited Work Space
All-in-one computers such as this machine combine the display and the major components (processor, graphics chip, memory, storage, and so on) into a single physical package. Apple popularized the concept with the original Macintosh computer, and continues the trend to this day with its iMac line.
The chief appeal of an all-in-one desktop lies in its style and integration, and such systems are especially suited to people who have limited space in which to work. But all-in-one PCs often have few (if any) slots and bays for internal expansion, and cluttering up your desk with external USB storage and other peripherals could eliminate much of their appeal. If you do go for an all-in-one, it's a good idea to get a machine that has all the features and drive space you'll need over at least the next 18 months.

Amax Power 660+

Strong performance and easy expandability should appeal to budget-minded gamers.
The Amax Power 660+ offers a nice compromise between cost and performance that will appeal to the serious gamer or power user who can't quite afford a cutting-edge system.Our $3119 Power 660+ review unit came with a 3.6-GHz Pentium 4 660 CPU, 1GB of DDR2-533 SDRAM, an Asus EN6800Ultra graphics card (based on nVidia's GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics chip), and two 200GB hard drives in a striped RAID 0 array. The system produced a very respectable but not chart-topping score of 100 on PC WorldBench 5. More important to gamers, the Power 660 demonstrated the ability to comfortably run 3D programs: Graphics tests on Return to Castle Wolfenstein at 1280-by-1024 resolution returned a frame rate score of 143, the ninth fastest result we've seen. For Unreal Tournament at the same resolution, it achieved 317 frames per second, the eleventh best yet.
At first touch, the Power 660+'s thin aluminum case feels a bit flimsy, except for the thick aluminum door that covers the front panel. The security conscious will like the door's lock, which denies access to the startup button; the media-oriented will like the Sony DW-D26A/B2 double-layer 4X DVD+R drive (up to 16X in single-layer DVD+RW mode), the Sony 16X DVD-ROM drive, and a 6-in-1 media-card reader. The practical-minded will need a screwdriver to remove the door and access useful ports. You won't find any conveniently located USB or other ports on the front of the case; instead, they're under a hatch on the top of the box--a definite annoyance for anyone who regularly stacks things there.

Amax MAX64 3200n

Amax Max64 3200N Review

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Feb 16, 2006 - Amax's Max64 3200N delivers sufficient performance and storage to satisfy office or business users looking for something a notch above a typical value PC. Equipped with a 2.2-GHz Athlon 64 3500+ and 1GB of DDR400 SDRAM, the system posted a respectable score of 94 on PC World's WorldBench 5 applications benchmark--about what we'd expect from a PC of its configuration, and certainly fast enough to handle standard business applications.

Acer Aspire M5100 Am5100-ef9500a Desktop

What You Should Know about the Aspire M5100 Am5100-ef9500a Desktop
Compact Case Is Designed for Smaller Work Areas
This compact computer is smaller than the standard and midsize tower PCs that fit under your desk, making it ideal for limited work areas. Small case designs vary, too. However, such PCs tend to be underpowered (especially on gaming), and mini cases also have few available expansion slots and drive bays. Generally you'll have to expand the system via USB, FireWire, or eSATA peripherals, so make sure your compact system has a large number (and assortment) of ports.

Compaq DC5750 Desktop

The HP Compaq dc5750 comes in either a microtower configuration or the desktop orientation that we tested. HP calls the latter model a "small form factor" system, but it's nearly identical in size to Dell's desktop case. It's moderately attractive, with horizontal black fins and some shiny black pieces.The dc5750 ($1251 as of 05/09/2007) uses small, traditional fans inside--one in the power supply, located against the back of the case, and one mounted on top of the CPU's heat sink. The HP uses an air scoop to channel airflow over the heat sink. The system is reasonably quiet, though not nearly as quiet as the Dell OptiPlex 740 we tested at the same time. HP's off-the-shelf fans will likely cost less than Dell's, however, should you need to replace them out of warranty. The Athlon 64 X2 processor used in this PC can take advantage of AMD's Cool 'n' Quiet technology, which allows the PC to adjust the speed and voltage to meet the user's needs. AMD says that Vista systems can take advantage of the technology without a driver, whereas XP systems require one.

Compaq Presario SR5350F

Compaq Presario SR5350F Value Desktop PC Review
by Richard Jantz
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Feb 28, 2008 - The low-cost Compaq Presario SR5350F is an enticing Vista Home Premium system that's well-suited for running standard applications and for managing a large digital library of video, music, and photos. Like the eMachines T5246, the SR5350F is a prebuilt retail system available in only one configuration, so you can't select different components before you buy it. Priced at $680 (as of 2/7/08), the system's components include a 1.8-GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2160 processor and two sticks of 1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 memory (2GB total) mounted on an Asus IPILP-LC motherboard with integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics.

