Lenovo 3000 C100 Meriden CT

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.