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Top 15 Notebook PCs

Dell notebooks sweep first- and second-place Best Buys in both power and budget categories.

By Carla Thornton, PCW Print   

Complete Coverage

Acer TravelMate 602TER P3/650/128/12.0GB/13.3/W98

No matter what kind of laptop you seek--decked out or budget priced, touchpad- or eraserhead-equipped, supersonic or slower--we have one word for you this month: Dell. Buoyed by generous speed, features, and manufacturer support, Dell notebooks swept first- and second-place Best Buys in both power and budget categories. Pick what's best for you: the built-for-business $2737 Inspiron 4000 or the new budget-priced $1349 Inspiron 3800. Both have cases in eye-catching colors such as purple, accommodate lots of different add-in extras, and offer dual pointing devices. The Inspiron 4000 achieved a Very Good rating in our battery tests, lasting over 4 hours; the Inspiron 3800 has the best keyboard on the chart.

In addition to the Inspiron 3800, three other new notebooks made our list. At only 5.1 pounds with a 14.1-inch screen (and a weight saver that takes the place of the CD-ROM drive), Gateway's $2772 Solo 5300XL proves you don't have to pay top dollar for a portable with a big display.

The $2499 HP OmniBook XE3 offers a more casual case design and easier-to-use audio CD controls than the old XE2. Fujitsu's funky off-white, USB-reliant LifeBook i-4177 might appeal to students and others looking for a $1399 laptop that can download tunes to a minidisc player.

Contributing Editor Carla Thornton regularly covers notebooks for PC World.

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