« Return to: Top 15 Notebook PCs
| Rank | Power notebook | Issue tested | Overall rating | Street price (12/14/01) | PC WorldBench 4 performance score1 | Comments | CPU2 | Screen (inches) | RAM (MB) | Hard drive (GB) | Pointing device | Multi-purpose bays | Extra features3 | Overall design | Battery life (hours:min)4 | Average weight (pounds)5 | Vendor'sreliability/service |
| 1 | Best Buy Dell Inspiron 8100 | Jan 02 | 90 | Very inexpensive: $1658 | Windows 2000 Good 100 | Built for multimedia, with GeForce2 Go graphics plus IEEE 1394 and S-Video ports. Price falls $408 this month. (  Dec 01) | 1-GHz Pentium III-M | 15 | 256 | 20 | Touchpad,eraserhead | 1 | Very good: 8X DVD-ROM drive, built-in modem and network adapter, Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition 2002 | Outstanding | Good/3:01 | Heavy/9.0 | Good/Fair |
| 2 | IBM ThinkPad A30p | Feb 02 | 89 | Expensive: $3099 | Windows 2000 Outstanding 113 | Desktop replacement has dual modular bays and huge hard drive. PDA syncing bay device is optional. ( Feb 02) | 1.2-GHz Pentium III-M | 15 | 256 | 48 | Eraserhead | 2 | Very good: 6X DVD-ROM and 4X/4X/24X CD-RW combo drive, built-in modem and network adapter, Lotus SmartSuite | Outstanding | Average/2:19 | Heavy/8.5 | Good/Fair |
| 3 | Dell Inspiron 4100 | Jan 02 | 89 | Average: $2228 | Windows 2000 Very good 107 | Accommodates lots of add-ins; has dual pointing devices. Optional color screen backs cost $20. Drops $502 this month. ( Jan 02) | 1.2-GHz Pentium III-M | 14.1 | 256 | 20 | Touchpad, eraserhead | 2 | Very good: 8X DVD-ROM and 8X/8X/24X CD-RW combo drive, built-in modem and network adapter, Office XP SBE 2002 | Very good | Average/2:58 | Heavy/8.1 | Good/Fair |
| 4 | HP Omnibook 6100 | Jan 02 | 86 | Expensive: $2849 | Windows 2000 Very good 106 | Corporate speedster has wireless-ready design and handsome, thin case with modular bay. Price falls $400. (  Jan 02) | 1.13-GHz Pentium III-M | 15 | 256 | 30 | Touchpad,eraserhead | 1 | Good: 8X DVD-ROM drive, built-in modem and network adapter | Outstanding | Very good/3:58 | Average/7.8 | Good/Fair |
| 5 | Gateway Solo 9550xl | Jan 02 | 85 | Average: $2599 | Windows 2000 Very good 107 | Includes giant screen and high-end multimedia connections, but unit is big and heavy. ( Jan 02) | 1.13-GHz Pentium III-M | 15.7 | 256 | 30 | Touchpad | 2 | Good: 6X DVD-ROM and 4X/4X/24X CD-RW combo drive, built-in modem and network adapter | Very good | Good/3:42 | Heavy/9.3 | Fair/Fair |
| 6 | IBM ThinkPad T23 | Jan 02 | 85 | Expensive: $3128 | Windows 2000 Good 105 | Equipped with a whopping 48GB hard drive and a big screen with a light at the top. ( Dec 01) | 1.13-GHz Pentium III-M | 14.1 | 256 | 48 | Eraserhead | 1 | Good: 8X DVD-ROM drive, built-in modem and network adapter, Lotus SmartSuite | Outstanding | Average/2:41 | Light/6.5 | Good/Fair |
| 7 | New Toshiba Tecra 9000 | New | 83 | Expensive: $3154 | Windows 2000 Good 101 | Slim, all-silver unit with sloping front includes built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless antennas. | 1.13-GHz Pentium III-M | 14.1 | 256 | 30 | Eraserhead | 1 | Very good: 8X DVD-ROM and 8X/4X/24X CD-RW combo drive, built-in modem and network adapter | Very good | Good/3:04 | Average/7.1 | Good/Fair |
| Percent of overall rating | 15 percent | 20 percent | 5 percent | 10 percent | 10 percent | 5 percent | 10 percent | 25 percent | |||||||||
| Rank | Value notebook | Issue tested | Overall rating | Street price (12/14/01) | PC WorldBench 4 performance score1 | Comments | CPU2 | Screen (inches) | RAM (MB) | Hard drive (GB) | Pointing device | Multi-purpose bays | Extra features3 | Overall design | Battery life (hours:min)4 | Average weight (pounds)5 | Vendor'sreliability/service |
