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Barely Portable Powerhouses

These big, heavy notebook computers have everything you could ever want in a mobile system, and they perform like desktop PCs.

Alan Stafford

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Inspiron XPS Gen 2 PCW Rating: 84.2PCW Rating: 84.2PCW Rating: 84.2

Last Rated:

1. Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2

2.13-GHz Pentium M 770 processor, 17-inch screen, 11.3 pounds, 100GB hard drive, 8X DVD±RW drive, Price when ranked: $3736

Bottom Line: Burly gaming notebook does a good job with media, thanks in large part to its high-resolution screen.

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Qosmio G25-AV513 Notebook w/ Built-In TV Tuner (2.0GHz Pentium M 760, 1GB DDR2, 120GB, DVD?RW DL, Windows XP Media Center, 17 PCW Rating: 81.7PCW Rating: 81.7PCW Rating: 81.7

Last Rated:

2. Toshiba Qosmio G25-AV513 Notebook w/ Built-In TV Tuner (2.0GHz Pentium M 760, 1GB DDR2, 120GB, DVD?RW DL, Windows XP Media Center, 17

2-GHz Pentium M 760 processor, 17-inch screen, 11.2 pounds, Two 60GB hard drives (120GB RAID), 8X DVD±RW/RAM drive, Price when ranked: $2999

Bottom Line: A thoughtful design makes playing media a pleasure, though the notebook could use a higher-resolution screen.

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Pavilion Zd8000 Notebook - Customizable (3.0GHz Pentium 4 w/ HT Technology, 512MB DDR2, 60GB, DVDRW DL, Windows XP, 17 PCW Rating: 81.0PCW Rating: 81.0PCW Rating: 81.0

Last Rated:

3. HP Pavilion Zd8000 Notebook - Customizable (3.0GHz Pentium 4 w/ HT Technology, 512MB DDR2, 60GB, DVDRW DL, Windows XP, 17

3.4-GHz Pentium 4 650 processor, 17-inch screen, 12.2 pounds, 80GB hard drive, 8X DVD±RW drive, Price when ranked: $2217

Bottom Line: More businesslike than the other two models we tested, this one produced mediocre audio and has a desktop CPU that requires noisy fans.

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