Are desktop replacement notebooks too bulky for your tastes? Ultraportables too skimpy? What you're looking for is an IBM ThinkPad T41, a mainstream notebook that balances perfectly between the worlds of big and small. It weighs a reasonable 5.3 pounds and is only an inch thick, and it offers enough high-end hardware to satisfy almost any road warrior.

You also get IBM's usual array of built-in wireless adapters, support for 802.11 "a," "b," and "g," and a six-cell battery. The T41 is not the most powerful notebook available. It's not the most portable, either. But we think it's just right.

This Best Of award is based on PC Magazine's review of the IBM ThinkPad T40. The T41 is an update to that model.