Thanks to the rise of Netbooks, it's easier than ever to give a laptop to anyone on your list this holiday season. An ultramobile Netbook makes an excellent second computer for e-mailing or surfing the Web on the run, and its low cost will help you stay within your holiday budget. Of course, if your loved ones have been very, very good, there are plenty of other laptops to consider, from sleek ultraportables to larger, entertainment-oriented systems. Listed are a few of our preferred laptops for giving this holiday season, along with some of our favorite laptop accessories to give anyone who already has a laptop they love.
Editors' top pick
The bottom line: Dell's entry into the Netbook market means it's time to take these low-cost, low-power PCs seriously. The Inspiron Mini 9 is an excellent example of the form, if not radically different from the competition.
Price:
$349.00
The bottom line: A mainstream laptop at a Netbook price, the Acer Aspire 5735 provides the basics plus a movie-friendly 16:9 aspect display.
The bottom line: Lenovo's "me, too!" entry in the Netbook sweepstakes, the IdeaPad S10, gets the price and features right, but falls behind on battery life.
Price:
$349.00
The bottom line: A standout among budget midsize laptops, the 14.1-inch Gateway T-6836 marries strong performance and battery life with a compact, well-designed case.
Price:
$599.99 - $729.00
The bottom line: The Dell Studio S1535-125B impresses us with its leading performance in the sub-$1,000 category, thanks in large part to a speedy Intel CPU and generous memory allotment. Striking a fine balance between Dell's XPS and Inspiron lines, we recommend this well-rounded 15-inch laptop for students and home users alike.
The bottom line: The entry-level Sony Vaio NR430 strikes all the right notes--decent performance, pleasing design, great keyboard and display--to form an excellent 15-inch laptop for students (and home users in general) on tight budgets.
Price:
$899.89
The bottom line: Apple's redesigned 13-inch MacBook is essentially a shrunken version of the more expensive 15-inch Pro line. With its new aluminum body, new trackpad, and Nvidia graphics, it's an even more attractive choice for mainstream laptop buyers than was the plastic model it replaces.
Price:
$1,539.99 - $1,599.99
The bottom line: The affordable, gaming-oriented Asus G50V delivers playable frame rates in a portable, 15.4-inch case. If not for a 17-inch gamer from Gateway, we'd say this Asus laptop is an unbeatable value.
The bottom line: HP already makes some of the best multimedia laptops, and trading up to a true 16:9 18-inch display makes for an impressive semiportable home theater in the form of the HP HDX18.
The bottom line: If you're looking to drop some major change on a show-off gaming laptop, it's hard to do better than the Alienware Area-51 m17x, a mean-looking, high-performance black slab.
The bottom line: We don't know how Gateway makes money selling these things, but the combination of high-end components and low price makes the 17-inch Gateway P-7811FX the best mobile gaming deal going right now.
Price:
$1,279.99
The bottom line: It lacks some basic features you may require--touch pad, optical drive--but the 12.1-inch ThinkPad X200 offers strong performance and the longest battery life we've seen. With a variety of connectivity options and a roomy keyboard, the X200 makes a great ultraportable for road warriors.
Price:
$1,119.00
The bottom line: Small laptops have become synonymous with low-cost Netbooks, but Sony's Vaio TT reminds us why some ultraportables can cost almost 10 times as much (hint: the 256GB SSD helps).
Price:
$4,344.99
The bottom line: The ThinkPad X300 breaks new ground by packing a broad display, full-size keyboard, and nearly every feature a mobile user needs into a sleek, lightweight case.
Price:
$1,889.00
The bottom line: If you can get past its poor battery life, you'll find a lot to like about the 14-inch, feature-packed HP Pavilion dv4-1125nr.
