Acer Timeline 1410: Best 11-inch Ultraportable

Acer’s budget-friendly ultraportable couples twice the performance of most netbooks with good battery life.

With the advent of Intel’s Ultra-Low Voltage processors, notebook makers can now offer ultraportable systems that are priced similarly to netbooks, but have markedly better performance. Case in point: the Acer Aspire 1410. Thanks to its dual-core Celeron CPU, this machine has twice as much muscle as netbooks, and comes with Windows 7 Premium (not the limiting Starter Edition) for just $399. Some netbooks offer longer battery life, but the 1410’s 6.5 hours of endurance make it a very good choice for consumers on the go.

Design

From the outside, the Acer Aspire 1410 looks the same as the Acer Aspire Timeline 1810T; in fact, at 11.2 x 8.0 x 1.2 inches and weighing 3.2 pounds, it’s the same size and weight. Our review unit had a glossy, Ruby Red lid with Acer’s metal logo impressed in the lower corner; the lid picks up fingerprints fairly easily. The same color extends to the deck, which is offset by the matte black keyboard and glossy black bezel.

Unlike the Acer Aspire One 751h netbook, the 1410’s six-cell battery does not bulge out the back. Instead, it bumps out of the bottom, tilting the 1410 at a slight downward angle towards the user.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Like most other new Acer notebooks, the 1410’s keyboard has flat, non-chamfered plastic keys that have a slightly textured feel. The layout is close to full size, and we appreciate that the right Shift key is large and in the proper place. We were typing at full speed in no time at all.

The touchpad sits flush with the deck, and it’s only demarcated by two lines on either side. At 2.6 x 1.5 inches, it’s decently sized, and a bit larger than the 751h’s 2.5 x 1.6-inch touchpad; we liked that it offered little resistance as we moved our finger across it. (Toshiba’s mini NB205 still offers the largest touchpad around, at 3.1 x 1.6 inches.) The two accompanying silver buttons proved nice and crisp, an improvement over the 751h’s single bar.

Display and Sound

Like other notebooks with 11.6-inch displays, the 1410 has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Those extra vertical pixels mean less scrolling when viewing Web pages or documents, and that you can view high-definition content in 720p.

The screen is quite bright. When we watched an episode of The Simpsons on Hulu, we enjoyed pleasant colors and good viewing angles even from oblique side views; it was as if we were watching the show on our TV. While the glossy finish limited our viewing angles to either side of the 1410, we were still able to make out the clip when we dipped the lid forward slightly.

The 1410’s speakers, located on the underside of the front lip, were fine for a small notebook, but their placement caused sound to be muffled while the notebook was in our lap; when the notebook was placed on a hard surface, such as a coffee table, music played from Slacker and was able to reflect upwards, and was more amplified.

Ports and Webcam

On the right side of the 1410 is an Ethernet port, a Kensington lock slot, two USB ports, headphone and mic, and a 5-in-1 memory card reader. On the left-hand side is a VGA port, a third USB port, and HDMI output. Underneath the front lip on the left-hand side are well-concealed switches to activate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

The 1.3-megapixel webcam mounted above the display worked fairly well; colors, such as a dark green shirt, were reproduced adequately in a video call over Skype. Our caller also said that the image was sufficiently lighted, and that motion blur only became an issue if we waved our hand vigorously.

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Acer Aspire 8940G: Best Multimedia Notebook

A big-screen multimedia machine that packs a fast Core i7 processor, great speakers, and Blu-ray at a price that’s within reach.

If you’re looking for a high-powered multimedia notebook with all the goods, the Acer Aspire 8940G offers the best combination of performance and value we’ve seen. This 18.4-inch system delivers remarkable performance by combining a powerful Intel Core i7-720QM processor with Nvidia GeForce GTS 250M graphics. It also includes a bevy of entertainment options, including a Blu-ray drive, a rich, full HD (1920 x 1080) display, and Dolby 5.1 surround sound speakers. For $1,349, you won’t get more bang for your buck anywhere else.

Design and Ports

Measuring 17.3 x 11.6 x 1.7 inches and weighing 9.2 pounds, the all-black Aspire 8940G is a hefty desktop replacement that users won’t tote very far from their desks. Even so, it’s lighter than the 10.4-pound, 18.4-inch Toshiba Qosmio X505. The glossy lid collects a fair amount of fingerprints and smudges. This aesthetic extends to the bezel surrounding the display, as well as to the exterior edges of the system’s base. A finely textured wrist rest gives the machine a subtle elegance.

