Asus Eee PC 1000HE

Key Specs

Processor: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280
Memory: 1GB RAM
Storage: 160GB hard drive
Optical Drive: None
Screen: 10.1 inches
Graphics: Integrated Intel GMA 945
Weight: 3.2 pounds
Dimensions (HWD): 1.5x10.47x7.53 inches
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition

The Asus Eee PC 1000HE doesn't mess with success—it just tweaks it. This updated $399 netbook builds on the design of the popular Eee PC 1000H by improving the keyboard (goodbye, misplaced right-Shift key!) and offering enhanced battery life as well as a mild performance boost.

In many ways, the 3.2-pound Eee PC 1000HE is very similar to its predecessor. It has a fingerprint-attracting glossy black shell, a 160GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, Windows XP Home Edition, and a 10.1-inch, 1,024x600-pixel LCD. The only external difference, other than a reshaped underside, is the keyboard. It's 92 percent of full-size, just like the 1000H, but the new model uses a MacBook-like, Chiclet-style keyboard, and to the delight of touch-typists everywhere, it moves the right-Shift key to the inside of the Up Arrow key, where it belongs. Survivors of the 1980s who remember the IBM PCjr have nothing to fear here: This Chiclet keyboard is every bit as comfortable to type on as the more traditional 1000H keyboard.

The Eee PC 1000HE maintains the multitouch touch pad (and, alas, its too-stiff buttons), excellent audio clarity and volume, 1.3-megapixel Webcam, and SDHC/Memory Stick card slot of its predecessor. Expansion includes three USB ports, a 10/100 Ethernet port, VGA-out, and headphone and microphone jacks. The lack of an ExpressCard slot as found on the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 is one of our few complaints.

The Eee PC 1000HE features Intel's updated Atom N280 processor. Though it runs at 1.66GHz, just a hair faster than the N270 (which runs at 1.6GHz), it bumps the front-side bus speed from 533MHz to 667MHz. Our tests did show a noticeable speed improvement over N270-powered notebooks. The Eee PC 1000HE completed our Windows Media Encoder (WME) render in 22 minutes and 11 seconds, and our iTunes music conversion test in 17 minutes and 37 seconds. This is significantly faster than the Atom N270-powered 1000H, which turned in times of 28 minutes and 10 seconds and 22 minutes and 15 seconds, respectively. Also, these are very good scores when you compare them to the average for the netbook category as whole (31 minutes and 23 seconds for WME and 25 minutes and 35 seconds for iTunes).

Asus N80Vn-A1

Key Specs

Processor: 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5800
Memory: 4GB RAM
Storage: 320GB hard drive
Optical Drive: DVD±RW
Screen: 14.1 inches
Graphics: Nvidia Geforce 9650M GT (1GB)
Weight: 5.7 pounds
Dimensions (HWD): 1.4x13.3x9.8 inches
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium

Built for professionals who require a bit more 3D muscle than most business notebooks offer, the Asus N80Vn-A1 ($999) delivers solid performance and state-of-the-art security technology in a durable 14-inch chassis. It suffers from a few flaws, however, including subpar battery life (attributable to its discrete graphics) and a temperamental touch pad.

The 5.7-pound N80Vn-A1 is done up in a shiny, dark purple, scratch-resistant finish designed to maintain its high-gloss luster even after extended use. A subtle silver bead design infused into the lid’s finish gives the system a high-tech look without appearing gaudy.

Beneath the lid sits a bright 14.1-inch LED display with a resolution of 1,280x800. The screen is coated with a glossy antiglare treatment that is somewhat reflective but not overly so. The panel produced crisp and uniform colors, and the viewing angles were quite good from either side. A set of down-firing Altec Lansing speakers provides decent audio output but tends to distort when the volume is cranked up.

The full-size keyboard is firm and offers plenty of room for comfortable typing, but the touch pad is skittish. Despite our efforts to adjust the pad’s sensitivity and speed settings, cursor movement was intermittently slow and stubborn. A fingerprint reader is sandwiched between the two mouse buttons, which were more responsive than the touch pad but produced a loud clicking noise.

At the top of the keyboard deck are the power switch, buttons for enabling and disabling the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios, a Splendid key that toggles through five display modes with preset luminance characteristics, and a Power4Gear key that cycles through four power-saving modes, from Battery Saving to High Performance.

Last but not least is a button that opens Express Gate, a Linux-based interface from Splashtop. Express Gate lets you quickly access certain applications such as a Web browser, a music player, a photo manager, Skype, and Splashtop’s online gaming portal, all without booting into Windows.

