HP Pavilion Zv5160us (Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB HDD)

The Compaq Presario V5000 series is virtually identical to the Presario V4000 series with one major exception: where the V4000 can be configured with Intel's Celeron, Pentium, or Core Duo processors, the V5000 series features a choice of AMD processor--either the Pentium-equivalent Turion or the less expensive, Celeron-equivalent Sempron--as well as Intel's new Core Duo processor. As a result, the HP Compaq Presario V5000 series offers thousands of possible configurations. Aside from your processor, you can also choose from a variety of hard drive capacities and ATI graphics cards. Though HP says the glossy BrightView screen delivers a brighter image, the standard screen isn't as reflective and costs $25 less. Using HP's LightScribe technology, the double-layer DVD burner etches labels directly onto CDs and DVDs; you can also get a plain old DVD burner or a CD/DVD combo drive to save a few bucks. The $699 base model is one of the lower-priced laptops on the market. A more loaded configuration, such as the one we tested, runs about $1,217.