Lenovo Thinkpad T61 Notebook

What You Should Know about the Thinkpad T61 Notebook
Not Much RAM for Multitasking
The more RAM your laptop has, the faster programs will run and the greater number of windows you can work in at one time. If your needs are simple and you rarely do more than two things at once on your PC, the relatively modest amount of memory that comes installed in inexpensive laptops will be enough. Today the standard amount of RAM shipped in most PCs is 2GB. If you like to multitask--say, you want to launch a search for a file and start backing up data to a disc while you watch a news video--you need more memory.

HP HDX 18

As a desktop replacement, the HDX18 not only performs well, it makes your desk itself look snazzier, with great multimedia features.
HP's HDX line is fairly straightforward--it courts multimedia fiends. From its double-wide demeanor (with ample room for full QWERTY keys and a keypad) to all the plugs and ports offered here, the HDX18--a fairly fashionable desktop replacement--will stand out on your desk. The HDX18 isn't quite a desktop-destroyer like Toshiba's Qosmio X305 (Toshiba's Qosmio line has a well-deserved rep for awesome performance in games and stellar audio--hang in there, we'll have a review of the X305 up soon enough), but the HDX18's multimedia-mindedness proves that HP is ready to put up a fight. (We've also reviewed HP's HDX16, a very similar entertainment-focused laptop; the main differences are a smaller screen, a smaller hard drive, a slightly plainer keyboard--and a lower price.

Lenovo Thinkpad X200

This outstanding ultraportable delivers full-featured performance, great battery life, and a good keyboard.
Equipped with the new Centrino 2 processor, Lenovo's ThinkPad X200 looks a mild-mannered ultraportable, and yet it can leap tall workloads in a single bound. Its battery life is phenomenal, and the keyboard is huge. In short, this is a much better notebook than the ThinkPad X61, which it replaces, and a surefire winner for on-the-run execs.

Because it bears a lower model number, you might imagine that this a less-powerful version of the ThinkPad X300, but the X200 actually has a more recent processor. The X300 has a 13.3-inch display, however, while the X200 has a 12.1-inch screen. Ah, but what you'll see when you fire this baby up!
At just under 3 pounds with its lightest battery installed, the X200 weighs a few ounces less than the ThinkPad X61, despite offering the same 12.1-inch wide screen and a bigger keyboard. The bright little screen has an easy-to-read 1280-by-800-pixel resolution, making it quite comfortable for work on the go. And the built-in Webcam keeps you in visual touch with your colleagues.

Samsung X460-44P

Samsung's reentry into the U.S. laptop market provides solid competition--even for ultraportables--but with slicker looks and more features.
Welcome back, Samsung. You've been laying low in the U.S. market when it comes to notebooks, but after kicking the tires on the X460, I can honestly say you were missed. I mean, you manage to craft a 14.1-inch thin-and-light all-purpose notebook that's perfectly road-ready and goes toe-to-toe with Lenovo's ThinkPad X300--even though the X300 is an ultraportable-class machine.

That's right, I'm leaning more towards comparing this all-purpose laptop with a notebook in a lighter class than with other all-purpose models thanks to its design. You see, this is basically a Samsung X360 with upgraded parts (a slightly larger screen and a discrete GPU). It's even smartly priced considering what's on the table; our review unit goes for $1699.
That money buys you solid performance in the form of a 2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 CPU, 3GB of RAM, and a discrete GPU. Although the GPU is no powerhouse--it's a 256MB nVidia GeForce 9200M GS--it certainly gives you better graphics performance than many thin-and-light machines. In games, it could handle only 49 frames per second in Doom 3 (at 1024 by 768 resolution) and 70 fps in Far Cry. Numbers like those make me wish Samsung had followed the route of the new MacBooks, which sport the GeForce 9400M GS chips. At least that way you could play a game that came out in the past two years. The X460's processing power and battery life shine a bit more brightly; in our PC World Test Center WorldBench 6 tests, it hit a very respectable 93, while its battery ran for a nice, long 4.5-hour stretch.

Samsung X360-34P

Samsung's latest ultraportable laptop provides solid competition for Lenovo's X200, highlighted by slicker looks and a crisper display.
In recent months, Samsung has been lying low in the U.S. notebook market. But its new X360 is an interesting contender among ultraportable models--sleek enough to take on the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 or even the ThinkPad X200. Though its sex appeal can't match that of the Apple MacBook Air or the HP Voodoo Envy 133, this slim little machine may have enough positives to win you away from Lenovo's competing models--if you have a spare $2500.