The large base affords a wide, comfortable, island-style keyboard that offers decent feedback, and it includes white backlighting. The keyboard also has large Shift keys, a full number pad, and a responsive, vertically-aligned multimedia touch-control strip on its right side, which is highlighted by illuminated keys and a button that launches the Acer Arcade Deluxe application (for accessing movies, music, photos and more). A volume wheel, positioned below, lets you quickly adjust audio. The left side of the keyboard houses another vertical strip with touch-sensitive buttons that activate the Acer Backup Manager, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. These new input methods are an improved take on the CineDash control scheme found on the Acer Aspire 8920G.

Located south of the keyboard is a large, multitouch touchpad (positioned just left of center) that allowed us to effortlessly whip the cursor about the 18.4-inch display. Acer also includes a button to the right of the touchpad that lets users lock/unlock it. A biometric fingerprint reader is nestled between two stiff and noisy mouse buttons.

You want ports for connecting accessories and peripherals? You got ‘em. Acer builds in a 5-in-1 memory card reader, five USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort, eSATA, an ExpressCard/54 slot, FireWire 400, and headphone, microphone, and S/PDIF jacks.

Display, Audio, Webcam

The glossy, full HD (1920 x 1080-pixel resolution) LED-backlit display provided plenty of real estate for comfortably reading Web pages or viewing photos. We saw colors pop when we popped our Blu-ray disc of Ghost Town into the 4X optical drive, courtesy of the 60-percent color gamut that brings out more brilliant visuals. The 16:9 display kicked backed reflections, particularly during dark scenes or when we moved left or right of center.

The Dolby-optimized Acer CineSurround sound system (with five built-in speakers and Acer’s Tuba CineBass booster) delivered stellar audio. Whether we were watching a movie or streaming James Brown tunes from Slacker, we were impressed with the loud volume and the fullness of the voices and music. Overall, we found the 8940G’s sound superior to the audio flowing from the Toshiba Qosmio X505’s Harman Kardon speakers, which packed better sound than your standard notebook speakers, but didn’t match the low- and mid-end richness of Acer’s machine.

Embedded in the bezel above the display is Acer’s high-definition Crystal Eye webcam, which proved to be one of the best we’ve used on a notebook. Friends reported stunningly life-like clarity; skin tones were true, colors rich, and images sharp. We were also pleased that we could snap JPEG photos at 320 x 240, 640 x 480, and 720p resolutions, and shoot 720p AVI video.

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ASUS UL30: Best 13-inch Ultraportable

Outfitted with a new low-voltage processor and plenty of internal storage, this ultraportable offers 10 hours of endurance and enough muscle for work and play.

The ASUS UL Series is the company’s first entry into the low-cost ultraportable notebook market, and the UL30A shows off what’s great about the line. Taking full advantage of its Intel Ultra-Low Voltage (ULV) processor, this 13.3-inch notebook combines a lightweight chassis with nearly 10 hours of battery life and solid productivity performance. You can get a faster dual-core notebook with a DVD drive for the same price, but if you want lots of endurance and a thin design, the UL30A is a winner.

Design

The UL30A, like several recent ultrathin ULV systems, is a study in minimalism. The brushed aluminum lid eschews fingerprints and exudes a quiet elegance. Inside, you won’t find a deck cluttered with multimedia controls or extraneous launch keys. There are just two small buttons: one on the left for launching Express Gate or switching between power profiles, and a power button on the right.

This system features a full-size island-style keyboard, and the black keys contrast nicely with the subtle interlinking diamond/wave pattern that fills the deck space around it. This design extends to the palmrest on the bottom, and blends almost seamlessly with the touchpad; only a slight dimpling reveals the 1.8 x 3.0-inch touchpad area.

Status lights for power, battery, hard drive access, and wireless are on the edge of the skinny front lip of the notebook, rounding out the machine’s subtle design touches.

