HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition

The 15.6-inch HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition laptop (*Est. $700 and up) won't break the bank and provides enough performance horsepower that it can serve as a suitable desktop replacement, experts say. It's a member of HP's dv6 and dv6t family of laptops, which are both diverse and well received.

In addition to a second generation 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5-2430M processor, 8 GB of RAM and a 750 GB hard drive, the HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition laptop includes a lot of value-adding extras like Beats audio technology, a fingerprint reader and several connectivity options. Reviewers prefer to add a discrete AMD Radeon HD 6490M graphics card, which adds $75 to the cost of the PC. That build meets or exceeds benchmark scores set by laptops with a similar price tag and, thanks to the AMD graphics, can even play mainstream games at a reasonable clip.

PCMag.com achieved a 41.2 frames per second rate in "Crysis," a title that won't even run on many budget laptops. However, the HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition comes with some bloatware installed, and its battery life, while still more than six hours, is shorter than the battery life of some competitors. If you're not a gamer, the Dell Inspiron 14z laptop (*Est. $600 and up) might meet your needs. It's available in upgraded, strong-performing configurations featuring a Core i5 processor, or budget-pleasing versions with a Core i3 processor that provides plenty of power for everyday tasks.