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BusinessWeek asked analysts in TechTV's testing lab to sort through portable
computers to find the machines that give the best performance for the price.
Here, in order of preference, are their picks.



                                            DIMENSIONS     WEIGHT
                SPECIFICATIONS              W x D x H     (POUNDS)  PRICE
                                            (INCHES)



DESKTOP REPLACEMENT



DELL LATITUDE   Mobile Intel Pentium III-M   13.0 x         7.7     $3,284
C810            1.13 GHz; 256 MB; 48 GB      10.9 x 1.8
dell.com



HP OMNIBOOK     Mobile Intel Pentium III-M   12.8 x         6.2     $3,791
6100            1.13 GHz; 256 MB; 30 GB      10.4 x 1.4
hp.com



GATEWAY SOLO    Mobile Intel Pentium III-M   13.3 x         8.0     $2,628
9550            1.13 GHz; 256 MB; 30 GB      11.3 x 1.7
gateway.com






MOBILE WORKHORSE



COMPAQ EVO      Mobile Intel Pentium III-M   12.1 x         5.5     $2,394
N600C           1.06 GHz; 256 MB; 20 GB      9.8 x 1.2
compaq.com



DELL LATITUDE   Mobile Intel Pentium III-M   12.5 x         5.8     $2,508
C610            1.2 GHz; 256 MB; 10 GB       9.9 x 1.4
dell.com



WINBOOK X1      Mobile Intel Pentium III     11.6 x         5.2     $2,199
winbook.com     1.0 GHz; 320 MB; 20 GB       9.4 x 1.1






                        THE SKINNY



DESKTOP REPLACEMENT



DELL LATITUDE   Loads of power and features galore:
C810            Big screen, hefty hard drive, and
dell.com        built-in wireless all packaged with
                blazing performance.



HP OMNIBOOK     The lightest of the desktop replace-
6100            ment models packs plenty of power.
hp.com          One downer is the price. You're paying
                plenty to shave an extra pound
                or two off your shoulder.



GATEWAY SOLO    It's heavy, but take a look at that
9550            huge 15.7-inch display and
gateway.com     expansive hard drive. It packs
                lots of power for the price.






MOBILE WORKHORSE



COMPAQ EVO      Light and powerful, with battery life
N600C           pushing four hours. A great com-
compaq.com      panion for a traveling exec who doesn't
                want to skimp on performance.



DELL LATITUDE   Excellent bang for the buck and
C610            the best graphics capabilities of any
dell.com        mobile workhorse. Integrated wireless
                keeps you connected on the road.



WINBOOK X1      At 5.2 lb., the X1 is easy on the
winbook.com     shoulder. It also has loads of
                RAM standard and a DVD/CD-ROM
                combo drive. An excellent value.