In terms of overall dimensions and aesthetics, it’s easy to compare the UL30A to the MacBook Air. With a footprint of 12.7 x 9.2 inches, the UL30A takes up about as much space as Apple’s ultraportable; though a bit thicker at .94 inches, those extra tenths-of-an-inch allow for more ports. At 4.0 pounds, the UL30A is 0.4 pounds heavier than the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T, another favorite ultraportable system of ours.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The keys don’t have as much spring as we’d like, but they provide decent tactile feedback, and we were able to achieve our normal typing speed right away. Touch typists may find the slightly undersized Shift key an issue, though the placement is good. We appreciated that the Home, End and Page Up/Down keys share their own column on the right with the Delete and right arrow keys, but wish the arrow buttons were smaller (to make more room for Shift). One minor drawback is that we kept accidentally hitting the Home key when reaching for Backspace, but this happened less frequently over time.

The slight friction on the touchpad allowed for precise movement while also marking the usable area. We appreciate that the pad is flush with the palm rest area, but it was too easy for our finger to accidentally glide right off into no man’s land. The touchpad also supports the two-finger scroll multitouch gesture, but this took a few hours to get used to since we instinctively want to use right-side scrolling. Though we prefer two distinct buttons for left and right clicks, the single mouse button is long enough that we never accidentally clicked the wrong side. It is, however, a bit stiff.

Display and Audio

The bright 13.3-inch display offers rich colors and deep blacks, though the 1366 x 768-pixel screen is a bit too glossy. While watching an episode of Torchwood: Children of Earth under flourescent lights, we could see our reflection during the darker scenes; this issue isn’t as pronounced in low light. Despite the glossiness, horizontal and vertical viewing angles on the UL30A are quite good. Three people can sit and watch video comfortably without encountering color distortion.

When streaming video from Hulu, we noticed a lack of sharpness in both standard and high-definition videos. The opening scene from Legend of the Seeker, a fast-paced action sequence, played smoothly after it buffered, but lacked the crispness we’re used to with 720p video. Downloaded clips, however, didn’t have the same issue; The Discoverers (from the Windows WMV HD Content Showcase) looked sharp, and played back entirely stutter-free.

Given the UL30A’s size and price, we didn’t expect stellar speaker performance. It produced enough sound on 50 percent volume to fill a small room, and on 100 percent we could still hear tracks clearly over noise from an air conditioner. The distinct bass line from Superchick’s “One Girl Revolution” was barely audible, even with the Realtek HD Audio Manager’s equalizer setting on Bass. But Jill Sobule’s rock/folk-flavored “Nothing to Prove” sounded good on the default settings.

Ports and Webcam

On the left side of the UL30, HDMI and VGA connections join one USB port, while Ethernet, headphone, mic, two USB ports, and a 5-in-1 card reader fill out the right side. There’s no integrated optical drive, which isn’t surprising on a system less than an inch thick. Unless you burn a lot of discs, it’s easy to live without an internal drive with the advent of ubiquitous software and media downloads.

The 0.3-megapixel webcam naturally doesn’t deliver great video. When chatting with a friend on Skype, she noted a lack of sharpness and washed out colors. However, the video didn’t stutter, and audio came though clearly. The webcam management software, LifeFrame, will not only record video and take pictures, but also adds fun accessories, filters, and frames to both still and moving images.

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Gateway NV: Best Budget Notebook

This budget 15.6-inch notebook looks great, performs well, and comes with convenient backup software.

Given that budget mainstream notebooks are now competing with low-cost netbooks for your hard-earned dollar, it’s no surprise that Gateway’s NV5807u rings in at just $599. What is surprising is the level of style and performance that you get for that price. This configuration (there are eight others to choose from in the NV line) has more aesthetic appeal than other budget notebooks we’ve tested recently, and, thanks to an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of RAM, holds its own in everyday tasks.

Design

Ever since Gateway rebranded itself as a more fashionable notebook manufacturer, the company has been on a roll in churning out good-looking budget notebooks, and the NV series is no exception. The Midnight Blue lid (a shade of teal, to our eyes), with its subtle waffle pattern, might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s certainly more interesting than basic black (the NV is also available in Coffee Brown, Cherry Red, and Nightsky Black). Bonus: the fine pattern helps disguise fingerprints.

Other design flourishes include a metal hinge with the power button built into the side (like Sony VAIOs), glossy upper panel, and LED lights and touch-sensitive controls that glow red. At 5.6 pounds, this notebook 0.2 pounds lighter than the 5.8-pound Dell Inspiron 15, although the dimensions are almost the same. (The NV is 0.1 inch wider, but its wedge shape is between 1 and 1.5 inches thick, whereas the Inspiron 15 is 1.5 inches thick.)

The touch-senstive controls responded to even the lightest tap. While there are volume controls and a mute button, there are no buttons for controlling multimedia playback. However, there are buttons for PowerSave Solution (Gateway’s own power management software), MyBackup (more on that later), disabling the trackpad, and enabling or disabling Wi-Fi.

When you tap PowerSave, you automatically enter PowerSave mode (energy-saving modes are usually at odds with maximum performance, but allow for longer battery life); double tapping the icon makes the on-screen dialog box disappear, and the computer revert to its default power mode.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The NV’s keys are flat, but close together; it’s a cross between an island keyboard, with separated keys, and a classic one with closely grouped, cushy ones. Even with a full number pad on the right hand side, the keys were still large enough for us to type comfortably, making very few typos (the keys’ textured finish made it easy to get a grip, too). On our first try, we scored 88 words per minute on the Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor Test (www.tenthumbstypingtutor.com), which is also our high score with our desktop machine.

At 1.8 inches, the touchpad could be taller, but at least its 3.4-inch width feels roomy. As far as touchpads go, the NV’s feels smooth and doesn’t offer too much friction. On the other hand, although its mirrored design is appealing, we found the touch bar uncomfortable; it’s a single button, and the strip is too narrow. It took us a while to get used to pressing the far edges of the bar to get better tactile feedback.

Display and Sound

In a side-by-side comparison, the NV’s 15.6-inch display looked brighter than the Inspiron 15’s, although the latter had deeper contrast (for example, blacker blacks). In a similar vein, when we watched an episode of Heroes on DVD, some of the colors looked a bit off, especially skin tones, which appeared oversaturated.

When we played the same Saturday Night Live Hulu clip on both computers, however, the viewing angles were comparable, which is to say that the glossy finish on both displays made it difficult—but not impossible—to make out the picture from the sides and with the lid pushed forward.

The NV’s speakers delivered predictably tinny sound quality when we listened to Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” and Coldplay’s “Clocks.” The volume, cranked to its maximum settings, was more than loud enough for movie watching, and we ended up scaling it back to around the medium setting.

Ports and Webcam

The NV has a strong selection of ports: in addition to four USB ports, VGA output, an Ethernet jack, and headphone and mic ports, the NV has HDMI output, a feature other budget notebooks lack. In addition, this machine has a 5-in-1 memory card reader.

The VGA webcam provides good brightness, color, and detail, but the accompanying software is skimpy: once you record photos or videos, it saves them to your My Documents folder. Most other webcam consoles have a strip of thumbnails that allow you to easily review recent captures you’ve taken.

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Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro: Best All-Purpose Notebook

Apple’s latest thin-and-light notebook features strong graphics performance, a stunning display, and more than 6 hours of battery life.

If you think the latest changes to Apple’s MacBook line aren’t exciting, you’re not paying close enough attention. The 13-inch model is now part of the MacBook Pro line, and, like its larger-screened siblings (like the 15-inch model), now has a more colorful display, and—at long last—an SD Card slot. Moreover, this 13-inch stunner lasts more than 6 hours on a charge. The price for the entry-level Mac is now just $1,199, a $100 price drop from the 13-inch unibody MacBook. We wish Apple included more hard drive space for the money (160GB is netbook territory) but overall our Editors’ Choice–winning thin-and-light just got sweeter.

Design

At first glance, the 13-inch MacBook Pro looks identical to last season’s revamped MacBook line. And that’s mostly true: the aluminum chassis, black island keyboard, large multitouch trackpad, and thin, rounded lid will all look familiar. Even its weight (4.4 pounds) and dimensions (12.8 x 8.9 x 1.0 inches) remain the same, making this notebook easy to carry.

Like its predecessor, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is made from a single, seamless piece of aluminum, which means it’s more durable than most other notebooks in this price range. The only difference is that the battery is now non-removable (more on that later).

Keyboard and Touchpad

As always, the island keyboard has a soft finish, and makes little sound when you type. While the keyboard on, say, the 17-inch MacBook Pro might be too large (and too recessed) for some hands, the 13-inch’s keyboard is comfortably placed. It’s also backlit with an ambient light sensor, which comes in handy for low-light environments.

The touchpad remains one giant button that doubles as the touchpad and the touch button. It’s not the smoothest we’ve ever tested, but the friction is still slight enough that it shouldn’t be a problem. In the past, we’ve found the button to be a bit stiff, with a slight learning curve to match. By now, Apple’s gotten the design right: we were able to effortlessly press down on the button without thinking about the fact that there’s no dedicated touch button (nevermind two).

