Who doesn't like a price cut? When we last visited the MSI X series, the Sony VGP-BPS9/S Battery 13-inch X350 offered plenty of style and long battery life but weak integrated graphics for a high price of $999. Now MSI has switched to Sony VGP-BPS13 battery AMD's Fusion processor and lowered the price to $649 ($749 with 8-cell battery), promising beefier graphics and even longer endurance. Sounds like a steal on paper, but is this ultraportable machine really a Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery bargain?

The spacious 3.5 x 2-inch touchpad felt comfortable when Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery navigating the desktop, and we had no trouble scrolling with two fingers or using pinch-to-zoom in the browser. The silver mouse bar has a slick faux Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery brushed metal look, but the button itself felt a bit loose.

After playing a Hulu video for 15 minutes, the area near the X370's front-edge vent reached a warm 100 degrees Fahrenheit Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery but other parts of the system stayed fairly cool. The touchpad climbed to 96 degrees, and the underside registered a borderline 89 sony vgp-bps8 battery degrees. The keyboard (between the G and H keys) was a harmless 81 degrees. We consider anything above 95 degrees Dell Inspiron 1440 Battery uncomfortable.

Starting on the right side of the X370 are two USB 2.0 ports (the only two on the system), a headphone and microphone jack,HP ProBook 4520S Battery and a power plug. The left side houses a VGA port, an Ethernet jack, and an HDMI port, while a 2-in-1 card reader sits on a HP EliteBook 2730P Battery downward sloping recess.

Design
Slim and stylish, the MSI X370 definitely stands out. The HP EliteBook 2530P Battery top lid is a glossy black plastic with a honeycomb pattern that does a decent job of hiding smudge marks, while the undercarriage is made from a single sheet of sturdy midnight black plastic. We especially like the ridge-textured palm rest. hp elitebook 8730w battery Also made of plastic, this area flexes under pressure but looks good when paired with all the chrome-painted trim surrounding the hp elitebook 6930p battery touchpad.

At a slim 13 x 8.8 x 0.8 inches and single hand-friendly 3.4 sony vgp-bps10/s battery pounds (with the 4-cell battery), the MSI X370 is the exact same size as its older sibling, the MSI X350. An 8-cell battery adds a little less than half a pound for a final weight of 3.8 pounds, plus about a quarter of an inch in resting height. Unless sony vgp-bps10a battery you're going to a meeting or you're near an outlet, you'll definitely want the larger battery (more on battery life below). Of course, nothing compares to sony vgp-bps10a/b battery the 0.68-inch thickness and 2.9-pound weight of the 13-inch MacBook Air, but that notebook costs $550 more.

The mildly glossy black keyboard on the Satellite L655D includes a sony vgp-bps10/b battery full number pad and was comfortable for typing. While the keyboard is roomy enough, we would have liked it better if Toshiba had shrunk down the lesser used Alt, Windows, and highlighting keys instead of the hp probook 4515s battery spacebar.

While we never missed the spacebar, it felt cramped. Likewise, hp probook 4410s battery we would have preferred inverted function keys so that we didn't have use a combination of the "Fn" key and the function or number keys to do simple tasks such as dimming the screen or muting the hp probook 4510s battery speakers.

While the Satellite L655D's touchpad looks small, we found its hp probook 4710s battery 3.25 x 1.6-inch size to be large enough to use comfortably. The matte finish provided just enough roughness for easy and accurate control. In addition to allowing scrolling using the right side of the touchpad, the touchpad also allows for hp elitebook 8730p battery multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom.

Recessed into a shallow, oval well, the rounded mouse buttons overhang the edges of the L655D's hp elitebook 8540w battery touchpad by about half an inch on each side. Compared to the diminutive size of the touchpad, the mouse buttons are huge Dell Latitude E5410 Battery but responsive.

The MSI X370 offers an island keyboard with firm tactile feedback. Like previous MSI X-Series Dell Latitude E5510 Battery notebooks, though, we wish the right Shift, Enter, and Backspace keys were a little larger. On some occasions we hit the Up Arrow Dell Latitude E6410 Battery key instead of Shift.

The 1.3-MP webcam captured decent video despite the need to adjust contrast and gamma settings to correct for Dell Latitude E6510 Battery washed-out skin tones and abrasive light distortions.

Apple has two strong 13-inch notebooks to entice shoppers, and one of them just got a lot hp elitebook 8530p battery stronger. While the 13-inch MacBook Air ($1,299) emphasizes portability and instant gratificaiton via Flash memory, the new 13-inch hp elitebook 8530w battery MacBook Pro ($1,199) is all about speed and extra-long endurance. The latest version boasts a bevy of new components and abilities, including a second-generation Intel Core i5 processor, a FaceTime HD webcam, and Thunderbolt sony vgp-bps13b/s Battery high-speed connectivity. The much-loved unibody aluminum chassis remains, along with the outstanding backlit keyboard and glass touchpad, sony vgp-bps13b/b Battery all for the same price. So how much better is this 13-inch MacBook Pro than its predecessor, and what do you sony vgp-bps13as Battery give up?