Asus Eee Top ET1602

Key Specs

Processor: 1.6GHz Atom N270
Memory: 1GB DDR2
Storage: 160GB hard drive
Optical Drive: None
Monitor: 15.6-inch integrated touch screen
Graphics: Integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition

With its Eee family of netbook and nettop PCs, Asus seems to have cornered the market on small-form-factor, lightweight, low-power, inexpensive computers. A nettop can be a second or third system when space is tight and all you need to do is surf the Web, listen to music, or look at photos. (Nettops are sometimes referred to as the perfect PC for the kitchen; you can add looking up recipes to the list as well.) Asus had a hit last fall with its diminutive, $349.99 Eee Box nettop, and now it looks to repeat that success with the Eee Top ET1602.

Unlike the Eee Box, the Eee Top is an all-in-one PC that includes an integrated 15.6-inch, wide-screen display with touch-screen capabilities, so its $599 price is noticeably higher. But unlike devices such as the iPhone or iPod Touch that support multitouch interfaces, the Eee Top recognizes only single-touch input.

The Eee Top, which weighs less than 10 pounds, looks like an LCD monitor with built-in speakers and a white body. At about 13x16x1.5 inches (HWD), it's not much thicker than a regular monitor, either. The back of the unit includes a handle that also acts as a stand and a cable-routing clip; it's removable in case you'd rather use a VESA mount to install the system on a wall. The Eee Top has seven USB 2.0 ports (four on the back of the system, two on the left side, and one on the right side of the keyboard), a multiformat memory-card reader (on the system's left side), and an Ethernet jack, as well as audio jacks with six-channel support (on the system's back).

More than anything else, the Eee Top is about simplicity. Asus adds its own quick-navigation Eee Bar and an Easy Mode interface (which sits on top of Windows XP Home Edition and is entirely optional). Both feature large icons that help you access nearly all the system's applications and settings with just one tap of a finger on the screen. The system even includes StarOffice, a productivity-suite alternative to Microsoft Office. Depending on what you're doing, navigating the display with the touch screen is seamless, but sometimes, such as when entering a URL in the Web browser, you'll want to switch to the included keyboard and mouse.

Asus VH222H

Key Specs

Screen Size (Diagonal): 21.5 inches
Native Resolution: 1,920x1,080
Aspect Ratio: 16-to-9
Contrast Ratio: 20,000-to-1 (dynamic)
Brightness: 300cd/m2
Response Time: 5 milliseconds
DVI Connector: One
D-Sub/VGA Connector(s): One
HDMI Connector(s): One
DisplayPort Connector: None
USB Ports: None

Something is clearly going on in the LCD-monitor market. Just six months ago when we reviewed the LG Flatron L227WTG, $359 wasn’t terribly expensive for a solidly performing 22-inch monitor with standard 1,680x1,050. But prices fell throughout 2008, and in January 2009, Acer announced the 23-inch, $229 H233H bmid, with a film-friendly 16-to-9 aspect ratio, full HD resolution, and an HDMI port. As impressed as we were with that screen, the Asus 21.5-inch VH222H is a better buy if you don’t need a screen quite so large. It sports similar specs (like 1,920x1,080 resolution and an HDMI port) as Acer’s H233H, better performance, and a list price of $189, making it the least-expensive 1080p display we've seen.

As is often the case with budget displays, there’s nothing stunning about this monitor’s aesthetics. The bezel is typical glossy black plastic, but angular touches on the top and bottom do give the monitor a bit of clean-line style. Six well-labeled buttons on the bottom right make navigating the onscreen display (OSD) fairly easy, though we wish the buttons labeled with up and down arrows adjusted volume by default, not brightness. The translucent-orange power button is easy to find, if slightly garish. Thankfully, the button isn’t backlit, and the rest of the controls are black.

The display's body has no built-in USB ports, but that’s to be expected with a budget monitor. What we didn't expect was the generous inclusion of bot DVI and VGA cables in the box, which isn't at all common with budget displays.The connection options are fairly standard for an HD multimedia monitor; you’ll find VGA, DVI, a single HDMI port, and SPDIF audio out, as well as analogue audio in (for the built-in speakers). There’s also an audio out/headphone jack, but tucked as it is behind the display, it’s not all that useful.

