Top 5 Vista-ready notebooks

Like the calm before the storm, knowledgeable consumers are holding back their dollars and waiting for the launch of the Windows Vista operating system on January 30. This is simply good economics, as one will save significantly when the new OS is bundled with their PCs come February.

But what if you must have a notebook now? Fortunately, you will not be left out in the Vista wave as most vendors participate in the Express Upgrade to Windows Vista program which allows you to upgrade to the latest OS for a small fee. However, there is a minor caveat. Though most dual-core machines are Vista- capable and allows you to run the Vista Home Basic version, only Vista-ready machines can give you the full eye candy of the higher-end editions.

In order to be given the stamp of approval as a Vista-ready machine, you will need to meet the following specifications:

	1.	Acer Aspire 5594WXMi (Core 2 Duo T5600 Processor 1.83GHz, 1GB RAM) Outlook: The Acer Aspire 5594WXMi may be inexpensive, but it offers competent gaming performance on the latest Core 2 Duo platform. The tradeoff, however, is its rather heavy heft for a 14.1-inch system. See full specs | Rate this
	2.	Toshiba Satellite M100-Core 2 Duo (Core 2 Duo Processor T7200 2.0GHz, 1GB RAM) Outlook: Combining strong security features in the form of a fingerprint scanner and Trusted Platform Module chip with the user-friendly Toshiba ConfigFree interface, the Satellite M100 is a value-for-money proposition for the budget corporate worker. See full specs | Rate this
	3.	Toshiba Satellite A100-Core 2 Duo (Core Duo Processor T5500 1.66GHz, 512MB RAM) Outlook:An upgrade to its Core Duo cousin, the Toshiba Satellite A100 with its sunlight copper color is sure to turn heads. However, it's not all looks and no brains as this notebook is chock full of features for work and play. See full specs | Rate this
	4.	HP Pavilion dv9100 (Core 2 Duo T7400 processor 2.16GHz; 2GB RAM)       CNET Asia rating: 8 out of 10 The good:  Competitively priced; HDMI output; excellent graphics performance; remote control; integrated Webcam; dual hard drive bays. The bad:  Non-swappable optical drive bay; no TV tuner; no Windows XP Media Center Edition option. The bottom line: It may not be much of a productivity performer, but plug in an external TV tuner and the HP Pavilion dv9100 would more than satisfy your entertainment and gaming needs. Review | See full specs | Rate this
	5.	Lenovo Y300 (Core 2 Duo T5500 processor 1.66GHz; 1GB RAM)   First take: Previous offerings from Lenovo, which bought over IBM's PC division over a year ago, have catered mainly to corporate and SMB users. However, its latest Y series, which includes the Lenovo Y300 and larger Y400 systems, aims directly at consumers' hearts with their affordable pricing and multimedia features. First take | See full specs | Rate this