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       Centrino Pentium M

Dell's Latitude C640 series has long been one of our favorite thin-and-light corporate notebooks, thanks to its smart design, long battery life, speed, and terrific tech support, not to mention its thrifty accessories, which work across the entire Latitude line. We're not alone. According to Dell, the Latitude C600 line is the company's best-selling notebook line ever.

The latest update to the line promises more of the same, including faster P4-M processors, ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics chips, and--new to the thin-and-light category--blazing 5,400rpm hard drives, all in the customary great, slim case. Even though the C640's ValueWatch rating is only average, businesses looking for thin-and-light notebooks won't find a better combination of speed, battery life, features, and support.

The thin-and-light category is the sweet spot of the notebook world: a great mix of features, speed, portability, battery life, and price. The Latitude C640 series is a brilliant example of why that's so. It's larger than the ultralight Dell Latitude C400 but not as big and heavy as the desktop-replacement Latitude C800 series. But the Latitude C640 still has enough drive options for business users and won't strain your shoulder when you tote it.

All versions of the C640 series look the same, with a dark-gray, 12.5-by-9.9-by-1.4-inch chassis that's more functional than fancy. The moderate, 5.4-pound base weight may increase by a few ounces, depending on which drives you use, and the AC adapter adds a little more than a pound to the total travel weight. All in all, the C640 is similar in mass to other business-class thin-and-lights, such as the IBM ThinkPad T30 and the Gateway 450.