Wind NB U100, MSI Computer Corp., $600

A lightweight, 10-inch notebook with an Intel Atom 1.6 GHz processor, this mini "netbook" weighs 2.6 pounds and has a keyboard that is 80 per cent of the size of a regular notebook computer. A six-cell battery gives it 5.5 hours of running time; it has an 80-GB hard drive, and includes a webcam and Bluetooth connectivity. Three USB ports and a four-in-one card reader complete the package that packs a lot into a notebook that's easy to carry around.

www.msimobile.com.

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VAOI FW notebook computer, Sony, starting at $1,100

If your back-to-school budget is pretty hefty, Sony's new multimedia notebook gives you all you need for serious studies, plus the premium edition plays Blu-ray disc high definition when connected to a compatible HDTV. It also records, stores and plays back your personal content on high-capacity BD (Blu-ray disc) media. The FW lineup has four models, starting with the VGN-FW140D) with DVD-RW drive from $1,100, the VGN-FW160D including BD-ROM (read) optical drive starting at $1,350, the VGN-FW170D from $1,400 and the premium model, the VGN-FW180D which includes a BD-R (record/read) optical drive, four GB RAM, and a 320GB hard disk drive for $1,700.

www.sonystyle.ca

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LCD HDTV/DVD Combo, Westinghouse Digital, from $650

I love the LCD TV in our kitchen but I'd like a high-def, DVD version even more and Westinghouse has them, starting with the 26-inch SK-26H590D for $620 and $750 for the 32-inch SK-32H570D. The 40-inch VK-40F580D is the only 1080 HDTV/DVD combo available and it's priced at $1,000. www.westinghousedigital.com

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MOTOROKR U9, Motorola, $75 with three-year Fido agreement

From Motorola's ROKR music phones, the U9 has stereo Bluetooth, "speaker independent" voice recognition for dialling and talking phone features for hands- free operations, a two megapixel camera with four time zoom and high-speed USB 2.0 to upload music from your PC. www.fido.ca.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008