When it comes to the public reaction it is a bit hard to tell what is true and what is a fairy-tale. Based on a bit of research I’ve done over the internet, I think I’ve managed to find two systems that are truly among those with a “five-star” rating in the top left corner.

Last year, the 12.1 inch MSI mini laptop, Wind U230 (or U230 MSI Wind12 as is known), kept appearing and disappearing from all sites and even from online stores or official pages of MSI. Now it seems to have returned and is already being offered for sale on Amazon, with a price of 480 dollars in two color options (white or black).

Hoping that we aren’t talking about another “ghost”, let’s move quickly through the technical specifications of MSI Wind12 U230, one of the laptops that got the best customer reports. The first thing that it’s worth taking into consideration is the L335 AMD Athlon X2 dual core processor with a frequency of 1.6 GHz. This system also has the option for a MV-40 Neo Athlon processor for the more “gaming” customers.

This mini laptop is equipped with an ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics card, 2 GB RAM (supports up to 4 GB) of RAM memory and a generous 250 GB ( hard drive ) for storage. It also comes equipped with an 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi connection, there is an option for Bluetooth, and Windows 7 Home Premium as an operating system.

Its glossy 12.1 inch display has a recommended resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Wind12 U230 has an integrated 1.3 MP webcam, HDMI plug, VGA port, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 4-in-1 card reader (SD / MMC / MS / XD) and a 6 cell battery that provides an autonomy just a bit over 4 hours. It measures 18.8 cm x 29.7 cm x 2.4-3.1 cm and weighs 1.45 kg with a 6 cell battery. It weights 1.3 kg with 3 cell battery.

Last month, Acer launched its first notebook with 3D display, the Acer 5738DG is dedicated to hardcore gamers, and to all those interested in advanced graphics, photography and design. Although a 3D display is quite demanding, often requiring a certain angle from which the image will describe everything clearly, it indeed provides a very interesting visual experience. In addition, it appears that 3D Layer works quite well even without special glasses. Its 3D display makes this laptop rather unique and, without any doubt one of the best rated laptops by its customers.

The specifications include a display of15.6 inch (39.6 cm) and a TriDef 3D display, 1366 x 768 pixels with 3D effect.

When we think of a portable, we are very interested in the battery life, besides all the technical performance. The producers do their best to improve this aspect, always developing new technologies. A good example is the platform that was introduced this year by Intel, the CULV, which is specially designed for laptops. CULV (Consumer Ultra Low-Voltage) means, in short, a greater autonomy of the battery. And ASUS has just released the UM30 netbooks, based on this platform and, these are already available in Japan.

With a 13.3-inch TFT LCD and a thickness of 19.6 mm, wrapped in a sleek aluminum and weighing 1.4 kg, the only think we cannot say about the UM30 is that it looks bad. When it comes to technical performances we aren’t disappointed either: Intel Core 2 Duo SU 9400 processor, 3GB DDR2 SDRAM and a 320GB HDD. It also has a 4-in-1 Card Reader which supports SD, SDHC, Mini SD and MMC and comes equipped with Windows 7 Home Premium. The price was set around 1100 dollars.

In short, one of the best laptops for multimedia and general use clearly focused on mobility, so the slim design and the configuration is acceptable and it has good battery autonomy.

The Asus UL80JT is a 14 inch laptop that comes with two graphics cards: an integrated Intel video card (Intel GMA) and a NVIDIA GeForce 310. You might ask yourselves now : “And so what?” Well, the new notebook from Asus is able to move automatically and almost instantly from one card to another, depending on needs. That’s quite nifty isn’t it? But why is this trick useful? Firstly, and most important, it contributes to a greater autonomy of the battery.

To be more exact, we are talking about a 12 hours autonomy in standard operating mode with the integrated video card from intel. It will have an Intel Core i7 processor, will have a RAM ranging between 1 GB and 4 GB on memory , and a generous 640 GB Hard drive for storage. This system will cost somewhere around $700 and it is no doubt one of the best laptops for multimedia and general use, not only because the extended battery life, but mostly because the fact that it offers a great deal of performances in exchange of a relatively small price tag.

In any case, as a main rule, if you are planning on buying a laptop for general use or multimedia, you will have to focus on the battery life and on the performances. Yes, it’s true that those are two colliding aspects when it comes to laptops, but if you manage to find the system that offers the perfect balance, then you have yourself a deal that you will certainly be proud of.