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• Style While Asus’ U2E might be perfect for a leather-loving, fancy-pants executive, Sony’s Vaio TZ is also designed for an executive powerhouse, but its elegance is conveyed with a knowing understatement. Perhaps Sony is saying: "real power-brokers and road warriors don’t need leather, they just need good design." The TZ 298 is one of the highest-end configurations of the ultraportable TZ, and it compromises nearly nothing. Because it includes both a 250 GB hard drive and a 64 GB solid state drive, there’s no room for an optical drive—that’s the reason I said "nearly". Sony does include an external optical drive with this computer, though. The TZ is dressed in a mix of executive blacks. There’s the matte black shell and underside, the brushed carbon lid-piece that looks almost maroon—and contrasts nicely with the mirrored-silver Vaio logo in the center—and the slightly-indented piano black chassis piece that the keyboard sits upon. Other than a shockingly slim screen lid and a completely spherical hinge—into which attaches a fairly beefy battery that raises the computer up off its surface about half an inch—there are no notable design flourishes. The machine is available in other colors, like gold and red, for those who need a bit more flash in their computers. Though the screen is just as thin as, if not thinner than, the Toshiba R500, it’s somewhat more stable. The rest of the chassis is far hardier than the R500’s; it is simply made from heavier material. Size and Weight The fact that Sony manages to keep the TZ as thin as it is (it ranges from 0.8” to 1.2” thick) using these sturdier materials is an accomplishment, even without the optical drive. These materials also give the computer a tad more weight than the other non-optical drive ultraportables: it weighs 2.7 lbs, where the Lenovo U110 weighs 2.4 lbs. At least the Sony TZ has the smallest power brick (0.6 lbs). In the hand, the TZ feels extremely light, especially since it has a great, grippy handle in the form of that round hinge. Ports Starting on the left, Sony hides some of its most delicate and, perhaps least used, ports behind a rubberized covered compartment. Peel back the casing to find the protected Gigabit Ethernet, modem and FireWire ports. After resealing the hatch, you’ll find a fan vent, and then a subterranean ExpressCard slot and two USB ports. The front of the TZ is covered with ports and buttons: from left you’ll find the headphone jack, microphone jack, "MagicGate" slot for Sony’s proprietary memory formats and SD slot. There are also LED lights indicating whether the "MagicGate" is in use, the status of the battery and status of the hard drive. Further along to the right is a Wi-Fi on/off switch and six metallic bead buttons for multimedia use that we’ll get to in the Usability section below. On the right side is one more USB port, with a VGA port toward the back. There are no actual buttons or ports on the back of the machine, though at either end of the spherical hinge is a spot for (on the left) the power plug and (on the right) a clear plastic power button that blinks orange or stays a solid green. You can’t see it, but this computer is the only one in the group with a built-in broadband card: Sprint’s EVDO. Unfortunately, Sony didn’t give us access to this feature on our review unit, so we were unable to test it for data speeds. Style score 4.5 Usability Display Sony’s XBRITE screens have a reputation for being reliable and super sharp; even in this incredibly thin incarnation, the lack of glare and the rich colors put it a cut above the average ultraportable screen. Sony’s TZ battery benefits from the LED-backlit screen, too, since it was able to sustain itself the longest in this roundup. The bezel holding the display in place is just as flimsy as the one on the Toshiba R500. It would be a pleasure, however, to watch a movie on this notebook’s screen, as long as the movie was stored on disk (since there is no optical drive). Keyboard Sony’s keyboard is smaller than standard laptop size, but for me it was the easiest to type on of all the notebooks. That’s because its keys are of that distinct separated variety that show up in every Apple MacBook made since 2006. My personal notebook happens to be a MacBook, and so I was right at home with the feel of these keys. Though they are situated in a shiny piano black chassis, the keys have a slight grainy feel to them, and make virtually none of the clickety-clackety noise that accompanies nearly all keyboards. There are tiny speaker slits on the left and right sides, above the keyboard, but out of them comes a surprisingly big sound. In this audio-visual sense, the Fujitsu P8010 and the Sony TZ are unparalleled—the other three notebooks in this roundup can’t compete. Trackpad and Buttons The trackpad feels a little bit slimy; it’s