At 13.2 by 11.7 by 2 inches, the Toshiba Satellite 1905-S277 is not the smallest notebook on the market. Nor is it exactly a featherweight at 8.3 pounds. Nevertheless, if you can handle a little extra size, you'll like its winning combination of affordability and performance.

Driven by a powerful 1.6 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor with a 400 MHz bus and 256 KB of Level 2 cache for speedy data retrieval and movement, the 1905-S277 is an exceedingly fast machine. It's efficient too, with lots of temporary data storage space. 512 MB of SDRAM memory. An adequate 30 GB hard drive, and a combination DVD/CD-RW drive that lets you record music and data CDs and play your favorite tunes or movies. Toshiba has even added a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive for all your smaller, older applications or quick backup needs. Hard-core gamers should note that the unit is equipped with a 16 MB ATI Mobility Radeon AGP video card, which provides more than enough graphic processing power for most general applications but probably not enough for high-end, 3-D games.