| 1 | Best Buy Gateway Solo 5350 | Feb 02 | 83 | Average: $1799 | Windows XP Professional Very good 94 | Comes with removable hard drive, handsome black-and-silver case, and one modular bay, but no substantive extras. (  Feb 02) | 1-GHz Pentium III-M | 14.1 | 256 | 20 | Touchpad | 1 | Good: 8X DVD-ROM drive, built-in modem and network adapter, Microsoft Works 2002 | Very good | Good/3:30 | Average/7.0 | Fair/Fair |
| 2 | New Compaq Presario 1720 | New | 81 | Inexpensive: $1599 | Windows XP Home Very good 95 | Lightweight, well-equipped consumer laptop comes with DVD/CD-RW combination drive and IEEE 1394 port, all for a good price. | 1-GHz Pentium III-M | 14.1 | 256 | 20 | Touchpad | 1 | Good: 6X DVD-ROM and 4X/4X/24X CD-RW combo drive, built-in modem and network adapter | Average | Good/3:13 | Average/6.8 | Fair/Poor |
| 3 | IBM ThinkPad R30 | Jan 02 | 80 | Average: $2033 | Windows 2000 Good 88 | Two-spindle unit has most standard connections, a light at the top of the screen, and built-in 802.11b wireless support. ( Jan 02) | 1-GHz Pentium III | 14.1 | 256 | 30 | Eraserhead | 1 | Good: 8X/4X/24X CD-RW drive, built-in modem and network adapter, Lotus SmartSuite | Outstanding | Average/2:22 | Light/6.7 | Good/Fair |
| 4 | New Compaq Presario 2701 | New | 80 | Average: $1999 | Windows XP Home Very good 97 | Dual optical drive design lets you use DVD-ROM and bundled CD-RW drive simultaneously. Price includes $99 optional second battery. | 1-GHz Pentium III-M | 15 | 512 | 30 | Touchpad | 1 | Very good: 8X DVD-ROM drive, 8X/4X/24X CD-RW drive, built-in modem and network adapter | Very good | Good/3:19 | Very heavy/10.1 | Fair/Poor |
| 5 | Fujitsu LifeBook C Series | Jan 02 | 79 | Average: $1649 | Windows 2000 Good 88 | Outguns other laptops by offering four USB ports; DVD/CD-RW combination drive is a pleasant find in a low-cost notebook. (  Jan 02) | 1-GHz Pentium III | 14.1 | 128 | 30 | Touchpad | 0 | Good: 8X DVD-ROM and 8X/8X/24X CD-RW combo drive, built-in modem and network adapter | Average | Good/3:18 | Average/7.7 | Good/6 |
| 6 | New Toshiba Satellite 5005-S504 | New | 79 | Average: $2099 | Windows XP Home Very good 95 | Fantastic sound and dedicated audio controls will delight music lovers; also includes SD and SmartMedia slots. Uses desktop CPU. | 1.1-GHzPentium III7 | 15 | 512 | 30 | Touchpad | 0 | Good: 8X DVD-ROM and 8X/4X/24X CD-RW combination drive, built-in modem and network adapter, Lotus SmartSuite | Very good | Poor/1:47 | Heavy/8.7 | Good/Fair |
| 7 | Chem USA ChemBook 3830 | Jan 02 | 79 | Inexpensive: $1499 | Windows Me Very good 79 | All-in-one model also makes a nice stand-alone CD player. Battery, hard drive, and memory could be easier to access. ( Nov 01) | 1-GHz Pentium III7 | 14.1 | 256 | 20 | Touchpad | 0 | Average: 8X/4X/32X CD-RW drive, built-in modem and network adapter | Average | Average/2:54 | Average/7.7 | 6/6 |
| 8 | New Sony VAIO PCG FX-390P | New | 78 | Average: $2199 | Windows XP Professional Average 83 | Removable floppy drive, tiltable keyboard, and clearly marked connections highlight this comfortable all-in-one. | 1-GHz Pentium III | 15 | 256 | 30 | Touchpad | 1 | Good: 8X DVD-ROM and 8X/4X/24X CD-RW combo drive, built-in modem and network adapter, Microsoft Word 2002 | Very good | Average/2:46 | Heavy/8.2 | Good/6 |
| Percent of overall rating | 20 percent | 15 percent | 5 percent | 10 percent | 10 percent | 5 percent | 10 percent | 25 percent |
For more details, see "A Guide to PC World's Star Ratings."
1Performance word scores reflect comparisons of PCs in the same category (power or value) running the same operating system. See "Your Guide to the Top 100" for more details.
2Except where noted, all CPUs are SpeedStep chips, which run at a slower speed when on battery power.
3Word score reflects both listed and unlisted features.
4Unless otherwise noted, all notebooks come with a lithium ion battery.
5Includes computer, AC adapter, power cord, floppy drive, and optical drive.
6Insufficient data to give a rating.
7Single-speed desktop CPU.