Top 15 Notebook PCs

A lower price and a better optical drive help the IBM ThinkPad T40 return to the head of the chart.

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IBM's ThinkPad T40 recaptures power Best Buy status this month, thanks to a $150 price drop and an upgrade to a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combination drive. Joining the power ranks at number seven, HP's new, portly Pavilion Ze5300 packs a rewritable DVD drive and a FireWire port for making movies on the road. On the value side of the chart, the Dell Inspiron 500m earns our Best Buy award for its impressive performance and near 4-hour battery life. EMachines reenters the notebook market and takes second place with its new wide-screen M5305, a well-designed portable selling for a modest $1250. Averatec, a company new to our Top 100 charts, grabs third place with the 3150P; this $1025 travel companion weighs just 4.5 pounds (without the power adapter), has a small but workable keyboard, and comes with wireless-networking capabilities.

The final value newcomer is a desktop-replacement notebook. Premio's Kaypro A1100 strikes a good balance between performance and battery life.

We also tested Sony's chic, lightweight VAIO PCG-V505AX for our value roster this month, but Sony replaced it with the similar V505BX before press time.

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