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Thin and Light<br />
Most of these notebooks are practical, trading screen<br />
size for portability, extended battery life, and wireless<br />
WAN. But they do have a fun side, with optical drives<br />
for watching DVDs on the go. —C.N.<br />
Dell XPS M1330<br />
$2,554 • dell.com<br />
Hot off the assembly line, Dell’s M1330 is camera-ready, with a candycoated<br />
shell available in three colors. The real news is that Dell’s latest<br />
offering was the most powerful lightweight computer we tested,<br />
dusting bigger foes in our performance benchmarking—gaming tests<br />
included. Even its 2-hour, 45-minute battery life tied the MacBook.<br />
The price might strike some as high, but this slim and stylish<br />
machine is otherwise a standout.<br />
WIRED Spectacular design. Slot-loading DVD drive with HDMI<br />
output. Touch-sensitive media controls. Seamlessly integrated<br />
wireless WAN from AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon. Media mode plays music<br />
and movies and runs Office apps without booting Windows.<br />
TIRED Kind of expensive. Nine-cell battery adds uncomfortable bulk.<br />
EDITORS’<br />
PICK<br />
Laptops<br />
Apple MacBook<br />
$1,499 • apple.com<br />
The MacBook has gotten only<br />
<strong>sm</strong>all, under-the-hood upgrades in<br />
the past few years. It’s quieter than<br />
last year’s version, with an Intel<br />
Core 2 Duo, 1 GB of RAM, and a big,<br />
160-GB hard drive. But the power<br />
boost wrecks battery life, down a<br />
half hour from 12 months ago.<br />
WIRED Strong value for the<br />
specs and power. Black-case<br />
version is just as stylish as its<br />
silver Pro sibling. Side-by-side<br />
USB ports (important for the<br />
growing number of peripherals<br />
that require two USB plugs).<br />
TIRED At 5.1 pounds, it’s the<br />
heaviest machine in this category<br />
and barely lighter than the<br />
MacBook Pro. Couldn’t complete<br />
our gaming benchmark. Minimal<br />
expansion ports, with no<br />
ExpressCard or PC Card slot.<br />
Gateway C-120X<br />
$1,739 • gateway.com<br />
At nearly 5 pounds, the C-120X<br />
is heavy for a 12.1-inch notebook,<br />
though it does have an optical<br />
drive. Bummer about the fuzzy, dim<br />
screen, unimpressive performance,<br />
and battery life that barely breaks<br />
an hour and a half. Still, it’s not a<br />
bad machine, and the DVD-tablet<br />
combo makes it unique.<br />
WIRED Exceptional pen tracking<br />
and accuracy; touchscreen also<br />
works with a fingertip. Adjacent<br />
USB ports. Budget-friendly<br />
price for its class.<br />
TIRED Underpowered and<br />
heavy, even for a tablet. Strippeddown<br />
specs. Pen is difficult to<br />
eject from its holster.<br />
HP Compaq 2510p<br />
$2,350 • hp.com<br />
We reweighed the thing in disbelief,<br />
but yep, the 2510p is 0.1 pound<br />
less than HP’s 3.7-pound 2710p<br />
(see previous page), which has the<br />
same-size screen and similar specs<br />
but doesn’t include an optical<br />
drive. Capable without being flashy,<br />
the 2510p is best suited as a<br />
traveling notebook for road warriors<br />
willing to pay a premium in dollars<br />
for savings in ounces.<br />
WIRED Unbeatable weight and<br />
surprisingly usable, with responsive<br />
keyboard, touchpad, and pointing<br />
stick. LED backlighting. Survived<br />
our gaming test (barely). Includes<br />
docking station.<br />
TIRED Pricey. Slow to boot.<br />
Touch-sensitive media controls<br />
tend to be unreliable.
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