All Laptops

The Bottom Line: As a highly configurable budget-range black box, Dell's Inspiron 1545 laptop line can be a good value--as long as you don't pile on the upgrades.

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: The Dell Studio XPS X1340-024B is an attractive 13-inch laptop and a capable performer, but it tends to run hot and its poor battery life will leave you cold.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4 GHz), 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, 4.9 lbs, 13.3 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: With its low-end single-core processor, dedicated GeForce graphics, and 16:9 display, the unquestionably sleek, entertainment-minded Asus UX50V-RX05 is a good fit for a specific user profile: the movie lover/sometime gamer.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Solo (1.4 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, 5.7 lbs, 15.6 in TFT active matrix, RoHS

The Bottom Line: Its massive battery extends awkwardly from the bottom of the laptop, but the HP Pavilion dv3-2155mx is an otherwise compact thin-and-light laptop that should get students to class and back on a single charge.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 4.9 lbs, 13.3 in TFT active matrix

The Bottom Line: Aimed primarily at school kids, the Dell Latitude 2100 is an interesting new take on the Netbook. It's worth a look if the unique features--including an especially rugged design and a touch screen--are important to you.

Specs: Intel ATOM (1.60 GHz), 1024 MB DDR II SDRAM, 16 GB, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, SP3, with media, 2.8 lbs, 10.1 in TFT

The Bottom Line: It may not inspire, but for less than $600, the Gateway NV5807u is a great value as an all-around 15-inch laptop.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 6 lbs, 15.6 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star

The Bottom Line: If you can forgo a DVD burner on your laptop, the Dell Studio S1440-022B offers a ton of features and a slick design that should make it a frontrunner for any student doing their back-to-school shopping.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.1 GHz), 3 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, 5.3 lbs, 14 in TFT active matrix

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: It's not an ideal multimedia laptop, but the Asus N90Sv A2 is a good-looking, well-appointed desktop replacement.

Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.66 GHz), 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 500 GB, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 9.3 lbs, 18.4 in TFT active matrix, EPA Energy Star, RoHS