Laptops - Holiday Gift Guide - Brief Article

Chief Executive, The, Dec, 2003 by Erik Sherman

While on the road, you might as well travel in style. In a laptop, you want the greatest number of functions in the most portable, attractive package. Hewlett-Packard's Pavilion zd7000, top left, ($2,843 fully loaded), packs a punch in terms of computing power, thanks to a 60GB hard drive and 1GB RAM.

Its 17-inch screen enables you to zoom through a spreadsheet with little horizontal scrolling or, if you need a break, to watch a DVD or TV (with an optional tuner). At 9.3 pounds, though, it isn't exactly petite. For lean and mean, try the IBM ThinkPad X (3.6 pounds), bottom left. Among other things, it offers up to five hours of battery time on certain models ($1,349 to $1,679 direct from IBM).