Help Robin Buy a Vista Notebook PC

I gotta take the plunge. I've been hanging on to my old laptop about six months too long. Based on what I saw at the Vista launch and having spent hours combing the manufacturers' websites, I'm sharing my short list for a new PC.

It must be lightweight (my shoulders and back aren't what they used to be) and under $2,000 with all software (including MS Office 2007) loaded. The Gateway and Dell laptops are for sale online today, the others are for sale within the next few weeks.

Before I buy, let me gripe. It's way too hard to get the real Vista story. Two of these laptops have a little * next to the "Windows Vista Home Premium Edition" saying "32-bit," which tells you that they are not running (nor are capable of running) the full 64-bit OS, and it will require hardware upgrades (never mind the fact that hardware upgrades on your laptop are a royal pain if not impossible). Of the four systems below, the HP and Dell are running the 64-bit version.

I know that the video requirements of Vista are also hard for laptops to meet. I've seen the HP notebook running the graphics-intensive Aero interface in Vista with my own eyes, but I haven't seen the others yet. I'm a bit worried that this early laptop channel may not be ready yet. And while I love the HP's specs, my short time with it at a demonstration made me suspect it would be a slow performer.

Help me spend my money, and pick one of the laptops below (or add your own). And if you think I'm nuts and ought to wait, well, I'll listen, but not for long.

HP tx1000

Here's the number one choice on my list at the moment. It's an ultra-portable tablet PC (4.2 pounds) that's pure eye candy with the new HP black-imprinted finish. The 12-inch, 1,280 x 800 display screen rotates 180 degrees so I can write on it like a notebook or watch it like a movie screen. It's a touch screen, though I hear it gives people a bit of trouble because it's both fingertip and stylus enabled and takes some getting used to if you're used to other tablet PCs. Little touches like the remote control and QuickPlay controls make it good for viewing multimedia content. It's got integrated EV-DO, a big plus for me since I'm often on the road without a hotspot in sight. An integrated webcam and a digital media reader are both great touches for staying in touch. Add a whopping 160GB hard drive, a DVD+R/RW drive, and the power of an AMD Turion Dual-Core Mobile processor (true 64-bit) with NVIDIA's GeForce graphics and I'm thinking it'll do the trick for both the road warrior and entertainment lover in me. Starting price: $1,299.

Toshiba Satellite U205

I'm less enamored of this machine, but for the same price, it's got nearly identical specs and a much more traditional design without the tablet stuff to get in the way. Its weight is nearly identical to the HP's, but the overall price is a tad lower. There's a similar 12.1-inch diagonal 1,280 x 800 display, a built-in digital media reader, a DVD+R/RW drive, and a 160GB hard drive, but it lacks the entertainment features of the similarly priced HP tx1000. It's powered by an Intel Core Duo processor and an Intel graphics accelerator. It runs Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, 32-bit. Toshiba also announced the R400, a tablet PC that also features UWB (Ultra Wide Band) connectivity, but it's out of my price range. (UWB is a high-bandwidth wireless technology to connect devices.)

Gateway NX570X

The Gateway has a great price ($1,350) and is available today, but at 6.5 pounds, it's the heftiest of the bunch. This Gateway benchmarked incredibly well over at PC Magazine and features an Intel Core Duo processor and Intel graphics subsystem. They really liked the look of the new brushed aluminum case, too. The Gateway comes standard with an 80GB hard drive and 15.4-inch screen. It too runs only the 32-bit Home Premium Edition.

Dell XPS M1210 

The Dell XPS M1210, another stylin' choice, weighs in at 4.4 pounds, runs off of the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and starts at the same $1,299 as the HP and Toshiba. It runs the full 64-bit version of the Vista Home Premium Edition. You can configure the system with an on board or discrete graphics system. Options include EV-DO broadband (yeah!), and there's a built 1.3-megapixel video camera. Reviewers seem to like the M1210's overall design. I like the level of customization, and as a Dell user for years, I've learned to live with the service that ebbs and flows in quality. For me, one of the Dell's most road-warrior like features is its ubiquity. There's always another one like yours that you can borrow a cable from or charge your battery off of. It's sort of the PC equivalent of walking into a garage and asking for a fan belt for your Ford (at least for the moment). That said, this demure XPS machine is a cut above the old Dell in style.