The multitouch gestures work smoothly. By pushing four fingers toward the top of the touchpad, we were able to fling windows up toward the top of the screen, exposing a clean desktop. When we used two fingers to zoom in and out of pages in Safari 4 (fresh out of beta, and a new, Cover Flow-tastic addition to the Leopard OS), the onscreen response was very quick, and only slightly jerky.

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HP ProBook 5310m: Best Small Business Notebook

A business-friendly ultraportable with a sleek design, strong performance, and good battery life.

Up until now, small businesses with modest IT budgets have faced a difficult choice: purchase an affordable but bulky system targeted at them, or a low-cost consumer ultraportable without the build quality or business-friendly features they require. With the aggressively priced ProBook 5310m, Hewlett Packard has served notice on the industry: you can now get a high-quality business ultraportable for well under $1,000. Its competitors will have to respond.

Design

The ProBook 5310m isn’t the lightest ultraportable on the market, but it bests or comes close to its higher-priced competitors. At 12.9 x 8.7 x 0.9 inches and 3.8 pounds, the 5310m is significantly lighter and thinner than the HP ProBook 4310s (4.4 pounds, 1.1 inches thick) and the Dell Latitude E4300 (3.8 pounds, 1.3 inches). It’s also the same thickness (but about 0.4 pounds heavier) than the Lenovo ThinkPad X301, which costs more than $1,800. Twelve-inch systems such as the Toshiba Portégé R600 (2.4 pounds, 0.8 inches thick) and Lenovo ThinkPad X200s (3.2 pounds, 1.4 inches) are lighter, but the R600 costs well over $2,000, and the X200s is much thicker.

The ProBook 5310m looks much sexier than its $699 starting price would indicate. The black anodized aluminum lid and deck, sleek island keys, and durable magnesium rubberized bottom make the 5310m sexy enough for the club room while staying conservative enough for the boardroom. Though it has a similar shape and keyboard layout to the HP ProBook 4310s, the 5310m’s piano black color, thin lines, and subtle status lights give it a much more sophisticated look than its sibling, which lacks the aluminum and magnesium materials.

Like many ultraportables today, the ProBook 5310m saves space by eschewing an optical drive. But these days, the optical drive is becoming less important, as you can download virtually any program and media file you might need. For those who occasionally read data off of a DVD, HP offers an external USB optical drive, or you can get a third party drive online for less than $50.

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Dell Studio 14z: Best Thin-and-Light Notebook

This slim 14-inch notebook offers strong performance and long battery life, but you'll sacrifice an optical drive.

Are DVD drives obsolete? That's the case Dell seems to be making with its Studio 14z, a 14-inch notebook that lacks an optical drive. Catering to students and other consumers who are more likely to download software and entertainment than use a disc, this thin and light system ($749 at Best Buy, starting at $649 on Dell.com) is ideal for streaming content and playing digital files. Add in above average graphics performance, courtesy of Nvidia, powerful speakers, and over five hours of battery life, and you have a compelling value. Best Buy even sweetens the deal by throwing in 15 months of free antivirus protection and a copy of Office 2007 Home and Student Edition.

Design

Although you can purchase the Studio 14z on Dell's site, the 1440-022B configuration we reviewed is a Best Buy exclusive—one of four notebooks to make the big box retailer's Next Class line, all of which boast long battery life, light weight, and sub-$800 price tags.

Like other laptops in this price range, the 14z has the plastic build of a budget notebook but subtle design flourishes that lend it a higher-end feel. The lid feels soft to the touch, and is largely fingerprint-resistant. As with other consumer Dell notebooks, black comes standard, but colors cost $40 extra (our unit was Ruby Red; other colors include Midnight Blue, Spring Green, Plum Purple, and Promise Pink).

Inside, the chassis mixes a matte silver palm rest with a glossy black strip above the keyboard, which is also black. You won't find any dedicated multimedia controls on this machine, although the playback and volume controls on the function keys can be used without having to press the Fn button. The power button, which glows white and is built into the hinge—a la Sony VAIO—is a nice touch.

The most distinctive element of the 14z's design, however, is that, despite its fairly large screen size, it has no optical drive. For some shoppers, this will be an instant turnoff. But other users, such as students, who are accustomed to downloading software, consuming digital media, and streaming clips on sites such as Hulu and YouTube, won't miss having an optical drive.