In DisplayMate testing, the VH222H performed quite well. While most monitors we’ve seen lately have faltered a bit on the high end of the gray scale, the VH222H had no problem distinguishing the lightest shades of gray from white in both the White-Level Saturation test and the Low Saturation Colors test. On the Extreme Gray-Scale with Bars test, the monitor performed well, indicating solid performance in distinguishing the darkest shades from black. Text was surprisingly crisp and legible all the way down to 5.3 points. There was some slight backlight bleed on the bottom of the screen, but it was only noticeable on a dark background, and not nearly as pronounced as on the NEC EA221WM, a monitor that costs twice as much.

Nvidia GeForce GTX 295

Key Specs

Graphics Processor: GTX 200
Core Clock: 576MHz
Graphics Memory: 1,792MB
Interface: PCIe 2.0 x16
Onboard Ports: 2 DVI ports, HDMI
Bundled Adapters: DVI-to-VGA
DirectX Support: DirectX 10

In the back-and-forth competition for the title of fastest single graphics card, the GeForce GTX 295 puts Nvidia back on top, bouncing ATI's Radeon HD 4870 X2 down to second place. Like ATI's former champ, the GTX 295 actually packs the equivalent of two 3D cards into a single package, offering dual-GPU performance without the motherboard-compatibility and power-supply hassles of separate cards.

The GTX 295 bears a strong resemblance to Nvidia's previous dual-circuit-board monster, the GeForce 9800 GX2. Like that card, it is 10.5 inches long and double the width of a standard card, so it blocks an adjacent slot. The back of one circuit board is now exposed, and the new card has a slick flat-black finish that doesn't pick up fingerprints like its glossy predecessor did.

Each of the GTX 295's 55-nanometer (nm) GPUs has 896MB of memory as well as the same 240 the same processing cores and 80 texture-filtering units as the GTX 280, making for a total of 1,792MB of video RAM. The stock clock speeds are slightly slower than the GTX 280's GPU, with a 576MHz core clock, 1,242MHz shader clock, and 999MHz memory speed, compared to 602MHz, 1,296MHz, and 1,107MHz respectively on the GTX 280. As you'd expect, some OEMs will offer GTX 295 cards with higher-clocked parts, though we imagine cooling issues with the sandwiched parts will keep speeds below those of the fastest single-GPU cards. The fan, which sits between the two circuit boards, is quieter than the stock 4870 X2 cooler but noticeably more audible than the fan on the GTX 280.

Assuming your PC case has the clearance for a double-width card, you'll only need one PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot for the GTX 295. But it requires both an eight-pin and a six-pin power connector as well as at least a 680-watt supply that can support the board's 289-watt peak power demand. Used with a Scalable Link Interface (SLI)-capable motherboard (and an even larger power supply), you can install a second GTX 295 to enable four-GPU, Quad SLI support.

AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition

Key Specs

Socket Type: AM3 (compatible with AM2+)
Number of Cores: Three
Operating Frequency: 2.8GHz
Front-Side Bus: HyperTransport 3.0
L2 Cache: 1.5MB

Only weeks after the release of the first Phenom II processors, which were designed for Socket AM2+ systems, AMD has unveiled the Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition chips, which support DDR3 memory and the new Socket AM3. The X3 720, priced at $145, is a 45-nanometer chip with the same architectural improvements as the initial Phenom II chips and a new memory controller that supports both DDR2 and DDR3 RAM.

AMD is taking an interesting approach with the AM3 chips and motherboards. The AM3 Phenom II processors can work on both DDR2-based Socket AM2+ motherboards (a BIOS upgrade may be required) and the new DDR3-based Socket AM3 motherboards. The AM3 socket looks identical to Socket AM2, but it uses two fewer pins; this keeps you from plugging an incompatible Socket AM2+ CPU (which does not support DDR3) into a Socket AM3 board, and it allows AM3 processors to fit both AM2+ and AM3 sockets. If you choose to upgrade to DDR3 memory in the future, you can buy a Socket AM3 processor for your existing AM2+ system and bring the CPU over to a new AM3 system.

The Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition runs at 2.8GHz and features 6MB of shared L3 cache along with 512K of L2 and 128K of L1 cache for each of its three cores. The Black Edition processor's unlocked multiplier makes overclocking easier since you can simply increase the multiplier without having to alter HyperTransport and other settings. Using a stock cooler and the AMD Overdrive software's automatic overclocking feature, we were able to get a stable 3.5GHz out of the processor. Knowledgeable overclockers should be able to tweak even more speed from the CPU.

