The IdeaPad's six-cell battery can power it for 3 hours and 23 minutes, more than an hour longer than the Vostro, a virtual tie with the Asus in High Performance mode and well behind the Asus' 4:17 run time in Battery Saving mode. The IdeaPad remained connected to my office Wi-Fi router 105 feet away, 10 feet longer than the Vostro but 20 feet short of the Asus machine's mark.

Priced at $999, the IdeaPad includes Windows 7 Home Premium, Office 2010 Starter and a translucent smiley face that shows up on-screen and provides shortcuts to a variety of configuration details. It's the same price as the Asus U36JC, but it comes with a one-year warranty, a year short of the coverage that Asus provides. An extension to three years of coverage adds $80, a nice bargain.

If you're looking for a good compromise between size, weight and performance in a notebook that doesn't look like a notebook, the IdeaPad U260 fits the bill.