That money buys you an ultraportable equipped with a 1.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U9400 CPU and 3GB of RAM. Despite its lukewarm configuration, the X360 still managed to eke out an average score of 73 on our WorldBench 6 test suite. But don't buy it if your intent on playing graphics-intensive games. Intel's integrated graphics system limps along in Doom 3 at a lousy 8 frames per second (at 1024 by 786 resolution). Hamsters on treadmills move faster. On the other hand, the X360's 128GB solid-state drive is fairly speedy; it is also largely responsible for the laptop's high price and low weight (only 3.7 pounds, counting the AC adapter).
The battery life of this ultraportable was most impressive, lasting a whopping 7 hours, 36 minutes in our stress tests. Lenovo's X200 still keeps the top spot on the endurance chart, however, at 8 hours, 54 minutes.
The X360 measures 12.2 by 9.1 by 1.3 inches, so a lot gets crammed into a fairly tight space. In fact it shares a lot in common with its big brother, the X460, despite having a smaller screen and lacking an optical drive. The 13.3-inch backlit LED on the X360 is amazingly bright. Good and colorful, without oversaturation, Samsung's new notebook is easy on the eyes. In fact, the screen makes for easy viewing under just about any lighting conditions, including direct sunlight. And the 1280-by-800-pixel resolution is perfectly reasonable for an ultraportable notebook.
Like Apple and Sony, Samsung opts for a cutout keyboard, on which the keys pop out through holes in the case. This arrangement gives the keys a more solid feel and creates good spacing between them. The result is comfortable, solid tactile feedback on every key press. Though the keys aren't especially textured, they don't feel flimsy.
You won't find superfluous multimedia shortcut keys on the X360. Instead, the laptop handles each special task through a combination of the 'Function' button and one of the F keys. (That's the only way to toggle the number lock and caps lock.) The only dedicated buttons are a shortcut to the Samsung MagicDoctor (a quick-fix finder for PC problems) and a speed-boost shortcut key (a toggle between basic power-saving settings and full speed). The mousepad is pleasantly sensitive, and the two buttons are well-spaced and solid to the touch.
The case is expertly built and ready for travel. Like the screen on its inner surface, the two-toned metallic lid stands out. The X360 squeezes a lot of ports into the case as well: VGA and HDMI for video, an ethernet jack, a modem, 802.11n Wi-Fi , Bluetooth., three USB ports around the sides, a five-in-one flash card reader, a PC Express card slot, and headphone and mic jacks. Throw in the 1.3-megapixel Webcam and the fingerprint reader, and you have a fairly robust package.
The sound is surprisingly big--strong enough to fill a small room and annoy cubemates. There's no proper subwoofer, but the mids and highs work well, and the volume reaches a high enough level that headphones aren't your only listening option.
People who loathe bloatware will appreciate that the X360 comes without much preinstalled software. It's not completely barren, however. Our test unit came with Samsung's one-step diagnostic and system recovery software, a quick troubleshooter for analyzing installation problems and getting you back to a factory-fresh state. You can also quickly reinstall important Windows files while keeping your data intact. The other programs on board consist of a speed-stepping shortcut that lets you quickly toggle between battery-saving and power modes, as well as the OmniPass security software, made to work in tandem with the built-in biometrics.
Samsung's X360 certainly doesn't come cheap. But with the 128GB SSD drive on board, you wouldn't expect it to be a huge bargain. Overall it's a solid machine for indoor and outdoor use. Lenovo's X200 now finds itself facing much stiffer competition.

Compaq HP 8710P

Handsome business laptop has a cutting-edge Blu-ray Disc drive and can moonlight as a hot 3D gaming station.
Light weight, solid graphics, and a good battery life set the HP Compaq 8710p ($2549 as of 10/9/07) apart from most other desktop replacement notebooks. It also happens to be a very elegant-looking laptop equipped with a cutting-edge Blu-ray Disc optical drive.