Final Socket AM3 motherboards weren't available yet (AMD says they'll follow the AM3 processors by a few weeks), so we used a Socket AM2+ Asus M3A78-T motherboard and 1,066MHz DDR2 RAM for our initial testing. We expect even better performance for memory-intensive applications on Socket AM3 boards equipped with 1,333MHz DDR3 memory.

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R

Key Specs

Form Factor: ATX
Chipset: Intel X58 Express
CPU Socket: Socket 1366
PCIe Slots: Two PCIe x16, one PCIe x4, two PCIe x1
PCI Slots: Two
RAM Slots/Multichannel Support: Four/triple channel
Maximum RAM: 16GB
Onboard Graphics: No

The Intel Core i7 CPU offers a lot of value, starting at under $300 for performance-beating chips that used to cost over $1,000. But it's the cost of the supplemental hardware that has kept it out of most mainstream PCs so far. Compatible motherboards have cost upward of $300, and the DDR3 RAM needed to flesh out a Core i7 setup is pricey, too. Together, that has made for a significantly higher investment than with a Core 2 or AMD board. Now, however, DDR3 RAM prices have dropped significantly, and Gigabyte's GA-EX58-UD3R motherboard finally lowers Core i7 motherboards into the $200 range.

The GA-EX58-UD3R doesn't skimp on basic functionality. It's built on the same Intel X58 Express chipset and Socket 1366 as its pricier cousins, and, with its QuickPath Interconnect technology (Intel's answer to AMD's HyperTransport, the successor to front-side-bus technology), it supports both the less-expensive Core i7 models and the Core i7-965 Extreme. The main difference between the GA-EX58-UD3R and Gigabyte's pricier X58 boards is the inclusion of only four DDR3 memory slots instead of the six found on higher-end boards. With the triple-channel nature of Core i7 systems, that means you're limited to using three memory DIMMs if you want to maintain optimal performance; adding a fourth DIMM will slow memory access. Edition

Although the GA-EX58-UD3R has a pair of PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slots for video, it doesn't support Nvidia's Scalable Link Interface (SLI) dual-card technology—just AMD's CrossFireX. Adding SLI support to an X58 board is just a matter of getting the proper licensing from Nvidia, so Gigabyte must have chosen to omit SLI to keep costs down. (In fact, Gigabyte's Web site lists a GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI board that's identical to this one other than the added SLI support, but it wasn't yet available at press time.) You'll also find one PCIe x4 slot, a pair of PCIe x1 slots, and two regular PCI slots.

For the most part, the layout of this ATX board is easy to work with, but the uppermost PCIe x1 slot edges right up against the large chipset heat sink, which means you'll only be able to use those rare tiny cards that don't extend back behind the slot itself. Another questionable placement is the floppy connector, which ends up near the bottom-front of the of the case. Gigabyte should have included an extra-long floppy cable; in many case setups, the included cable won't be long enough to connect the port and the floppy drive.

The floppy port isn't the only legacy hardware support here. You'll also find PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, an IDE connector, and a serial port header. Along with Realtek ALC888 HD audio, Gigabit LAN, dual FireWire, eight SATA, and eight USB ports, there are headers on the motherboard for four additional USB ports and an additional FireWire connector. No bracket cables are included for any of the motherboard connectors or for adding an external SATA (eSATA) connection, so you'll have to shell out a few more bucks if you don't have extras lying around.

Fujitsu LifeBook P8020

Key Specs

Processor: 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400
Memory: 2GB RAM
Storage: 64GB SSD
Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW
Screen: 12.1 inches (1,280x800)
Graphics: Intel GMA 4500MHD
Weight: 2.9 pounds
Dimensions (HWD): : 1.3x10.8x8.3 inches
Operating System: Windows Vista Business

Before netbooks became all the rage, an ultraportable was the only choice if you wanted a compact, lightweight laptop companion. With the Fujitsu LifeBook P8020, we’re happy to see companies still advancing the latter category. The business-oriented P8020 squeezes a built-in optical drive, a full contingent of ports, and decent (for the class) performance into a 2.9-pound machine. Sure, at $2,499 with the solid-state drive (SSD) in our model (a $450 option) it costs a lot more than a netbook. But unlike a netbook, when matched with a port replicator and an external screen and monitor, the P8020 can serve as your primary work PC.

