Apple MacBook Pro MC026LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop

15in LED-backlit screen
Alluminum body
2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
320GB Hard drive
4GB RAM
Built-in camera
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processors
DVD/CD SuperDrive
OS X 10.5 Leopard OS
5.5 Lbs

The MacBook Pro MC026LL/A has a thin, sleek design; this laptop has a hollowed alluminum body. The track pad responds to various multi touch commands. For instance, slide two fingers up or down the pad and you can scroll through whatever page you are looking at. You can also tap the pad once and it will respond as a click, as will physically pressing down anywhere on the mouse pad. Since the MacBook Pro is made of aluminum, it can be quite a shock to wake up and put this computer on your lap, as it can get very cold. At the opposite end of the spectrum, when the laptop is working hard it produces an incredible amount of heat, so your legs can get very warm. The keyboard is nicely backlight, so if you're working in low/no light conditions, you can see what you're typing.

Gateway T-6836 Laptop

14.1”
Core2 Duo CPU
2.00GHz processor
4GB RAM
250 GB hard drive, 5,400RPM
64 bit operating system
Weighs 5.7 lbs
Wireless internet capabilities

A decent laptop from Gateway, very portable. Works nicely for college students. The track pad can be set up to respond to being tapped on and act as a left click. This is generally useful, but every now and then placing a finger on the pad activates a click, which can mean opening a link or file accidentally. On the right and bottom sides of the track pad, respectively, are areas where one can slide a finger up or down, or left or right to scroll in the desired direction. Volume control is activated by hitting the Fn key and the up, down or mute buttons on the far right side of the laptop. The brightness/darkness can be adjusted by hitting the Fn key with either the up or down arrows. The Gateway T-6836 also has a dvd and volume interface above the keypad for watching movies.

Toshiba Satellite Laptop Model #M505-S4940 Review

14” Screen
Intel Pentium dual core processor
2.0GHz Processor
320 GB hard drive
4GB RAM
2 USB ports
Weighs 5lbs
Microphone
Built-in webcam

This laptop seems to be a Best Buy exclusive. Considering all the features the M505-S4940 has to offer, for $649.99 it’s a pretty good price. Lots of space, and lots of RAM. The mousepad can get a little hot, and can be quirky, when you lightly touch it it goes into scroll mode, so you might need to get used to that.