Our top pick, the 3.3-pound ThinkPad, which lasts 6.5 hours fully charged, aced our Photoshop test, applying a Liquify effect, used for retouching photos, in 44 seconds. Video looked crisp on the 12.5-inch screen. As with the other laptops here, sound quality was average. Cost: $1,299 for an Intel Core i7 2.7GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive
This 4.5-pound laptop fared worst during our graphics test, taking one minute and 18 seconds to apply a Liquify effect, and video looked dark on the 13.3-inch display. But the MacBook, which lasts seven hours fully charged, booted up in 35 seconds, twice as fast as the PCs. Cost: $1,199 for an Intel Core i5 2.3GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive
The sturdy 5-pound EliteBook completed our Photoshop test in a respectable one minute and six seconds, but streaming video looked murky on its 14-inch display. The laptop, which has a biometric fingerprint reader and a face-recognition security app, lasts 8.25 hours on a full charge. cost: $999 for an Intel Core i5 2410M 2.3GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive
The 5.5-pound Vostro took just 55 seconds to apply a Liquify effect, but video looked washed out on its 15-inch display. The laptop lasts 7.5 hours fully charged. Like the EliteBook, it has a fingerprint reader. Cost: $599 for an Intel Core i3 2.10GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard drive