ATI Radeon HD 3450 Graphics Card

AMD's entry-level ATI Radeon HD 3450 graphics card is an amazing deal for those looking to juice up their PC's video-playback performance and quality. For just $49, you get support for HD video playback, high desktop resolutions, power enough to display all the bells and whistles of Windows Vista's Aero interface, and the ability to add additional cards to support more monitors. But while it supports the latest DirectX 10.1 (DX10.1) 3D features, the Radeon HD 3450 is decidedly not the card for you if you play games.

Our sample card was a half-height, fanless PCI Express model with 256MB of DDR2 memory, intended for low-profile home theater cases. The card has only a single DVI port, as well as a component-video/S-Video connector and a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) adapter for the DVI port. ATI also has a model available with both DVI and VGA ports, as well as one with a VGA port and the new DisplayPort connector.

Though this is an inexpensive, entry-level card, the HD 3450 has the power to handle all of Vista's graphics effects, including desktop transparency, Flip 3D task switching, and the full suite of slide-show effects. That makes it a good replacement for entry-level PC graphics, such as the integrated graphics chips found on many motherboards, which are fast enough to enable basic effects such as transparency but disable more-sophisticated effects such as slide-show transitions.

While its desktop performance was excellent, the HD 3450's gaming performance was dismal. It delivered slide-show-like frame rates of 11 frames per second (fps) in F.E.A.R. and 4.6fps in Company of Heroes (both at a resolution of 1,280x1,024). If you have a nostalgic bent, the card has enough power to handle 3D games from early in the decade at low resolutions, but its support of the DX10.1 standard used by the newest games is mostly there as a checkbox item for the promotional text on the card's box. Casual gamers should consider the Radeon HD 3650HD 3850 a more suitable entry-level card for serious gamers. as the bare minimum, with the

For the card's home-theater-PC target audience, though, the HD 3450 delivers. Its lack of a fan offers silent operation, and its video-playback performance and visual quality are top-notch. Despite its low price, the card offered flawless playback of 1080p HD content on a 1,900x1,200 24-inch monitor. It supports ATI Avivo HD video, with hardware decoding of MPEG and DivX, as well as the H.264 and VC-1 video codecs used on HD DVD and Blu-ray discs.

Alienware Area-51 m15x Laptop

Key Specs

Processor: 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme X9000
Memory: 4GB DDR2
Storage: 200GB hard drive; 320GB removable hard drive
Optical Drives: Blu-ray burner/DVD±RW
Display: 15.4-inch TFT
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 8800M GTX (512MB)
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium

There's been a litany of reasons to hold off on buying a new gaming laptop: the state of the high-definition-disc format war, new 45nm chips on the horizon, the latest graphics processor, or the fact that your wallet coughs up dust bunnies. But with Alienware's new 15.4-inch gaming notebook, the Area-51 m15x, you're out of excuses—except for that last one.

Pricing for the m15x starts at a not-unreasonable $2,149, but Alienware's long list of new shiny parts quickly runs up the bill. Our souped-up review unit, for instance, costs a vertigo-inducing $4,858. What do you get for all that money? Our configuration included a GeForce 8800M GTX graphics chip upgrade—previously available only in larger 17-inch Alienware models; an Intel Penryn-based 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme X9000 processor; 4GB of DDR2 RAM; a Blu-ray burner/DVD±RW combo drive; a 1,920x1,200 screen; a 200GB internal drive; and an additional 320GB swappable hard drive.

While the spec sheet may send gamers into an energy-drink delirium, the presentation is less exciting. The laptop does have portability going for it, measuring 14.6x10.7x1.3 inches and weighing a manageable 7.1 pounds, but gone is some of Alienware's trademark otherworldly décor. The somewhat blocky case is made of plastic that feels like it would crack under the slightest strain, and the matte-black spinal ridges of the Area-51 m9750 have been smoothed out to a glossy finish and crowned with Alienware's insignia, emblazoned with LED eyes.

Lifting the lid reveals a gorgeous 15.4-inch screen topped by a 2-megapixel webcam. Below the bezel you'll notice power, volume, wireless, and system touch controls, which we found to be a bit stubborn and unresponsive. The touch pad sits flush on the case and is delineated by an LED border, which also makes it tough to distinguish from the rest of the case. One presentation aspect we did like is the multitude of LEDs built into the backlit keyboard (a $50 upgrade option) and encircling the case lid, emblem, and touch pad. They can all change color independently using the Alienware Command software, although there are no strobing or color-shifting options available.

