Lenovo 3000 C100 El Dorado AR

Making good on its promise to release new notebook and desktop PC models under its own brand, Lenovo now offers the 3000 C100. This low-cost laptop offers a nice assortment of features and solid performance for a great price, but it's no ThinkPad.

On the plus side, the 3000 C100 offers a fairly robust configuration: It includes a 1.73-GHz Pentium M 740 processor, 512MB of RAM, a two-in-one media-card reader, and a DVDRW drive that's located on the front of the laptop for easy access. The system's 15-inch standard-aspect screen is bright and easy to read, although it would have been better as a wide screen. The machine weighs a fairly manageable 6.4 pounds.

My shipping system turned in strong performance: The C100 managed a score of 77 on our WorldBench 5 test suite, making it one of the best-performing all-purpose notebooks we've evaluated. It turned in superlong battery life, as well--just short of 5 hours. Unfortunately, the C100 lacks many of the thoughtful design touches that make ThinkPad notebooks so popular. For example, there's no signature red eraserhead input device (just a touchpad). And its keyboard isn't nearly as comfortable to type on as a ThinkPad's, and the wrist rests feel a tad big, forcing you to position your hands farther back on the notebook to reach the keys.

At $999, however, the Lenovo 3000 C100 is a pretty terrific deal given its solid performance and good features. Just don't look for ThinkPad-like styling and details.