Top-rated reviews of the week (photos)

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

Lenovo ThinkPad X201 3626

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: Powerful processor in a 12-inch laptop; excellent battery life; typical ThinkPad quality construction.

The bad: Bulky for a 12-inch laptop; expensive for a nongaming system.

The bottom line: Anyone looking for the power of a midsize laptop in a compact 12-inch body has only a few choices, and none to date tops Lenovo's excellent ThinkPad X201.

Read CNET's full review
Price range: $1,803.99 - $1,879.00

Origin EON18

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: Boutique-style customer service; wide variety of upgrade options and customization; option for dual graphics cards.

The bad: Ergonomically uncomfortable; generic-looking chassis; upper tiers can get very pricey.

The bottom line: For an extreme visit into ultracustomizable large-scale gaming laptops, the Origin EON18 offers just about everything, provided you can live with an extremely large and unwieldy box.

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Price: $4,499

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro external hard drive (500GB)

Editors' rating: 4 out of 5

The good: Interchangeable "personality cables" add value in versatility and speed; inexpensive; works with Mac and Windows OS; three-year warranty; Memeo backup software included.

The bad: Three-year warranty, compared with five years for older FreeAgent drives (still better than most portables hard drives).

The bottom line: Though other external hard drives offer a preset menu of ports, the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex cuts costs by letting you pick from a buffet of "personality cables" so that you buy only the connections that suit your system profile. We applaud Seagate for making data backups easier than ever, and recommend the FreeAgent GoFlex external hard drive for extra data storage now and easy upgrades in the future.

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Price range: $122.96 - $139.99

Asus G73JH-A1

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Excellent performance; nicely configured for its cost

The bad: Smallish keyboard for the laptop's size; no discrete media controls; massive power supply; basic port assortment; no Blu-ray playback software.

The bottom line: Other than some niggling design complaints, the Asus G73JH-A1 is an excellent high-performance desktop replacement for gaming or other demanding tasks.

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Price: $1,644.99

HP Pavilion Elite HPE-190t

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Offers Intel's fastest desktop CPU for lowest price; Blu-ray drive, TV tuner, and large hard drive make this a capable media PC.

The bad: Tower system not exactly living-room-friendly; strange RAM layout doesn't take full advantage of triple-channel DDR3; limited room to expand.

The bottom line: HP's Pavilion Elite 190T isn't the most innovative desktop, nor the best-looking. It does, however, offer Intel's six-core Core i7 980X Extreme CPU, currently the fastest desktop chip on the market. Anyone with demanding productivity needs should find this desktop a worthwhile investment.

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Price: $1,899.99

Logitech Harmony 600

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Powerful universal remote with great ergonomics; simple text-based LCD screen surrounded by five contextual buttons; Web programmable via Windows or Mac PCs; excellent button layout and overall design; supports custom sequences/macros; sub-$80 price tag.

The bad: Only controls five devices; requires Internet-connected PC to program; an additional $20 gets you the step-up model with a color screen and graphical icons.

The bottom line: If you can't spend $100 or more on a universal remote, the Logitech Harmony 600 is a great choice.

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Price: $79.99

Maingear Vybe gaming PC

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Strong performance on multithreaded PC games; wireless networking and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 included free.

The bad: A few underwhelming features for its price; less-than-convenient drive cage layout.

The bottom line: Maingear's Vybe is the first desktop in our lab with AMD's new six-core Phenom II X6 processor. That chip alone can't save this system from tough competition among mid-ranged gaming PCs, but if the Vybe isn't the best all-around PC at this price, it has some impressive gaming chops. Just be prepared to make a few sacrifices along the way.

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Price: $1,299

Plantronics Explorer 395

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: The Plantronics Explorer 395 is a comfortable and easy-to-use Bluetooth headset with a dedicated power switch and an affordable price.

The bad: We wish the Plantronics Explorer 395 came with extra earbud sizes. It doesn't have very good noise-canceling features.

The bottom line: The Plantronics Explorer 395 is a great entry-level Bluetooth headset, as long as you stick to quieter environments.

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Price range: $49.99

Sony Bloggie MHS-PM5 video camera

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Rotating lens; 1080p, 720p, VGA video options; one-touch video uploading to YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook; removable lithium ion rechargeable battery.

The bad: No Mac support for Picture Motion Browser software; no HDMI output; mono mic and no input for an external mic.

The bottom line: Sony gains ground against the minicamcorder competition with the Bloggie MHS-PM5, but its software and overall video quality keep it from moving ahead.

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Price range: $149 - $169

Twelve South BassJump Portable Subwoofer for MacBook Pro

Editors' rating: 3.5 out of 5

The good: Portable subwoofer for Apple MacBook laptops; simple set up; blends with factory speakers for an impressive sound; grabs power and sounds from single USB cord; design matches most current MacBook models.

The bad: Only designed to work with MacBook laptops; included USB cord a bit short.

The bottom line: While it won't turn your MacBook into an all-out rocking sound system, the BassJump will drastically improve its overall sound quality and add that extra oomph to your music.

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Price range: $59.95 and up