Stories by: Carla Thornton

Dell's entry-level multimedia laptop, the XPS M1210 has some excellent show-biz genes, such as media buttons and a TV tuner option. But it's also a strong, well-designed, and highly mobile performer. The Windows Vista refresh only enhances the earlier XP version's strong points.

The Acer Aspire 9305WSMi delivers plenty of usability, if not speed, for a budget desktop replacement. Equipped with a 1.6-GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50 processor and only 1GB of memory, it's a bit slow, but it provides plenty of performance for Web surfers and word processors looking for a big screen, a full-size keyboard, and lots of file storage at a reasonable price. At 3.5 hours, its battery life is surprisingly good, too.

Eight months ago Intel rocked the mobile processor world with its first dual-core CPUs, which in our tests outpaced a similarly configured laptop running on a single-core processor by 30 percent when performing two tasks simultaneously. Now comes Core Duo's successor, Core 2 Duo, with claims of even better performance plus 64-bit support. Should you be kicking yourself for jumping the gun and buying a Core Duo notebook earlier this year?

The generously equipped Acer TravelMate 8200 packs a 120GB hard drive, a unique built-in Webcam and both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Its ExpressCard/34 slot accepts the small form factor 34mm, though not the larger 54mm next-generation plug-in card.

HP's new flagship business portable has a 17 inch WXGA screen and weighs 3.35 kilograms, so it ranks among the lightest notebooks in its category. If no other surface is available, the HP Compaq nx9420 feels perfectly comfortable perched on your lap, huge screen and all.

Alienware's smallest notebook yet, the Sentia m3200, offers a bright 12.1 inch wide-screen display, a good case design, and zippy performance. Only its slightly disappointing keyboard should give you pause.

If you liked the LifeBook P7000, Fujitsu's stylish 3-pound laptop, you'll likely be equally enamored with the new and improved LifeBook P7120. This highly desirable and cleverly designed little black and charcoal machine has a handy two-battery option and a good keyboard.

The Acer TravelMate 3000 comes with two batteries, is small enough that you can pick it up with one hand and comes at a reasonable price. On the other hand, it lacks a built-in optical drive and the keyboard is uncomfortable.

Wider screen. Sleeker case. Easier upgrades. The Acer TravelMate 8100 offers several advantages over its predecessor, the impressive TravelMate 8000.

When I think of racing, I think of ear-bleeding engine noise and fiery multicar pileups. Maybe that's why I initially steered clear of the Acer Ferrari 4000 with its black-checkered lid and "EAARRRrrrrrooom!" startup sound. (Acer says you can turn this off in the Windows Control Panel.) But beneath its novelty exterior, this all-purpose notebook is well equipped, starting with AMD's cutting-edge 64-bit mobile CPU, the Turion 64.

Aimed at inveterate business travellers, the 1.1-kilogram, silver Dell Latitude X1 is one of the lightest laptops around. Its no-frills ultraportability (there's no integrated optical drive, for example) struck me as seriously insubstantial at first--especially given the price tag--but a closer look revealed a pretty good design.