New Ratings of laptop, netbook, and desktop computers

The holiday shopping season is about to hit hyperspeed, and as you'd expect, there's news to report on computers of every stripe. Our new computer Ratings (available to subscribers) should help you sort things out, but before you start shopping, here are a few things you need to know.

First, our Ratings include a range of computers—laptops, netbooks, and desktops—most of which run Windows 7, the latest iteration of Microsoft's operating system. Two days before Microsoft introduced Windows 7, Apple debuted several new Macs, including a big-screen 27-inch iMac.

Next, don't expect a big performance boost from Windows 7. Compared to Vista computers, Windows 7 systems didn't perform any better or worse. But the good news is, Windows 7 systems don't necessarily cost more than Vista laptops or desktops.

Here's a look at the news from each category.

Netbooks. We added eight new Windows 7 models to our netbook Ratings, including two with 11.6-inch screens. The others have 10.1-inch displays, and run Windows 7 Starter, a version of Windows 7 that doesn't include the Aero 3D interface. We didn't find any notable differences between Windows 7 Starter and XP netbooks, although the Windows 7 systems showed a slight performance hit but a slight gain in battery life. Our advice is to make your buying decision based not on the operating system, but on ergonomics, battery life, and price.

Speaking of battery life, one Toshiba netbook achieved the longest battery life among the 10.1-inch models we tested, lasting 9.5 hours. Other netbook trends: Hard drives are getting larger, with several 10.1-inch models sporting 250GB hard drives—equal to or not much smaller than many laptops. Weights for 10.1-inch netbooks range generally from 2.4 to 2.9 pounds, and prices are $300 to $400, although a few outliers cost up to $500.

You might notice netbooks are getting bigger, infringing on laptop territory. Our Ratings include five netbooks that are 11.6- or 12.1-inch models. Prices range from $415 to $550, and weights from 3 to 3.4 pounds. Performance was better than with smaller models; all the larger models we tested used non-Atom processors. One Acer netbook was the first excellent performer of the netbooks we tested, with a remarkable 9.75 hours battery life, but a stiff price.

Laptops. Apple replaced its older 17-inch MacBook Pro MB604LL/A with the MC226LL/A. If you don't mind a smaller hard drive (320GB, instead of 500GB), grab the older version while it's still out there. Performance was just as good, and it costs as much as $300 less. We found it online at Amazon and J&R.

The MacBook Pro continues to have the best battery life among 15-, 16-, and 17-inch laptops, but other brands are catching up. The battery on one Toshiba model lasted well over 6 hours in our tests (but it's a heavy 7-pounder).

There are plenty of good deals; you'll find a couple of very good performers in our laptop Ratings for less than $600.

Desktops. If portability is not a priority, desktops remain the best place to turn for bang-for-the-buck. In our desktop Ratings, you'll find good performers for just $350 to $400. For less than $650, you can get a full-size system with a terabyte hard drive, or another with a gigabyte of video memory for gaming.

But if you're looking for the future of the desktop, check out the Dell Studio XPS SX8000-2361JBK. It's got a Core i7 processor from Intel, and it turned in impressive performance. Or consider an all-in-one with a big screen. Apple's new 27-inch iMac has the largest display we've tested in an all-in-one, and HP's TouchSmart all-in-ones, with 25.5-inch screens, are not far behind.

Happy computer shopping! —Donna Tapellini