Top-rated reviews of the week (photos)

Here's our weekly roundup of the new products CNET reviewers liked best.

Asus U30Jc-A1

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: Powerful 13-inch with Nvidia Optimus graphics and new Intel Core i3 CPU.

The bad: Bulky and heavy; only $100 less than a 13-inch MacBook; no Bluetooth.

The bottom line: Asus has built a solid workhorse in the 13-inch U30Jc-1A that sacrifices some portability for gaming prowess, but still has great battery life.

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Price range: $899.00 - $899.99

Canon PowerShot A3100 IS (red)

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Optical image stabilization; excellent photo quality for its class.

The bad: Weak feature set, cheap feel for its price.

The bottom line: The Canon PowerShot A3100 IS is a very good simple point-and-shoot, even though it doesn't do much beyond that.

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Price range: $164.95 - $179.99

Olympus E-PL1 (black, with 14-42mm lens)

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Excellent build quality; very good photo quality; can shoot raw+JPEG in every mode, including Art Filters and iAuto.

The bad: Slow, with sluggish autofocus; short battery life; low-resolution LCD.

The bottom line: Reasonably priced for an interchangeable-lens model, with the same high-quality photos of its siblings, the E-PL1 nevertheless suffers from slow performance that makes it a poor choice for snapshooters looking to upgrade.

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Price range: $599.00 - 605.81

Canon Powershot SD3500 (silver)

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Nice design; large touch-screen LCD; Eye-Fi memory card support.

The bad: Slow shooting performance.

The bottom line: The Canon PowerShot SD3500 IS offers up decent photos, touch-screen controls, and an ultrawide-angle lens, but that's pretty much where the excitement ends.

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Price range: $319.00 - $334.99

Lenovo ThinkPad X100e

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Phenomenal keyboard; sturdy build; matte screen.

The bad: Underpowered for the price; battery life isn't as good as many Netbooks.

The bottom line: The ThinkPad x100e is essentially the ThinkPad Netbook users have been dreaming of, with one of the best keyboards we've ever tested. Unfortunately, its performance, though better than Atom Netbooks', comes at the cost of longer battery life.

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Price range: $418.00-479.00

Samsung UN55C8000

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Better black levels than other edge-lit sets; accurate color with linear grayscale; numerous picture controls and tweaks; sleek styling with inch-deep panel; superb streaming and widget content via well-integrated Apps platform; 3D compatible; 2D to 3D conversion system works better than expected.

The bad: Extremely expensive; subpar uniformity and off-angle viewing; lighter black levels than full-array local-dimming sets; black areas tinged bluer; doesn't handle 1080p/24 content properly; 3D exhibited ghost images along edges (crosstalk); does not include 3D glasses; terrible remote.

The bottom line: Its 3D is still a work in progress and its 2D picture quality comes up short of the best available, but the high-end Samsung UNC8000 series still offers superb features, solid performance, and unique style.

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Price range: $2,803.99 - $3,499.99

Samsung Modus 3500

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The Samsung Modus 3500 can be either a mono or stereo Bluetooth headset. It has multipoint connectivity and dual-mic noise-canceling. Audio quality was good.

The bad: The Samsung Modus 3500 earpiece can feel a little awkward for some, and we didn't like that we couldn't control the music from the headset.

The bottom line: The Samsung Modus 3500 is a good, affordable choice if you want both a mono and stereo headset in one package.

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Price range: $69.00

MeElectronics M9 sound-isolating earphones (black)

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The MeElectronics M9 sound-isolating earphones are very inexpensive and offer decent sound and good construction. The package includes handy extras such as a cable wrap and case.

The bad: The MeElectronics M9 earphones may not be comfortable for extended wear, and they suffer from noticeable microphonics from cable movement. The low end can be overpowering for some songs.

The bottom line: The MeElectronics M9 sound-isolating earphones are an exceptional value, offering solid audio, a good design, and nice extras for an ultralow price. Anyone looking for cheap replacement earbuds should consider these.

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Price range: $19.99