Moving around the edges, the m15x sports an up-to-date, if utilitarian, mix of ports, including Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, headphone and mic jacks, three USB and one Firewire port, a SD/MMC memory-card slot, HDMI output, and an ExpressCard slot. We didn't miss VGA or S-Video ports, since they'd seem dated on a machine of this caliber. Watching Blu-ray movies on the high-definition display was breathtaking, but we did make good use of the HDMI port to pipe video and audio directly out to our HDTV in stunning full 1080p HD resolution.

Dell Inspiron 1525 Laptop

Key Specs

Processor: 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7250
Memory: 2GB DDR2
Storage: 120GB hard drive
Optical Drives: Double-layer DVD±RW
Display: 15.4-inch TFT
Graphics: Integrated Intel GMA X3100
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium

The Inspiron 1525 improves on its predecessor, the popular Inspiron 1520, in almost every way. It shaves off a few ounces and inches, adds worthwhile new features, and puts more power under the hood, all while keeping the price below $1,000. Actually, the new Inspiron starts at just $499, but our review configuration pushed the price to $974. However you trick out this notebook, you're sure to be pleased by its travel-friendly dimensions, stylish design options, and nifty extras. Gamers, however, will definitely be disappointed with its sluggish integrated graphics.

As you might guess from its model number, the Inspiron 1525 doesn't represent an extreme makeover of the 1520—it's more like a nip and tuck. The wedge-shaped notebook looks virtually identical but boasts a slimmer design: It's 1.5 inches at its thickest edge, 1.1 inches at its thinnest, 14 inches wide, and 10.1 inches deep. The system weighs exactly 6 pounds with battery. Dell offers the highly configurable 1525 in a variety of stylish lid colors and patterns. The base model comes in Jet Black; you'll pay $25 extra for the magenta Blossom pattern featured on our review unit, or any of the nine other design choices. We think that's a worthwhile upgrade to stand out from the basic-black crowd.

Inside, the Inspiron greets you with a stunning silver finish. Though we found the keyboard just a tad shallow, we liked the extra-wide touch pad and its accompanying vertical and horizontal scroll strips. It's rare that a Web page these days requires horizontal scrolling, but it's still great for zipping across spreadsheets. We also liked the Inspiron's new touch-sensitive media control panel, which includes four playback buttons and three for volume (up, down, and mute). All the buttons light up blue when you touch them.

Dell's other design amenities include a pair of headphone jacks—great for sharing a movie or music with your seatmate—and a Wi-Fi network finder that works even when the notebook is off or hibernating. Just slide a switch on the side of the case, and an LED lights up to indicate the presence of a network.

The Inspiron sports four USB ports (two on each side of the case), a mini-FireWire port, and a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port for connecting the system to an HDMI-equipped monitor or TV. When we connected the notebook to a 46-inch HDTV, it automatically switched display modes and chose a suitable resolution. We did, however, notice that the notebook's optical drive was a bit noisy when watching DVDs.

Speaking of resolution, the standard 15.4-inch wide-screen LCD tops out at 1,280x800, but you can upgrade to a 1,440x900 display for $50 extra. If you stick with the standard resolution, you have a choice between glossy and antiglare screens. (The upgrade comes in glossy only.) We highly recommend the latter, as the glossy version (which we tested) produces a ton of glare. Dell also offers an integrated Webcam for $25 extra.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y650 (418534U)

Key Specs

Processor: 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8700
Memory: 4GB RAM
Storage: 320GB hard drive
Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW
Screen: 16 inches (1,366x768)
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce G 105M
Weight: 5.6 pounds
Dimensions (HWD): 1x15.4x10.2 inches
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium

Lenovo’s consumer-oriented IdeaPad line grows more impressive with each new model. The IdeaPad Y650 shares a little DNA with the more buttoned-down ThinkPad line but turns up the volume with its style. Combine that with a gorgeous 16-inch screen, good productivity and multimedia performance, and some cool features, and the Y650’s $1,399 price looks very enticing.

In terms of mainstream notebooks, 16 is seemingly the new 15: The Y650 is the latest entry to sport a 16-inch display. As with the Dell Studio XPS 16 we recently tested, the Y650’s LCD delivers a touch more screen real estate than a 15.4-inch model but without the heft of most 17-inch desktop-replacement models. In fact, at just 5.6 pounds, the Y650 is surprisingly light. The Y650’s thin profile (just an inch thick) and rubberized matte-black finish resemble the company’s iconic ThinkPad, but the rounded edges and coppery-orange trim encircling the Y650 make it more visually appealing.