Planning on traveling this summer? You'll want to bring a laptop along, and this is a great time to buy one if you can scrape together the cash. Retailers are offering "recession special deals," and manufacturers are vying to undercut each other to eke out greater sales. Netbooks are selling at unheard-of prices, and are much improved over their early iterations. Manufacturers have begun populating the gap between netbooks and mainstream laptops with highly portable, reasonably priced models. And large-screen desktop replacements can fill your entertainment needs and even be effective workstations for graphic designers.
On the netbook scene, the 8.9-inch models have largely been replaced by ones with screens of 10 inches (or larger). Two of our favorite 10-inch netbooks, the ASUS EeePC 1000HE and Acer Aspire One (10-inch) were launched within a day of one another back in February. Both are very solid machines. The Acer is slightly lower priced, but the 1000HE's typing experience is better. The two showed phenomenal battery life on our tests.
In an effort to rope in more demanding users, manufacturers are raising the bar by creating netbooks with larger screens (up to 12 inches) or full-size keyboards, or both. A prime example is the Samsung NC20. As of this writing, it's the only netbook with both a 12-inch screen and a full-size keyboard, though the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 will soon join this exclusive club. Unlike the vast majority of netbooks, which use the Intel Atom platform, the NC20 goes with VIA processing parts; they generated respectable scores on our benchmark tests.
Among the new breed of relatively inexpensive thin-and-light laptops with screens of about 13 inches, our favorite is the Acer Aspire 3935 (6504). Its bronze-colored frame is only an inch thick yet still manages to squeeze in a DVD burner. Its 2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 processor and 3GB of memory helped it tally respectable scores on our benchmarks. This GreenTech Approved laptop managed 4 hours 50 minutes of battery life, despite having only a 39-Wh battery. The Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810T (6415) is also a 13-incher yet, at just 3.6 pounds, is ultraportable; it's a pity that it lacks an optical drive. Thanks to an energy-efficient Intel CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) Core 2 Duo processor, it scored a phenomenal 8:40 on our battery tests.
If you're one of those folks whose laptop seldom (if ever) leaves the house, you might want a desktop replacement rig with more power and features and a larger screen size. The Dell Studio XPS 16 is our reigning media-center Editors' Choice. You can take advantage of its 16-inch RGB LED screen's 1080p resolution with the slot-loading Blu-ray drive (either read/write or read-only, your choice), and it has both HDMI and DisplayPort ports so you can pipe that glorious HD video to a still-larger display. The XPS 16's predecessor as Editors' Choice, the HP HDX16t, is still going strong. It also has a Blu-ray reader and 1080p resolution, and adds a TV tuner as well.
Another "oldie but goodie" is the Lenovo ThinkPad W700, a graphic artist's or photographer's dream laptop, with such features as an internal Pantone color calibrator, palm-rest digitizer, and quad-core power. Along with its magnificent 17-inch screen, Lenovo offers an optional 10.6-inch secondary display, so you can carry on with notes or correspondence without diverting your attention from the photo or design you're working on.
Whether you're looking for a netbook, a more powerful yet still very portable laptop, or a desktop replacement with all the bells and whistles, good choices abound. Here are some of the better candidates out there.
Featured in this Roundup:
ASUS EeePC 1000HE ($400 street)
The ASUS EeePC 1000HE is the best netbook package that money can buy right now.
Acer Aspire One (10-inch) ($350 street)
Acer proves that it's still the master of the netbook recession special with the new and improved Aspire One (10-inch).
Acer Aspire's 3935 (6504)($900 street)
The Acer Aspire's 3935 (6504) sleek metallic cover, 1-inch-thick chassis, and sheer portability are attributes that customers have been yearning for but hadn't been able to get in such a sweet deal.
Acer Aspire Timeline AS3810T (6415) ($900 street)
The Aspire AS3810T (6415), Acer's new ultraportable, won't win any speed races and doesn't have an optical drive, but you get over 8 hours of battery life for just $900.
Samsung NC20 (21GBK) ($550 street)Despite a slightly bloated price tag, the Samsung NC20 (21GBK) is the only netbook that has both a 12-inch widescreen and a full-size keyboard.
Dell Studio XPS 16 ($1,804 direct)
The Dell Studio XPS 16 delivers a lavish media-center experience with a unique design, home-theater features, and a vibrant RGB LED widescreen.
HP HDX16t ($1,790 direct)
The HP HDX16t is the sexiest 16-inch media center on the market, assuming you can live with the limited battery options.
Lenovo ThinkPad W700($4,240 direct)
The Lenovo ThinkPad W700 delivers a ton of wow features, including an internal color calibrator, a palm-rest digitizer, and an option for a secondary screen.
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