just not different enough from the wristpad, and it glides too smoothly. The buttons are about a centimeter below the trackpad, and are of the barely-clicks variety: they feel even in terms of clickability from side to side, but they just don’t depress very much, so you wonder if you’ve hit them correctly. In between the two buttons is a fingerprint scanner—again, I’d rather it be off to the side than between the buttons. On the edge of the front lip of the computer, just below the mouse buttons, are those six multimedia buttons I mentioned earlier: AV Mode, Play/Pause, Stop, Rewind, Fast Forward, and S. I think the only two that need explanation are the AV Mode button, which allows your computer to launch DVDs, other videos, music, or pictures without booting up the computer, and S, which in this case means "eject." These buttons would probably be a bit more useful with a built-in optical drive; I found them pretty much ignorable during my use of the machine. On the plus side, they are tiny and relatively flush with the machine, so I did not hit them accidentally. Noise and Heat In our testing experience, this machine got rather hot while running benchmarks and battery tests. It also emitted a low hum at all times, regardless of whether the drives were spinning or the computer was active. And here’s some bad news: this computer and 73,000 other units like it were recalled by Sony in September. The culprit? According to the company’s warning to consumers: "Irregularly positioned wires near the computer’s hinge and/or a dislodged screw inside the hinge can cause a short circuit and overheating. This poses a burn hazard to consumers." The good news is that a short-circuit did not occur during our brave testing of this machine. Aren’t you relieved? We were. So while this computer did get hotter than any of the others in the roundup, it didn’t seem unsafe. Even so, we are sending this machine back to Sony post-haste, so that we can receive a newer unit: the Vaio TT. Usability score: 4

• Sony VAIO VGN-UX280P Micro PC (1.2GHz... (8 offers) Online shop Price See more products As components become smaller and smaller and CPU technologies require less power, it's amazing just how small an ultra compact notebook PC can be these days. The Sony VAIO VGN-UX280P makes a great case in point: you'll find a lot more power and capability inside its svelte 5.91" x 3.74" x 1.5" case than you might expect. At a weight of 1.1 lbs, in fact, it's both lighter and smaller than a typical hardback book. The UX280P is no slouch in terms of its standard configuration either. It's built around an ultra-low voltage Intel Core Solo ULV 1400 processor, which runs at a respectable 1.2 GHz. It also includes a tiny 40 GB 4,200 RPM Ultra ATA hard disk, along with 1 GB of PC2-3200 533 MHz DDR2 SO-DIMM RAM. These features make the UX280P Windows Vista compatible. The ultra small computer features a 4.5" (diagonal) SVGA touch screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, driven by an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 chipset that can use up to 128 MB of dynamically allocated RAM for video output. It offers an Intel Pro 3945 ABG wireless graphics chipset, with a V.90 modem, 10/100 Ethernet, Bluetooth, and 802.11 a/b/g wireless LAN support. There's even an electrostatic touch pad to serve as a mouse, along with a diminutive but relatively functional 82-key QWERTY keyboard, plus built-in digital cameras (a 0.3 M pixel camera on the front, and a 1.3 M pixel camera on the back). What's more, the UX280P comes with Windows XP Professional pre-installed (SP2 version), plus trial versions of Norton Internet Security, Trend Micro Anti-Spyware, Microsoft Office 2003 and Sony Games, as well as full-blown versions of Microsoft Works 5, Microsoft Streets & Trips, Pen Plus, and more. When the sled hits the trail, this Sony UX280P won't win any performance prizes, but it's more than adequate for browsing the Web, handling office work, reading e-mail, and other typical road warrior activities. An included port replicator makes it easy to use a standard keyboard, mouse and monitor. This is one heck of a Christmas gift to be sure, especially if you can land a nice discount. See our full review of the Sony UX 180P Micro PC here. The UX180P is the same as the UX 280P except the 180P has only 512 MB of non-upgradeable memory and a 30 GB instead of a 40 GB hard disk drive, meaning it is not Windows Vista compatible. Related Articles: Part 1: Motherboards, Processors, Coolers and RAM Part 2: 2006 Networking Holiday Buyer's Guide Part 3: Components & Peripherals Buyer's Guide Part 4: Gifts for Non-Geeks Is BlackBerry's Pearl a Little Gem or Rough Diamond? Four Graphics Capable Notebooks Ready For Business Sony's Sizzling UX180P Micro PC Reviewed Join our discussion on this topic

