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About a month ago, Lenovo refreshed the 13.3-inch ThinkPad X300 (a CNET Editors' Choice winner) by incorporating one of Intel's new ultra-low-voltage Core 2 Duo CPUs, adding a DisplayPort connection, and rechristening it the ThinkPad X301.

As the product name indicates, it's an evolutionary step. The ThinkPad X301's Centrino 2 components helped it post better performance scores than its predecessor without taking a huge toll on battery life.

Despite its high price ($2,920 for our review unit, which included a few upgrades) the ThinkPad X301 remains one of our favorite laptops for travelers, thanks to its stellar assortment of top-of-the-line features and excellent balance of portability and usability. Find out more in our full ThinkPad X301 review.

Yahoo and Microsoft used the press to negotiate for several months regarding a potential merger. Now it appears Acer and Microsoft are having a public spat. Or, if they aren't yet, Acer's comments Wednesday will likely start one.

In an interview with VNUNet.com, Acer Vice President of Marketing Gianpiero Morbello said his Taiwanese PC maker has big plans to develop the market for Linux, not only on its low-cost ultraportable, but on the company's laptops as well.

The Acer Aspire One is just the beginning of Acer's foray into the Linux world, according to a company exec.

(Credit: Acer)

The reason is because of the cost and operation of Microsoft's operating system over open-source Linux.

"We have shifted towards Linux because of Microsoft," said Morbello. "Microsoft has a lot of power and it is going to be difficult, but we will be working hard to develop the Linux market."

Acer officially unveiled its entry into the low-cost mini-laptop market, the Aspire One, on Tuesday. It will come in both Linux and Windows XP flavors.

It makes sense to try to cut as much cost as possible out of building a device like the Aspire One, which will start at $379. The attraction to such a device is mainly price, and expectations of a full set of features can be relatively low. Plus, as Acer points out, Linux has a quicker boot time and can extend the battery life of tiny Netbooks like the Aspire One.

But will mainstream PC shoppers go for Linux when they're used to buying a Windows notebook? It's unclear if Acer, currently the No. 2 notebook seller in the world, will be foisting Linux on reluctant consumers or just looking harder for places and markets that have yet to fully embrace Windows.

(Credit: Gizmodo)

Today was the day we reviewers were supposed to get test units of the yet-to-be-announced but totally-not-secret ThinkPad X300. We were eager to see it--the super slim, 13.3-inch laptop looks poised to be a major advancement in ultraportables, not to mention a competitor to the MacBook Air--but, alas, were left empty handed this afternoon when Lenovo canceled our meeting.

Looks like Walt Mossberg got his, though, and he's already posted some first impressions. It's nothing particularly unexpected: The ThinkPad X300 is a bit thicker and heavier than the MacBook Air, but it also offers more ports and features. Mossberg does take issue with the price, noting that the ThinkPad X300 offers only a solid-state hard drive, which makes it more expensive than the entry-level MacBook Air (with a traditional hard drive). I'm not sure I agree: The MacBook Air costs $2,800 with a 64GB solid state drive, and a ThinkPad X300 with the same drive will reportedly have a base price between $2,500 and $2,800.

The real proof, though, will be in the benchmark pudding. Does the solid state drive speed up performance and lengthen battery life? Once we have our hands on a ThinkPad X300, we'll let you know.

It's no secret that we have a soft spot for supersmall laptops. Ultraportables, as they're called, generally have 11- or 12-inch screens and weigh in at less than four pounds--perfect for lugging around all day or hanging at the local coffee shop with. Unfortunately, these guys are usually plagued by the twin devils of high prices and poor battery life (not to mention occasionally underpowered processors).

The Sony VAIO TZ150

This, however, has clearly been the summer of the ultraportable, with a generous handful of exciting new systems generating heavy buzz. But with all these new choices, which one is right for you?

First, we have Sony's VAIO TZ150-- we loved pretty much everything about this 11.1-inch laptop, which is less than an inch thick and weighs less than three pounds. Well, everything except the $2,299 starting price and somewhat sluggish performance (which we were able to improve by uninstalling a bunch of junkware).

Neck-and-neck was our most wanted laptop of the year, Toshiba's Portege R500. A bit larger than the Sony, and with a bigger 12.1-inch screen, it was actually slightly lighter and thinner. So light that one of our colleagues picked it up and asked if it was a dummy model.

The Toshiba Portege R500

Both of these systems include optical drives, which is something we wouldn't have seen in a laptop this size in past years. Both also offer excellent battery life, which is perhaps the most important thing for computing on the go.

Sadly, the Sony and Toshiba ultraportables range from $2,000 to $3,000 depending on options, including solid state flash hard drives, which are cool, but still way too expensive to be practical. If you're looking for a supersmall laptop without a supersize price, we managed to find a few slightly less flashy options. Averatec makes a handful of ultraportable systems that offer surprisingly good value for the money. You'll sacrifice the sub-one-inch designs and some battery life, but the company's 11.1-inch Averatec 1579 is $1,299, while the 12.1-inch, AMD-powered 2371 starts at $899, making it the cheapest ultraportable we can think of.

The Averatec 1579

Of course, all this info is useless if you're buying a laptop on the company dime and The Man won't let you get one of these snazzy consumer systems. HP has a pretty good new ultraportable, the HP Compaq 2510p, from their corporate line. It's still around $2,000 for a decent configuration, and the battery life is poor, but it adds security-friendly features such as hard-drive encryption.

There you have it, five new ultraportable laptops for the summer, with something for almost every budget. For a more detailed breakdown, check out our side-by-side comparison here.

(Credit: Sony)

Sure we've seen it in Japan for months, and you can actually order one from gadget importer Dynamism.com, but we're still pretty excited that Sony is finally releasing the Vaio TZ laptop here in the good ol' U. S. of A.

Last night, at the event space on top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza (known as the Top of the Rock), Sony showed off what the company calls a "new line of richly designed, high-performance ultraportable notebooks." For once we pretty much agree--even with an 11.1-inch LED backlit display, Web cam, carbon-fiber casing, and a full-fledged Core 2 Duo CPU (not a wimpy Core Duo or Core Solo), it's impressive that the entire package still squeezes down to less than 1-inch thick. It's also got integrated WWAN (via Sprint), which is quickly becoming a must-have for ultraportables.

Of course, all this pint-sized goodness doesn't come cheap. The basic model starts at $2,299, and if you add the optional 32GB flash-based, solid-state hard drive, you're talking $3,000.

The Vaio TZ is available in classic black, premium carbon, champagne gold, and hand-painted Bordeaux, starting today (although the SonyStyle Web site lists the TZ as shipping around the end of July).

One of the few laptops that has really grabbed our attention with eye-catching industrial design this year is the Toshiba Portege R400, a slim convertible tablet we saw back in January. The just-announced follow-up, Toshiba's Portege R500, is even more impressive.

We got a chance to play around with one of these a few weeks ago, and it was literally one of the thinnest, lightest 12-inch ultraportable laptops we've ever seen. It's got all the requisite ultraportable features, from an indoor/outdoor backlit LED display to a superthin 7mm DVD drive--similar in some ways to the 13-inch Dell XPS m1330 that leaked yesterday.

Some highlighted specs of the system, which will be around .77 inch thick and weigh just 2.4 pounds, include: