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If you're willing to pay top dollar, you can snap up a machine that weighs
less than a fly. But there are a couple of feature-packed bargains, too.



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



ULTRALIGHT



IBM THINKPAD    Mobile Intel Low Voltage    11.0 x          3.7     $3,157
X22             Pentium III-M 800MHz;       8.9 x 1.2
ibm.com         256MB; 20GB






HP OMNIBOOK     Mobile Intel Low-Voltage    11.0 x          3.5     $3,049
500             Pentium III 750 MHz;        8.7 x 1.0
hp.com          256 MB; 30 GB






COMPAQ EVO      Mobile Intel Low Voltage    10.0 x          3.5     $2,632
N400C           Pentium III 700 MHz;        8.9 x 0.9
compaq.com      256 MB; 20 GB



GATEWAY SOLO    Mobile Intel Low Voltage    10.7 x          3.0     $1,999
3450            Pentium III 750 MHz;        8.9 x 1.0
gateway.com     192 MB; 20 GB






VALUE



SONY VAIO       Intel Celeron 600 MHz;      10.2 x          3.0     $1,000
SR33            128 MB; 10 GB               8.2 x 1.2
sony.com






APPLE           PowerPC G3 500 MHz;         11.2 x          4.9     $1,299
iBOOK           128 MB; 15 GB               9.1 x 1.4
apple.com






                               THE SKINNY



ULTRALIGHT



IBM THINKPAD    It weighs a bit more than other ultra-
X22             lights, but the X22 runs most pro-
ibm.com         grams up to 20% faster than rivals.
                And it has nearly four hours of battery
                life and the best graphics in its class.



HP OMNIBOOK     A take-it-anywhere PC. And with the
500             best docking station we've reviewed,
hp.com          the 500 is a snap to use at home, too.
                Keyboard is a bit cramped, but should
                work for all but the chubbiest fingers.



COMPAQ EVO      Super-versatile, with a fullsize key-
N400C           board that touch-typists will love.
compaq.com      The downside is its brief, 2.5-hour
                battery life.



GATEWAY SOLO    The Solo 3450 is extra easy on the
3450            shoulder. And at less than $2,000,
gateway.com     it's easy on the budget as well.






VALUE



SONY VAIO       You compromise a bit on performance,
SR33            but this Vaio is cheap and light. It also
sony.com        has a slot for MemorySticks for quickly
                loading photos from a Sony digital
                camera onto a PC.



APPLE           Apple comes up with a machine that's
iBOOK           competitive with Windows PCs in price
apple.com       and performance. Add Apple's nifty
                industrial design and you've got
                a winner.