Toshiba Satellite L655-S5161X Laptop
Last year's design isn't necessarily a bad thing. The L655-S5161X's relatively chunky, plastic frame basically took some random keyboard symbol and ran it in a broken spiral pattern, topped off by a gray glaze that looks better than it sounds. It reminds me of the Dell Inspiron M501R-1655MRB ($650 list, 3.5 stars), which uses a brush pattern underneath a similar gray tint. And it definitely isn't as dull (or as smudge-resistant) as the black matte finishes found in the Acer Aspire AS5742-6475 ($600 list, 4 stars) and Gateway NV50A02u ($480 list, 4 stars). The L655-S5161X weighs 5.3 pounds, placing it somewhere between the HP dv6-6013cl (5.6 pounds) and Acer AS5742-6474 (5 pounds). It's manageable on the road, but a space hog in a backpack.
