Toshiba Tecra M3-S331 Notebook (1.73GHz Pentium M, 512MB, 60GB, DVD/CD-RW, Windows XP Pro, 14.1

Let's start with the good news about the Toshiba Tecra M3: When you don't need the DVD-ROM/CD-RW combination optical drive, you can swap it out for a plastic module to pare the laptop's weight to a svelte 4.6 pounds. This boxy black-and-silver unit with a 14.1-inch screen is well equipped for its size, including the new ExpressCard slot, an SD Card slot, and a good keyboard that produces pleasantly muffled clicks. A quick-launch button automatically switches to an external monitor, a handy feature for presenters.

But too many small annoyances would make me pass on this $1799 machine. I like a laptop, no matter how lightweight, to feel like a brick house, and the M3's magnesium alloy case felt slightly creaky to me when I handled it. Also, a memory upgrade would be no fun with this unit. I didn't mind removing the battery, multiple screws, and upper casing to reach the two RAM slots beneath the keyboard, but making it all fit back together again was a challenge, especially the flimsy plastic strip above the function keys. Fortunately, the hard drive is a snap to reach beneath a panel on the bottom that's held in by one screw. You can further expand the M3 with Toshiba's $130 Advanced Port Replicator, which snaps onto the bottom of the unit.