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For business travelers looking for a robust ultraportable computer, the $1,790 HP Compaq nc4200 is a challenger with class. Its staid black case homes a decent-size screen and a snug keyboard, and it delivers enough battery life to get work done on the road. Still, it lacks a built in drive and business-friendly security features like a fingerprint scanner or a trustworthy Platform Module. If an optical drive and security extras are not critically important, the HP Compaq nc4200 offers a good balance of portability and power at a reasonable cost.

Measuring 11.2 inches wide, 9.3 inches deep, and 1.2 inches thick, the HP nc4200 is analogous in size to other ultraportables, for example the Acer TravelMate 3002 and the ThinkPad X41.

At 3.9 pounds the nc4200 is heavier than the 3.6-pound TravelMate 3002 and the 3.2-pound ThinkPad X41. With its three-prong AC adapter, the nc4200 hits the road at 4.7 pounds.

It has a sensor that instantly adjusts screen lightness based totally on the ambient light. Above the keyboard lie volume and mute buttons and a show button that adjusts video settings for output to a projector. We like the nc4200′s 2 pointing devices, which are like those on many Lenovo ThinkPads. One is a pointing stick with 2 tiny mouse buttons that sit beneath the space-bar ; the second one is a touch pad with a dedicated scroll area and its own mouse buttons.