HARDWARE

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the buzz MICHAEL PENWARDEN, Computer Life: "The Presario 8712 is a real standout. It's a packed system that's got everything you could want--high-performance video, a dsvd [digital simultaneous voice and data] modem, rich sound, plenty of ram and a big hard drive."

runners-up

NEC PowerPlayer 2020 This high-end, full-featured, $3,648 gaming machine comes with a top-rate graphics card, booming speakers and one of the best software bundles you can find, including Wing Commander IV, Duke Nukem and You Don't Know Jack. (800-632-4636)

Acer Aspire Ultimate Solution This budget-priced gaming system packs in a Pentium-200 chip, 32 MB of memory and a 3.5-GB hard drive, along with an attractive array of multimedia trappings, for just $2,599, excluding monitor. (800-558-2237)

BUDGET NOTEBOOK

winner Toshiba Satellite 205CDS

College students and anyone looking to steer clear of a bulky desktop computer or expensive multimedia notebook will find a nice balance in the $1,999 Satellite. Standard features include a Pentium-100 processor, 6X CD-ROM drive, 810-MB hard drive and 11.3-in. dual-scan screen. You can switch to a higher resolution for a more expansive view. While you'll want to upgrade the 8 MB of memory to 16 MB (for $200) in order to run Windows 95 with reasonable performance, extra touches like the built-in AC adapter--a rarity in notebooks--and Microsoft's word-processing, personal-finance and greeting-card software make for a great value. (800-334-3445)

the buzz TRACEY CAPEN, PC World: "The Satellite is very fast and well made. It's a little heavy, but its battery lasted more than four hours on our tests. It's also very flexible, so you can swap a CD-ROM drive, floppy and extra battery into the same bay."

runners-up

Compaq Presario 1010 Kudos to Compaq for fitting both a CD-ROM drive and a floppy into a streamlined 12-in.-wide notebook frame. For $2,499 you get a Pentium-120 with 16MB of memory and an 810-MB hard drive. (800-345-1518)

Texas Instruments Extensa 600CD Sporting many of the same features as the Satellite and Presario, the $2,299 Extensa has a larger 12.1-in. screen with support for high resolutions. (800-848-3927)