In absolute terms, a 14-inch notebook that weighs 4.4 pounds is fairly light. Certainly, the 14z is easy to carry. And yet, the 13.2 x 9.0 x 0.8-inch 14z felt surprisingly heavy when we first picked it up. The Lenovo IdeaPad Y450, a 14-inch notebook with an optical drive, weighs just a bit more at 4.6 pounds.

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Lenovo ThinkPad T400s

No other 14-inch business notebook can beat this new ThinkPad’s combination of performance and portability.

Lenovo hasn’t

just put its popular ThinkPad T400 on a diet. The 3.9-pound ThinkPad T400s (starting at $1,599, $2,130 as configured) offers the strongest combination of performance, portability, and style that we’ve seen in a business notebook. The superslim chassis and state-of-the-art components come at a premium—and its graphics performance is lackluster—but business users who are willing to pay for high quality won’t be disappointed.

Design

The T400s’s matte black chassis, green indicator lights, and bright red trackpoint are similar to those found on every ThinkPad since 1992, but the slim lines and carbon-glass fiber lid are reminiscent of the sleek X300 series. And, identical to the X300 series, the T400s’ battery attaches to and sits flush with the bottom of the system, rather than sticking out of its back.

While the 14.1-inch screen makes it a bit larger than the 13.3-inch X300 series, at 3.9 pounds and 0.8 inches thick, the T400s is 0.3 inches thinner and a full pound lighter than the original T400. And, unlike the X300, whose keyboard and screen can feel cramped, the T400s offers a better balance between comfort and portability.

As with the X300 series, the T400s’ chassis feels extremely firm and durable. Solid contact bumpers on the lid help protect against bumps and drops. Tight metal hinges give the lid a more solid feel than other notebooks. A magnesium alloy keyboard bezel and bottom cover add to the strength.

Keyboard and Touchpad

On the surface, it seems as though Lenovo made only minor tweaks to its industry-best keyboard design, adding larger Escape and Delete keys, and reducing the empty spaces between keys to prevent crumbs and dust from falling into them. Keyboard aficionados will also notice the unmistakable lack of flex, and the strongest feedback they’ve ever encountered in a notebook keyboard.

On the Ten Thumbs typing test, we achieved a high 84 words a minute, 5 percent faster than our 80-word average, but a typing-test score alone doesn’t take comfort into account.

We’ve always liked the accuracy offered by Lenovo’s trackpoints, and this machine’s is no different. Those who prefer a touchpad, however, will be pleasantly surprised by the wide, textured surface on the T400s’s pad. In addition to its accurate surface, the new touchpad also supports multitouch gestures: A two-finger pinch, let uszoom in and out on Web pages and in photographs. Using our fingers while browsing photos in Windows Picture Viewer allowed us to rotate the images. Sliding two fingers up or down in Internet Explorer enables scrolling.

Display and Audio

The 14.1-inch LED-backlit screen provides a native resolution of 1440 x 900, which is the same as the 13.3-inch X300 series. However, the X300 series screens are a little small for that much screen real estate, so the additional 0.8 inches of panel on the T400s make it much easier on the eyes.

While the screen is bright and images are sharp, viewing angles leave something to be desired. At 45 degrees on either side, the colors wash out significantly. If you’re planning a presentation, you’ll surely want to use an external monitor or projector. Also, DVD playback was lacking. While watching Dark City, we noticed quite a bit of pixelation in all scenes and noise in night scenes. Still, quality should be acceptable for business travelers. Our test system came with a standard DVD burner, but the T400s can be configured with a Blu-ray drive ($560).

When listening to music, the sound from the stereo speakers was clear and distortion-free, though not very loud, even at maximum volume. Sound from videos, including DVD movies, was also clear though quiet. We recommend turning up the volume to full blast if you’re sitting more than a few inches away.

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Alienware M17x

When you call something “the most powerful laptop in the universe,” you have a lot to live up to. And Dell’s flagship gaming system, the Alienware M17x ($4,649 as configured), mostly lives up to those claims. This anodized aluminum beast is loaded with the fastest hardware you can put in a notebook today, including two of Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 280M graphics cards and a 2.53-GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9300 CPU. It’s a semi-truck of a computer, and it’ll shred the latest 3D titles like a diamond-toothed chainsaw through a zombie skull, but is it worth nearly five grand?

