To test the smartest laptops of 2010, we checked in with Mark Spoonauer who, as editor-in-chief of Laptop Magazine and Laptopmag.com , oversaw 140+ notebook and netbook reviews this year. Once you’re buying, buy this sort of.

Breakthrough Device

Apple MacBook Air (11- and 13-Inch)

Lowest Price: $899.95
Discuss instant gratification. Flip the lid on the ridiculously light 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Airs and they spring to life instantly. Because of the manner Apple integrated flash memory in these ultraportables, in addition they boot in exactly 15 seconds. The brand new Airs measure 0.11 to 0.68 inches thick yet feature sturdy aluminum unibody designs and zippy Nvidia graphics. The 2.3-pound 11-inch model lasts more than 5 hours on a charge, while the 2.9-pound 13-inch Air can work unplugged for just about 7 hours. Add in a FaceTime camera for simple video calling between Macs and an iPhone or iPod touch-and an upcoming Mac App Store-and you may see why Apple continues to out-innovate the Windows competition. [ Review ]

Netbooks

Budget: Samsung N150 Plus

Lowest Price: $309.99
One of the vital attractive netbooks yet, the N150 has a deep red and black design with a subtle dot pattern. Inside is a matte deck, an ideal chiclet-style keyboard, and a 10-inch, 1024×600 display. The N150′s speakers put out the various best audio we’ve heard on a machine this size. Its battery lasted a great 7 hours and 12 minutes, and Samsung’s Fast Boot utility made the system resume instantly from hibernation mode. [ Review ]

Splurge: ASUS Eee PC 1215N

Lowest price: $484.03
It’s the netbook that looks and feels more like a notebook. With a 12-inch display, a dual-core Atom D525 CPU, and discrete (but power-sipping) Nvidia ION graphics, this 3.4-pound machine permits you to game and lasts nearly 6 hours on a charge. Plus, we adore ASUS’ redesign, which makes the touchpad a whole lot roomier and the chassis less susceptible to fingerprints. [ Review ]

Ultraportables

Budget: Toshiba Satellite T235-S1350

Lowest Price: $599.99
Essentially the mostsome of the most stylish and inexpensive ultraportables yet, this 3.9-pound, 13-inch laptop is superb for students and anyone else on the go. Its shiny lid (available in charcoal, red, or white) has a subtle wave pattern on top, while Toshiba’s Fusion Chrome finish adds class to the inside, where you’ll find among the finest keyboards around. The notebook packs a 1.2-GHz Intel Pentium U5400 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB, 5,400-rpm harddisk, and its battery lasted just over 6 hours. You won’t find a more robust deal than this. [ Review ]

Splurge: Sony VAIO Z

Lowest Price: $1,859.97
A no-compromise ultraportable, this 13-inch beauty weighs an insignificant 3 pounds-barely heavier than most netbooks-but includes a Core i5 processor, dual 64GB solid state drives, switchable Nvidia graphics, a high-resolution 1600 x 900-pixel display. This notebook is on the market in black or silver, the chassis is product of aluminum and magnesium, making it light and durable. The VAIO Z blew away all other ultraportables in our tests and lasted 5 hours on a charge (a long battery costs extra). You may also configure the Z with WiMax or 3G connectivity for the chief on the go. [ Review ]

Thin-and-Light Notebooks

Budget: HP Pavilion dm3t

Lowest Price: $549.99
It doesn’t just look cool, it can be cool. HP’s 4-pound stunner features CoolSense technology, which kept the temperatures on this machine pretty low after we put it through its paces. Somehow, HP crammed a Core i3 processor and a 320GB, 7,200-rpm harddisk into a chassis under an inch thick. We absolutely love the unique soft-touch black cover and backlit keyboard, in addition as this notebook’s 5.5 hours of battery life. [ Review ]

Splurge: MacBook Pro 13

Lowest Price: $1,199.00
The 13-inch MacBook Pro lives up to its promise of long battery life, the whole while delivering strong performance, because of Nvidia’s powerful GeForce 320M graphics. For $200 more than Apple’s plastic MacBook, this laptop offers a beautiful aluminum design, twice the RAM, a backlit keyboard, and an SD card slot. [ Review ]

