7. The Other Test Candidates, Continued

Compaq Presario 725CA

Compaq's Presario 725CA is a nice unit with an appealing design. It lacks a 1394, IR and serial port, but it is clearly the most affordable notebook in this comparison.

Dell Inspirion 8100

Dell's Inspirion 8100 is not the top-notch notebook that it was until three months ago. In fact, it has been replaced by the Inspirion 8200, which comes with a Pentium 4 processor. All Inspirion notebooks of the 8000 series have one thing in common. They are big and heavy and the housing gives a rather cheap impression compared to models from other leading brands. Still, this notebook is a workhorse and it certainly delivers great performance. It's not pretty, but it works!

Dell Latitude C840

The Latitude C840 is based on the same chassis and molding parts as the Dell Inspirion 8xxx line, so it comes with the same low-quality look and feel as the Inspirion 8100. It's just as much of a huge notebook and it doesn't come any lighter than the Inspirion 8100 as well. Its design is maybe even less inspiring, but at the same time also less irritating. This Pentium 4 notebook delivers performance to the max and that's what it's for. It's not there to impress the ladies; it's supposed to get the work done. At this, it most certainly shines, as it is extremely fast.