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Ultraportable laptops are the latest trend, but buying decisions could be a struggle when choosing between low-cost and better-performing models. Low-cost ultraportables under 3 pounds, like Everex's CloudBook and Asus' Eee PC, have limited processing power and storage, but they're good enough to surf the Internet and edit Word documents. The expensive ultraportables, like Lenovo's IdeaPad U110 and Fujitsu's P8010, pack processing power, storage and memory, making them good primary PCs.

The question is -- where do you settle? The low-cost laptops are good for short-term use and as backup PCs, but if you have more cash on hand, the more powerful laptops are hard to ignore and better for the long run.

Fujitsu's LifeBook P8010

It's not quite as light or thin as Apple's MacBook Air, but I could lift the Fujitsu's LifeBook P8010 ultraportable notebook with two fingers. The 2.9-pound (1.3-kilogram) laptop felt like a godsend compared to my earlier desktop replacement laptop, which weighed in excess of 6 pounds (2.7 kilograms).

This laptop is one of the first to adapt Intel's low-power Core 2 Duo SL7100 LV chip running at 1.2GHz, which was shrunk 60 percent from Intel's original Core 2 Duo design. The chip consumes less power compared to its larger counterpart, giving laptops longer battery life.

The laptop comes with an OS choice of Windows XP Professional or Windows Vista Business. A test unit sent by Fujitsu came with Vista Business, with an included DVD allowing me to downgrade to Windows XP Professional. I downgraded to Windows XP immediately.

The laptop's keyboard format was different from my earlier laptop and took a little while to get used to. More keyboard functions are bundled into other keys. For example, the page up and page down keys -- which I use often -- are combined with the up and down arrow keys, and work only after pressing down a special FN key. The performance was impressive -- the laptop booted in less than a minute, and programs loaded quickly.

Running for about six hours while using a wireless 802.11n network connection, the battery life was close to what Fujitsu recommended. When operating on a battery, the screen automatically dims down to an extent where eyes could strain. The screen brightness can be adjusted manually.

The performance of built-in Intel graphics was adequate -- not overwhelming -- and it provided decent graphics performance for applications like Lord Of the Rings Online and Second Life, but I'm not much of a gamer.

The laptop's biggest asset is its ultraportability. It's light and easy to carry, and delivers battery life and performance that can keep it working for hours on the road. At US$1,699, the P8010 is one of the more inexpensive ultraportable laptops available that could be a primary machine.

The laptop comes with a 12.1-inch screen and supports up to 2G bytes of RAM and up to 200G bytes of hard drive storage. Solid-state drive storage will be available in the future, a Fujitsu spokeswoman said.

It also has a DVD-RW drive and a built-in 1.3-megapixel Webcam. It supports TPM (Trusted Platform Module), a hardware-based authentication technology for system security.

It is available worldwide through retailers and Fujitsu's Web site.

Lenovo's ultraportable IdeaPad

Lenovo added an ultraportable laptop, the IdeaPad U110, to its consumer laptop line last month. At $1,899, this laptop's starting price is higher than Fujitsu's LifeBook P8010, but it packs a faster Intel processor and has multimedia features that contribute to its appealing glossy design.

The laptop comes with a dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at 1.6GHz and includes the Vista Home Premium OS. It weighs 2.4 pounds (1.08 kilograms) and comes with an 11.1-inch screen. It comes with multiple batteries that give the laptop an impressive eight-hour run time. Inside, the computer integrates Intel graphics, a 120G-byte hard drive and 2G bytes of memory, which is upgradeable to 3G bytes.

The laptop also comes with VeriFace face recognition technology, where a built-in camera recognizes a face to log a person into the computer. The feature absolves users from remembering lengthy and complex passwords, Lenovo said. Button controls on top of the keyboard help control multimedia tasks like adjusting sound and viewing movies.

It is already available in red and black online and will start shipping through retail stores later this month. When customizing the laptop online, users can buy a $30 recycling service from Lenovo for laptop disposal. In return, users get a $50 rebate to apply for future purchase on a Lenovo product.