Users will also find the same black Island-style keyboard and large multitouch touchpad that have graced previous models. sony vgp-bps13a/s Battery Chiseled from a single block of metal, the MacBook Pro feels extremely sturdy. One drawback is that the MacBook Pro's battery is sony vgp-bps13/s Battery not replaceable, at least not without Apple tech support. Also, the chassis can scratch easily if exposed to sharp objects, making a sony vgp-bps13s Battery custom-fit cover a smart investment.

Despite its metallic construction, the MacBook Pro mainly kept its cool on our heat tests. After playing a Hulu video Dell Latitude D420 Battery at full screen for 15 minutes, we measured a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit at the center of the keyboard, while the notebook's underside Sony VGP-BPS22 Battery returned the same reading. The touchpad was cooler at 80 degrees. The bottom back end of the 13-inch MacBook Pro did get toasty, logging Sony VGP-BPS22A Battery a temperature of 109 degrees; we consider anything over 100 degrees cause for concern.

Keyboard and Touchpad
Folks familiar with the MacBook Pro know that its keyboard is one of the best around. The laptop's big square keys sony vgp-bps21a/b battery have a soft finish and are arranged in an island-style setup, offering plenty of spacing. They also make little sound when hit, yet provide a sony vgp-bps21 battery satisfying click. Equipped with an ambient light sensor, the keyboard is backlit as well, one of the advantages the 13-inch MacBook Pro has over the sony vgp-bps21b battery 13-inch Air.

The 2011 13-inch MacBook Pro is virtually identical to its predecessor. Slim with its iconic curved lid, the aluminium unibody sony vgp-bps21/s battery chassis exudes premium build quality from all angles. Measuring 12.8 x 8.9 x 1 inches, and weighing 4.6 pounds, the new machine has the same sony vgp-bps21a battery dimensions as before but is a fraction heavier (0.2 pounds). Of course, the 13-inch MacBook Air (0.7 inches thick, 2.9 pounds) Toshiba PA3534U-1BRS Battery makes the Pro look heavy by comparison, but this 13-incher still slips into bags easily and is relatively easy to carry.

Like MacBook Pros before it, the current version has a vast 4.1 x 3-inch touchpad that doubles as one massive button. Frankly, toshiba pa3535u-1brs battery it's the gold standard; it let us glide our fingers across it with minimal friction and intuitively press down to make selections. We never Lenovo thinkpad r61 battery missed the lack of a discrete mouse button, or even two.

Design of the Cr-48
The Cr-48 won’t be available to consumers and Google has Lenovo thinkpad t400 battery already stated the systems its partners launch in mid-2011 will not use this exact design or hardware. However, there are several things about this test system we found interesting, because they may inspire the final Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad T410 Battery products.

First, we were amazed at how MacBook-like the Cr-48 is in its design. The chassis is rounded Lenovo thinkpad t500 battery and shaped like a last-generation plastic MacBook, its keyboard has the same size, shape, and nearly identical layout to a MacBook’s, Lenovo thinkpad t61 battery and even the hinge, which sites in the middle of the chassis, takes its cues from a MacBook.
We love the black, soft-touch rubberized material that is used throughout the chassis and wish more products were made out Lenovo thinkpad t60 battery of it. Laying your wrists on the soft touch palmrest is a pleasant Lenovo/IBM Laptop Battery experience.

At 11.8 x 8.6 x 0.9 inches the Cr-48 is a very comfortable size for your bag or holding on your lap, Lenovo thinkpad t60p battery but its 3.8-pound weight seems a bit heavy for a system this size.

The full gamut of familiar multitouch gestures are here as well. We easily Lenovo thinkpad r60 battery used two fingers to scroll up and down through webpages and zoom in and out of photos and documents. With four digits we pushed all windows out of the way for a clear view of the desktop, and with three fingers swiped our way IBM thinkpad r60e battery from app to app.

Though the official release of its cloud-based Chrome OS is months away, Google has begun a massive laptop battery pilot program, offering specially-chosen end users, Google employees, and journalists their own prototype Chrome netbooks. Known as the Sony Laptop Battery Cr-48 (for the element Chromium 48), these particular 12.1-inch laptops will never be sold commercially, but they offer a very detailed preview of what we can expect from the first Chrome systems when they launch by mid-2011. So what’s HP/Compaq Laptop Battery it like living in a browser-only PC?

Editor’s Note: Because the Cr-48 netbook is a test product that is not for sale commercially (and never Dell Laptop Battery will be), we’re not giving it a star rating.