Design

Measuring 16.0 x 12.6 x 2.1 inches and starting at 11.6 pounds (depending on your configuration), the M17x is the type of notebook that requires a hernia belt just to lift off a desk. But that just means there’s more to love. With a case made of anodized aluminum, this notebook looks and feels as tough as the Batmobile. Two speakers on the front of the computer have a sports car look, and each has a honeycomb grill that reminds us of the body armor in Crysis.

Our system had a matte Space Black finish, but it’s also available in Lunar Silver and Nebular Red. There aren’t any visible screws anywhere but on the customized name plate, which resides on the underbelly of the beast. Like a personal rave, Alienware managed to cram customizable lights in several places, including the Alienware logo below the 17-inch, 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution display, along the touchpad, under the keyboard, on the Alienware head-shaped power button, and even on the back of the lid.

Our biggest beef with the M17x’s industrial design is its lid. It feels like the hinge isn’t strong enough to last through thousands of openings and closings. When you flick it lightly, the lid bounces back and forth a bit—a testament to its weight. We would have preferred a much sturdier hinge that stretched the breadth of the computer’s underside to ensure lifelong sturdiness.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The M17x’s keyboard is massive and solid. The keys don’t have any flex to them, so it’s as if you’re typing on a legitimate desktop keyboard. As with Alienware’s previous desktop replacement systems, there’s a full number pad, too, which means you can store all of your macros in games such as World of Warcraft. As mentioned above, you can tweak the keyboard’s backlight colors, and Alienware even lets you adjust the keyboard by region. So, for example, you can have the far left of your keyboard glow blue, the middle-left glow red, the middle-right glow orange, and the far right glow green. It’s a really cool snow-cone-looking effect, but one many will probably pass up for fear of making their keyboard look like a clown’s wig.

Above the keyboard are soft-touch buttons for ejecting Blu-ray discs, full media controls for skip and play/pause, volume controls, a wireless launch button, and quick-launch buttons for the system’s AlienFusion control panel (one for controlling lights and another for its power-tweaking Stealth Mode).

The touchpad on the M17x is large and flush with the wrist rest, except for a small glowing border; its honeycomb texture allows for swift finger glides across the surface. The two touchpad buttons offered good feedback, but if you’re playing a first person shooter you’ll want to resort to a full gaming mouse for quicker button presses.

Ports and Webcam

The M17x has an assortment of ports, but some are awkwardly placed. On the left side of the unit are: HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, two USB 2.0, eSATA, DisplayPort, FireWire, and a Kensington lock slot. The right side has two additional USB 2.0 ports, an 8-in-1 memory card reader, and an ExpressCard/54 slot. The mic, line-in, and line-out jacks are placed on the back right side, which means that you’ll have to run your headphones around the computer; we prefer these to be on the front of the chassis. The charging port is conveniently placed on the back of the M17x.

The webcam was satisfactory for video chatting during our Skype tests, but we found the colors to be a little oversaturated, and were told that our face could be a bit brighter. There was a bit of motion blur during quick movements, like when we waved our hands around, but the quality was good overall.

Display and Speakers

The M17x has a large 17-inch display with a flushed glass plate that covers the entire surface. It sports a crisp, 1920 x 1200 high-definition resolution for both a killer movie watching and gaming experience. The high-gloss finish resulted in a fair amount of glare, so you’ll want to hold off on playing games or watching movies until you dim the lights.

The speakers on the M17x were some of the best we’ve heard on a notebook. They were loud and crisp, allowing us to clearly hear our commander’s voice belting out commands in Call of Duty: World at War, along with the click-clacking of footsteps around us. They’re also loud enough to fill a small room with music. When we streamed the New Country station from Slacker Radio, the audio didn’t distort at high volumes, and the guitars in Kenny Chesney’s “I’m Alive” sounded in balance with his voice.

We watched an episode of Heroes on the M17x and found that the playback was very good at the display’s full 1200p resolution. We did notice, however, that the Blu-ray looked a bit grainy, and there were a few hints of artifacts when we looked closely at the edges of a house against a blue sky. Sitting back in our chair, though, these were barely noticeable; an action scene of two of the main characters running from a police officer played back smoothly, voices stayed in sync, the audio was clear of any popping, and we didn’t experience any frame stuttering.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet (Multitouch)

Not only does this convertible have an excellent touchscreen, but its performance and battery life are stellar.

