HP Pavilion dv1000t

HP has updated one of our favorite thin-and-light notebooks by doing a lot more than adding a "t" to the end of the name. The dv1000t sports a 2-GHz Core Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, and a speedy 5,400-rpm 100GB hard drive. The good news is that even with all of this added power, this 5.4-pound notebook offers even more battery life than its predecessor.

With the exception of a top-mounted Webcam and microphone for making video calls, the dv1000t's design remains the same. Icons point out all of the ports and there are dedicated media controls above the keyboard. Two of those buttons activate HP's improved QuickPlay 2.0 feature, which allows users to watch movies, listen to tunes, and view photos without booting up. It took about 11 seconds to reach the main menu, but we couldn't immediately enjoy our photos stored on the hard drive. You have to move them from the My Pictures folder to the Shared Documents folder in Windows.

This thin-and-light notebook flew through MobileMark 2005, scoring a very high 267. Even more impressive was the dv1000t's endurance, lasting nearly 4.5 hours with Wi-Fi turned off. That runtime dropped by 39 minutes with the 802.11a/b/g radio turned on.

Throw in loud and crisp Altec Lansing speakers and a 6-in-1 memory card reader, and you have a laptop that's ready to entertain at a moment's notice and multitask like the fastest desktops.