All-Purpose Portables

Budget: HP G62t

Price: $599.00
It’s cheap. And it’s great. The HP G62t has basically everything you can still want for the cash. This notebook contains a 2.13-GHz Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a fast, spacious 500GB 7,200 rpm. (Other machines at this price spin at 5,400-rpm.) Throw in a classy matte finish-no fingerprint smudges!-and loud Altec Lansing speakers, and you’ve got a winner. [ Review ]

Splurge: Dell XPS 15

Price: $864.00
The most recent XPS line pairs a swish hinge-forward design with a brushed aluminum palm rest and speaker grills, and backs it all up with a considerable number of power. The XPS 15 comes able to entertain with Nvidia Optimus-enabled graphics, JBL speakers with Waves MaxxAudio, and available 1080p display and Blu-ray player. Other amenities include USB 3.0 and an high-def webcam that’s certified to work with Skype HD. [ Review ]

Entertainment Machines

Budget: Toshiba Satellite M645

Lowest Price: $989.00
It looks good, and it sounds even better. The 14-inch, 5-pound Toshiba Satellite M645 sports a snazzy textured design, plus harmon/kardon speakers powered by Dolby Advanced Audio Technology. On our tests, we were floored by the fidelity of this thin-and-light laptop. A 2.4-GHz Intel Core i5-450M processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB harddrive round out the specs. A chiclet-style keyboard and a spacious 3.2 x 2.2-inch touchpad make sure that users compute in comfort. Bonus: The Fusion X2 finish picks up no fingerprints. [ Review ]

Splurge: HP Envy 17

Lowest Price: $1,499.99
Starting from the paisley-esque pattern and HP’s glowing logo on the lid, you know this is often one premium system. Inside, a superior island-style backlit keyboard and a big 4.2 x 2.5-inch touchpad rest on the deck. Above them is a 17-inch Ultra BrightView Infinity display, which has 1920 x 1080-pixel resolution, wide viewing angles, and a 72 percent color gamut. Speakers are powered by Beats audio technology, which pumped out many of the best sound we’ve heard from a notebook. What else does this beast have? How about an HD webcam, USB 3.0, 1.6-GHz Intel Core i7-720QM processor, 6GB of RAM, a 500GB, 7,200-rpm hard disk drive, and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 graphics? It’s a multimedia dream machine. [ Review ]

Gaming Rigs

Budget: Alienware m11x

Lowest Price: 1,299.00
Small but powerful, this 11-inch beast packs a 1.2-GHz Intel Core i7-640UM processor and Nvidia GeForce GT 335M graphics into a miniaturized version of Alienware’s Camaro-esque gaming rigs. You get customizable backlighting and effects for showing off, plus Nvidia’s graphics-switching Optimus technology, that means this 4.6-pound champ can last around 6 hours on a charge. [ Review ]

Splurge: Toshiba Qosmio X505

Lowest Price: $1,694.99
The most efficient valuable 18.4-inch in our book has everything a gamer or media junkie could want, including a quad-core Core i7 processor, 6GB of RAM, both a 500GB 7,200-rpm drive and 64GB SSD, and 1GB of video memory. Add in harman/kardon speakers and Blu-ray, and you’ve got a force to be reckoned with. [ Review ]

Business Systems

Budget: Dell Vostro V3300

Lowest Price: $910.99
A small business laptop that looks as if it belongs within the executive suite, this 13-inch notebook is clad in brushed aluminum, and has an understated black interior. A 2.27-GHz Intel Core i5-430M CPU and 3GB of RAM provides the whole performance you will need for work and play, and a 320GB, 7,200-rpm hard disk gives business users various storage. This 4.8-pound notebook endured for an excellent 5 hours and 34 minutes. [ Review ]

Splurge: Lenovo ThinkPad X201s

Price: $1,659.00
With a Core i7 processor and more than 8 hours of battery life, the ThinkPad X201s continues its predecessor’s tradition of excellence. As always, it has the similar design and ThinkPad keyboard have endeared the line to traveling executives internationally. It eschews a touchpad for the TrackPoint, that is highly accurate. The 12-inch screen has a high resolution of 1440 x 900-pixels, meaning you would fit more of an online page on the screen instantaneously or compare two documents side-by-side. A 2.13-GHz Intel Core i7-640LM processor delivers serious speed, while a 9-cell battery supplies a lot of runtime. All this in a 3.4-pound package. [ Review ]

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