The 8710p is not customizable, but HP offers five different configurations on its Web site. Our review unit, equipped with a 2.2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7500, 2GB of RAM, and Windows Vista Business, gave us above-average speed, receiving a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 77. It performed a little better than an HP Pavilion dv9500t equipped with the same processor and amount of RAM, which earned a mark of 73, and a smidgen above the average of 75 earned by 17 currently tested desktop replacements. Thanks to its high-end, dedicated 256MB nVidia Quadro NVS 320M graphics card, the 8710 also proved to be a fine game machine, turning in one of our best-ever average-frames-per-second rates for a notebook: 142 in Far Cry.
Its battery life was tops for this class of laptop. Its 3.6-hour performance was 40 minutes longer than the 2.6-hour average, and it was the best of any currently tested 17-inch-screen notebook.
The notebook is nicely equipped across the board, especially if you have lots of peripherals to connect. It offers a whopping total of six USB ports, most of them conveniently located on the right side. The no-glare matte finish of the 1680-by-1050-pixel screen doesn't reflect office lights, and the keyboard is splendid. The mouse buttons, scored with tactile finger ridges, have a lot more travel than most, pressing deeply into the case. The keyboard includes not only a dedicated number pad but also a touch-sensitive shortcut (one of several backlit controls located at the top) that launches the Windows calculator at the tap of a finger. The only notable omission is an ExpressCard slot, passed over in favor of the older PC Card slot.
The 8710p's stereo speakers are unusually robust for a business laptop; music and movies sounded plenty loud and rich. And controlling volume by swiping the touch-sensitive keyboard gauge is a breeze.
Large but lithe, the 8710p bears a slight wedge shape. It measures less than 1.5 inches thick at the front, rising to 1.75 at the hinges. Its cool bluish-silver hues bestow a sophisticated look. A nice touch: Cream-colored icons stamped on top of the case conveniently identify the side ports. The 7.5-pound minimum weight is very good for this class, which averages 8.8 pounds.
The 8710p would be a great choice for any desk jockey seeking a laptop powerful enough to replace a desktop PC. Those doing graphics work on the go will appreciate it most.

HP Elitebook 2530P

There's so much to like about the HP EliteBook 2530P that it's hard to know where to start genuflecting. This little black and silver beauty meets all the basic expectations--great performance, full set of connections--and then piles on nifty extras such as two sets of pointing devices and a keyboard light. It's by no means cheap at $2499, but if you want your laptop to mean business (in this case Windows Vista Business), HP has a fairly desirable ultraportable for you.

Equipped with a 1.86-GHz Core 2 Duo SL9400 CPU and 3GB of RAM, the EliteBook notched a reasonably speedy WorldBench 6 score of 89. And don't forget the 80GB solid-state drive--it's skimpy capacity-wise and it's the main contributor to the machine's high price, but it also deserves some of the credit for the laptop's speed. (Want to save some bucks? 120GB and 160GB SATA hard drives are also options.)

The standard ultraportable disclaimer also applies here: This system can't play 3D games, because the video memory is integrated and the squeaky speakers sound pretty awful. Also, the EliteBook carries a standard DVD writer, not a Blu-ray high-definition drive. Otherwise, however, this little laptop should be able to handle just about any type of business or entertainment application. How does it compare with other ultraportables currently on the scene? Well, it outperforms and outspecs the HP Voodoo Envy 133 in just about every way except sex appeal. It solidly outperforms the Samsung X360 (an SSD-based notebook that scored a 64 in WorldBench 6) and lags a little behind Sony's pricey VAIO VGN-Z598U (which earned a 96).

The EliteBook comes with a big power pack that extends the back of the unit by about half an inch. The design isn't overly clunky, however, and the battery lasted a good, long time in our tests: 12 minutes shy of 7 hours. Most impressive, it outlasted most other laptops, save for the Samsung X360 and the Lenovo ThinkPad X200.

It even has an external power gauge, especially convenient for checking battery life when the unit is turned off. Just 3.8 pounds, the EliteBook would be perfect for stuffing in a briefcase or backpack and then working offsite all day, without needing to lug along the power adapter. And the 12.1-inch, 1280-by-800-pixel, wide-aspect screen is glossy and bright but not annoyingly reflective--one of the benefits of using a backlit LED panel.

The keyboard is a cut above. The stroke is short and hard, but the layout is elegant and includes two pointing devices, not only a touchpad but an eraserhead embedded among the keys. The eraserhead tip is wide and concave, with tactile nubs that make getting the hang of maneuvering the pointer easy. Each pointing device has its own dedicated set of mouse buttons, both exceptionally comfortable thanks to a soft rubberized finish. Need to get work done in a dark room or on a plane? Pressing a small black button at the top of the screen pops out a nearby keyboard light, an LED mounted in a tiny hood that shines a pale white glow on the keys.