• By Barry Gerber All of these notebooks retail for under $800, except for the Apple MacBook Pro, and all are available as of this writing. Pricing in the portable computing market is volatile — most manufacturers release new models on a quarterly basis, often whether there are changes in hardware components or not. These particular models will be readily available at least through the middle to end of August. So, they are truly back-to-school laptops, and if you want one for that or any other purpose, I suggest you buy one ASAP. If I could, I would have listed only laptops based on Intel’s new Centrino 2 technology. However, most of those won’t hit the market until the same middle-to-late August timeframe. Also, because the new technology will cost more early on, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to buy Centrino 2 laptops for the same price range with the features of the models I discuss here. Check out what the new Managing Editor of Tom’s Hardware, Chris Angelini, has to say about Centrino 2 . While all of these laptops are fine for standard school use, they’re not super-powered gaming machines or heavy duty graphics workstations. If you want something like that, you’ll need to focus on higher-end, super-large, super-heavy notebooks from the likes of Dell, Alienware, Toshiba and the myriad smaller scale manufacturers and vendors out there. Note that, at least for budget notebooks, vendors report battery information in different ways. Some list the number of cells in a battery, while others provide battery capacity numbers in milliamp hours (mAh). Though this is not a hard and fast rule, more cells or more capacity equal longer battery life for notebooks in the same hardware component class. Fortunately, the notebooks in this roundup are very similar in their hardware components; for example, each comes with a read/write optical CD/DVD drive. So, let’s take a look at the six budget laptops I’m recommending for those going back to school this fall. I’ve included specific model numbers and links where available. There were no specific model numbers for the Dell or Apple models, but there are links for these. If you’re hitting this article after mid-August and a specific link doesn’t work any more, try going to the company’s home page and surfing for a similar model. Dell Inspiron 1525 ($799) From its Core 2 Duo T5750 2.00GHz CPU to 3 GB of shared memory and 9-cell battery, the Inspiron 1525 is chock full of respectable mobile hardware. If you’re into color and style, the 1525 line offers a lot to like, whether it’s the basic black model or the black one shown here with cool white racing stripes. (The design is called "Street Pattern" and costs $25 extra.) Also available at the same $25 premium are nine other colors, including Alpine White, Ruby Red, Midnight Blue, Flamingo Pink and Sunshine Yellow. In addition to Street Pattern, there are two other patterned designs: Chill and Commotion. Features: Dell Inspiron 1525 Component Model CPU Core 2 Duo T5750 (2.00 GHz / 667 MHz FSB / 2 MB Cache) Memory 3 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667 MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 15.4" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking up to 802.11g Battery 6-Cell Size (WxHxD) 14.05" x 1.00" front - 1.48" back x 10.08" Weight 5.9 pounds Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 Dell Inspiron 1525 Homepage HP Compaq 6720s PC (KR915UT) ($799) Though it’s far from super stylish, HP’s Compaq 6720s PC (KR915UT) comes ready for work. It has a little less CPU power and memory than the Dell Inspiron 1525, but it matches the 1525 in all other categories. One difference, though, is that the HP comes with Vista Business, which has some features you won’t find in the other five laptops in this guide. Vista Business supports full disk image backup, while Vista Home Premium lets you backup files, but not a full image of your disks. Vista Business also features built-in remote desktop access and the ability to use your laptop to send and receive faxes and images. Vista Business doesn’t support “fun and games features” such as Media Center, so you won’t have as much fun with a Vista Business based laptop, but you’ll be happy with it if you plan to use your laptop mostly for serious work. Of course, Microsoft’s Windows Vista Ultimate retails at only $20 more than Vista Business ($199 vs. $219) and it has everything but the kitchen sink, including all of the features of Home Premium and Business — plus a few of its own, like file encryption (BitLocker). So if Ultimate is available as an option for the notebook you want to buy, I suggest you go for it. I use it and love it on both my notebook and desktop. Features: HP Compaq 6720s PC (KR915UT) Component Model CPU Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5670 (1.80 GHz / 800 MHz FSB / 2 MB L2 cache) Memory 2 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667 MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 15.4" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking up to 802.11g Battery 6-Cell Size (WxHxD) 14.10" x 1.27" x 10.50" Weight 5.5 pounds Operating System Windows Vista Business SP1; XP downgrade media included HP Compaq 6720s PC Homepage Toshiba Satellite L305-S5883 ($799) The version of Dell’s Inspiron featured here and Toshiba’s Satellite L305-S5883 look like clones. If it weren’t for slight differences in size and weight, and possible battery life, I’d suspect they came from the same source. I have used Toshiba laptops for years; the only thing that has ever given me trouble is the disk drives, and in that I am not alone. I don’t mean in having problems with Toshiba’s laptop drives in specific, but in having troubles in general with notebook drives. Until fairly recently, laptop disk drives were quite vulnerable, because they could be damaged easily if a laptop was dropped even a few inches. Newer mechanisms that lock a drive’s heads over an area of the disk that contains no data have helped prevent some disasters, but problems still exist. The new solid state drives promise much better protection against dropping, but they’re still quite expensive and they just might drain more battery power than similarly-sized magnetic disks. What to do? See my discussion of backup in the section on HP’s Compaq 6720s PC (KR915UT). Features: Toshiba Satellite Pro L305-S5883 Component Model CPU Core 2 Duo T5750 (2.00 GHz / 667 MHz FSB / 2 MB Cache) Memory 3 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 15.4" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking up to 802.11g Battery 4000 mAh Size (WxHxD) 14.2" x 1.30" front - 1.48" back x 10.08" Weight 5.7 pounds Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 Toshiba Satellite L305-S5883 Homepage Apple MacBook ($1099) The MacBook is the lowest cost product in the Apple laptop lineup, and the one we’re looking at here is the very lowest model in the MacBook line. If you haven’t been following Apple computers for a while — though I can’t imagine how you could have missed this — Apple has gone over to the devil and now uses Intel products in its Macs. The MacBook under the microscope here has both a solidly performing Intel Core 2 Duo T8100, and the same Intel X3100 Graphics Media Accelerator used in the other laptops included in this roundup. However, compared to the other five notebooks presented here, the MacBook is both more expensive and includes lesser hardware in some areas. The CPU is fine and the laptop has some enviable multimedia capabilities such as a DVI output. However, it comes with only 1 GB of memory, the disk drive has a capacity of just 120 GB, and unlike the other five laptops, the MacBook’s display is two inches smaller. On the plus side, the laptop does include 802.11n wireless support, but the good stuff isn’t worth the premium price. So, what’s up? As I note at the end of this piece, much of the extra cost of Apple products must be going into providing the very best customer and technical support in the business. So, as usual, you pay your money and you make your choice. Features: Apple MacBook Component Model CPU Core 2 Duo T8100 (2.10 GHz / 800 MHz FSB / 3 MB Cache) Memory 1 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667 MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 13.3" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 120 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking up to 802.11n Battery 5200 mAh Size (WxHxD) 12.78" x 1.08" x 8.92" Weight 5.2 pounds Operating System Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.2 or greater Apple MacBook Homepage Sony VGN-NR460E/P and VGN-NR460E/L ($749) These two Sony VGN models are almost exactly the same. The only difference is in the colors the two come in: Textured Nightfall Blue (VGN-NR460E/L) and Cherry Blossom Pink (VGN-NR460E/P). These two laptops clearly offer a set of one-for-the-boys and one-for-the-girls alternatives. Although the Sony VGN-NR460E/P and VGN-NR460E/L models feature slightly less impressive CPU, memory and hard disk options than the Dell Inspiron and Toshiba laptops, there is still some basic value to be had here. However, the $50 lower price of the Sonys hardly makes up for the hardware differences. To be fair, after knocking Apple, I should note that Sony charges a premium compared to most other computer manufacturers. Unlike with Apple, though, I find it difficult to understand what the company does with the premium: it’s not known for world class customer service. Sony is offering back to school bonuses with some of its laptops, including the two VGN models featured here. Check the company’s website for details. Features: Sony VGN-NR460E/P and VGN-NR460E/L Component Model CPU T2390 (1.86 GHz / 533 MHz FSB / 1 MB L2 Cache) Memory 2 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667 MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 15.4" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 200 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking up to 802.11n Battery 4800mAh Size (WxHxD) 14.2" x 1.20" front - 1.50" back x 10.6" Weight 6.3 pounds Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 Sony Vaio VGN-NR460E/P Homepage Sony Vaio VGN-NR460E/P Homepage Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 - 77582CU ($779) The IdeaPad line includes Lenovo’s more consumer-oriented laptops. These contrast nicely with the still very successful ThinkPad line of business laptops inherited, at least in name, from IBM. Like the Sony models, Lenovo’s Y510 - 77582CU comes in a bit less expensive than the Dell and Toshiba models, and with slight less heft on the hardware side. Again, the $20 difference between the Y510 - 77582CU and the Dell and Toshiba can’t be explained away by Lenovo’s use of lower performance hardware. Assuming efficient component purchasing, manufacturing and sales/distribution practices, the company is making more on the Y510 - 77582CU than either Dell or Toshiba are on their products. However, unlike Sony, according to a number of independent assessments of tech support offered by different research organizations, Lenovo has figured out how to use those extra bucks to provide technical support at a level of quality that makes it second in the industry behind Apple. Features: Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 - 77582CU Component Model CPU Core 2 Duo T5550 (1.83 GHz / 667 MHz FSB / 2MB Cache) Memory 2 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667 MHz Graphics Controller Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 Display Widescreen 15.4" display (1280x800) Hard Disk Drive 160 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Wireless Networking 802.11g Battery 6-Cell Size (WxHxD) 14.10" x 1.14" front - 1.42" back x 10.30" Weight 6.49 pounds Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 Lenovo IdeaPad - Y510 Homepage What To Buy You’ve probably already noticed the similarity of these six laptops: even the Apple MacBook has a lot of the same hardware components as the other models. Except for the MacBook, all of the computers are also similarly priced. So what does the extra you pay for the MacBook buy you? Well, there might still be a bit of Apple snobbery appeal in the price, but one of the main benefits of Apple products is the company’s strong customer service reputation. No other company scores as high as Apple in this area in surveys by reliable, well respected consumer-oriented research organizations. Does this mean that Apple always provides great service, or that other companies never do it right? No way. Right now, as an iPhone owner, I’m following a very interesting set of forum threads that are seriously questioning the ability of the new iTunes-iPhone OS 2.0 to handle synchronization between the iPhone and Microsoft’s Outlook email, calendar and contacts software — and Apple’s attitude about fixing the problem. And, I have to say that I’ve had very good service from the other manufacturers whose laptops I’ve covered here. I recommend that you select your back to school laptop based on your own interests and needs. If performance is your main concern, go for the laptops with the fastest components. Here, your choice is pretty much limited to CPU speed, though the differences in CPU performance among the laptops presented here are going to be quite minimal anyway. If you’re a serious, work-oriented player, go for the Vista Business operating system. If you want to play or mix work and play, Vista Home Premium or Ultimate are for you. If you’re concerned about running out of disk space with all the new and exciting things you can store on your laptop these days, then go for the biggest hard disk. But remember that the more capacity you have, the more content you have to back up. So, think about getting an external drive and either using the notebook’s operating system itself to backup your notebook, or find some software and maybe even an online backup service to save all that good stuff to another place. If you’re a design hound, then select from the variety of styles and colors available for at least some of the notebooks presented here. From the racing stripes and rainbow of colors available for the Inspiron 1525, to the hot pink and electric blue colors Sony has dreamed up for its Vaio models, there’s plenty for you to choose from. Finally, don’t think you have to buy the configurations in this article. As you may have noticed if you surfed to some of the company site links above, they offer a lot of configuration options, both more and less expensive. Fiddle around a bit to see what might be best for you. Whatever you do, buy that laptop now and avoid the late August and early September rush...