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We’ve long been fans of Lenovo’s ThinkPad X200 Series of exceptional ultraportables, having given high marks to the original X200, the low-voltage X200s, and the X200 Tablet. Now, more than a year after introducing the original X200 Tablet, Lenovo has added an optional multitouch screen that takes an already best-in-class business convertible to the next level by offering very good Windows 7 performance and seven hours of battery life.

Design

The first thing you’ll notice about the X200 Tablet is its small size and light weight. At 11.6 x 10.1 x 1.3 inches, the notebook is a little bigger than the 12-inch Dell Latitude XT2 (11.7 x 8.7 x 1.1 inches). According to Lenovo, the X200 Tablet (with a four-cell battery) weighs a netbook-like 3.5 pounds, but our review unit came with the eight-cell option (which protrudes out the back) and weighs in at 4.2 pounds. The X200 Tablet is nearly half a pound heavier than the Latitude XT2, but that system has a smaller six-cell battery.

Like all other ThinkPads, the X200 Tablet features a matte black chassis, green indicator lights, and a bright red trackpoint. Above the keyboard are keys for raising, lowering, and muting audio, and the familiar ThinkVantage button, which launches Lenovo utilities for managing power, wireless, and other settings. Below the lower edge of the screen are a finger print reader, a switch for locking the operating system, a power button, and buttons for rotating the display, hitting Ctrl + Alt + Delete, and pulling up the ThinkVantage tools menu.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The X200 Tablet sports a full-size, spill-resistant keyboard, which has the comfortable, tried-and-true ThinkPad design. The keys offer fantastic tactile feedback, and we were able to achieve a strong 80 words per minute and 2 percent error rate in Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor. However, those with larger hands may find the short wrist rest to be a minor discomfort.

As with the ThinkPad X200, Lenovo eschews its usual trackpoint-and-touchpad combination in favor of only a trackpoint to streamline the system. That may seem like an odd choice to some, but veteran ThinkPad users and novices should have no problems navigating the 12.1-inch display with just the stick.

Display and Touchscreen Performance

The X200 Tablet’s 1280 x 800-pixel resolution screen can swivel either right or left to convert into tablet mode, which is particularly helpful for lefties. The screen is incredibly bright, and viewing angles are strong even from 90 degrees to the left or right.

The screen recognizes both finger and stylus input. After some calibrating and increasing the sensitivity settings, we were impressed with the quality and responsiveness of the touch experience; using the stylus, we were able to easily navigate through the Start menu, tap on icons, and drag windows around.

Even better, we were able to use Window 7’s built-in handwriting recognition tool, which automatically appears as a floating widget above your apps, to write text into Microsoft Word 2007 by hand. We were simply amazed at how accurate the program was (in light of our terrible handwriting). The X200 Tablet even got a little more accurate as we used it, since it is supposed to learn from user input. Even when the system mistook our chicken scratch, we were able to easily highlight a word and replace the incorrect letter with the right one.

The new multitouch screen, a $200 option, uses a high-quality capacitive touch digitizer to register input from two fingers at once, allowing users to perform such multitouch gestures as pinching to zoom or swiping two fingers to scroll. In testing, the screen was highly responsive, and only a light touch was required for it to register. However, we had to be careful to use the pads at the end of our fingers, as the screen did not always recognize presses with our nails.

Using the tips of our fingers, we were able to take advantage of Windows 7’s built-in touch features, including opening Jump Lists by swiping upward on taskbar icons, scrolling in Internet Explorer by swiping up or down, rotating pictures by turning our fingers, and zooming in/out on images and Web pages by pinching.

While we wish that Microsoft or Lenovo had done something to make the Start menu shortcuts or system widgets like the window-close button get bigger when you use your finger, we found it easier to target icons and buttons on the X200 Tablet’s 1280 x 800-pixel screen than on the T400s’ higher resolution 1440 x 900 screen.

Of course, any Windows 7 application, even those written with no touch support, can accept touches in lieu of mouse gestures. For example, we were able to navigate around a spreadsheet in Excel 2007 using touch, even though the individual cells were hard to target. Windows Paint is one application that works very well with multitouch, as it allows you to draw with several fingers at once. However, the X200 Tablet limits you to two fingers, while the T400s allows for more than four.

In addition to the built-in handwriting recognition application for stylus users, Windows 7 provides a touchscreen keyboard you can use to type on the screen. This comes in particularly handy when the system is in portrait mode and the physical keyboard and trackpoint are unavailable.

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