The standard laptop connections are well covered. The EliteBook has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless capabilities, gigabit ethernet, an ExpressCard/54 slot, a separate SD Card slot, and a Firewire port, not to mention both modem and network jacks. Hate remembering a bunch of passwords? A fingerprint reader is provided in the lower-right quadrant of the wrist rest. You can communicate face-to-face with the built-in 2-megapixel Webcam, too. Though the machine has only two USB ports, one is powered. (If you need more, HP's $109 docking station for the EliteBook provides four USB ports.) The unit even has a plastic sheath on the bottom for slipping in a business card to quickly identify you as the owner.

Apple 15.4" Macbook Pro Notebook.

Multitask and Not Bog Down

The more memory a PC has, the faster your programs run and the more windows you can work in simultaneously. Equipped with memory between 1GB and 3GB, this laptop should be able to handle just about any task you can throw at it without bogging down too much. For instance, if you're a multitasker and you'd like to burn a music CD in one window while watching your favorite DVD movie (for the umpteenth time) in another--while flipping between your inbox and your browser to work on your blog during the movie's boring parts--this laptop can manage it all without a hiccup.

Suited for Commuting and Other Short Trips

Because of its midsize screen and other middle-of-the-road characteristics, this notebook qualifies as an all-purpose portable. Though it might not have the biggest hard drive or all the latest card slots, its features--and accordingly, its price--are a good fit for most people who need to get work done in mainstream applications. On this laptop, you'll be able to compute comfortably in word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail, and browser applications, and enjoy music or a DVD movie with headphones. This laptop, lighter and easier to carry than a desktop replacement, is also a better choice for commuting and other short trips.

Dedicated Graphics Card Improves Video and Gaming

A laptop equipped with a dedicated graphics card does a better job of playing videos--and video games--than a portable lacking a discrete board does. That's because video cards come with their own memory to make images look good on the screen; you get 128MB of video memory on a lower-cost card, and 256MB, 512MB, or 1GB on better ones. Without a dedicated card, your laptop has to borrow video memory from the main store of memory that the system uses to run other programs. As a result, everything slows down, but 3D games in particular will stutter, look bad, or not run at all. A good-quality graphics card in your laptop ensures that you'll be able to play any type of video, without adversely affecting other programs.

Supports DVD Burning

This laptop is equipped with a DVD burner, a slightly older type of optical drive. If you don't need the ultrahigh recording capacity of a new Blu-ray optical drive, and you don't care about watching high-definition movies on your laptop, a DVD burner should suit you fine. It can read and burn data, music, or video discs up to 8.5GB in capacity. A DVD burner is, of course, backward-compatible with CDs, but it cannot play the newer Blu-ray media because the two types of optical-disc technology use different lasers. In a couple of years, Blu-ray will completely replace the DVD disc format.

Satellite P300-ST6711

base
laptop includes:
Intel® Pentium® Processor T3400 (2.16GHz)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium 32-Bit
1GB memory
160GB hard drive
802.11a/g/n wireless
Integrated webcam
Fingerprint reader

ABS Mayhem G4 Revolution.

The ABS Mayhem G4 Revolution is a gaming notebook that, uniquely, offers two graphics processing units. When you want games and other graphics to look better on its 15.4-inch screen, flip a switch on the front of the notebook for the nVidia GeForce Go 6600 graphics card with 256MB of dedicated memory. When long battery life is more important, flip it back for the integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 which borrows RAM from main memory but conserves power.

However, even using the integrated graphics this portable's battery lasted only 2.5 hours--not very impressive, considering that plenty of notebooks equipped with power-demanding dedicated graphics often run longer by an hour or more. ABS estimates that, in graphics-card mode, the battery would last about 90 minutes.

The pricey $2149 unit I looked at came decked out for speed, including a top-shelf 2.26-GHz Pentium M 780 processor and a hearty 1GB of RAM. The 7.1-pound Mayhem G4 turned in an equally impressive WorldBench 5 score of 99, one of the highest notebook performance numbers we've recorded to date.

The Mayhem G4's design is fine but not outstanding; it includes a combination CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive and a four-in-one memory card reader. I found the touchpad-equipped keyboard comfortable enough, and the mouse buttons were easy to press, but the unit lacks quick-launch buttons. Four rubber feet keep the notebook raised and cool.

An S/PDIF port on the front will connect with an external set of digital speakers or other device with an S/PDIF input. A generous number of USB ports--four, including three on the right and a bonus fourth on the bottom--handle connections not covered by the S-Video-out port, the VGA port, or the modem and ethernet jacks.

As a right-handed person, I didn't mind having the optical drive on the less-convenient left side of the case because of the can't-miss eject button. But too much space separates the Wi-Fi switch atop the keyboard from its LED on the front of the notebook. Still, these are minor design flaws.