THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: But first, some advice from "Fortune" magazine.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well the basic news in laptops is they're getting more and more like desktops every day in terms of their capabilities. Toshiba's new Portege 2000 is really small, three- quarters of an inch thick. It only weighs 2.1 pounds, but in exchange for that you're getting a somewhat slower processor and you're also getting a very short battery life. The new iBook is definitely one of the best deals out there. The 14-inch screen, $1,899 is the price and the battery life at six hours. If you want to use the Apple Operating System, it's a wonderful choice. This Sony is the only machine with a screen that is as large as a 17-inch desktop monitor. It also will write CDs, it will view DVDs, but the screen is what really makes this one special. If you're looking for a budget laptop, the new Dell Inspiron 2650 is a great choice. It doesn't have the largest screen, but it's got a good-sized screen. It's got good battery life. It's got pretty much all the features that you would really want in a PC for 1,200 bucks.
Laptops Get Smaller, More Powerful