CES is all wrapped up and everyone is back home, and one of the questions I’ve been asked repeatedly by friends and family is, “What was the coolest thing you saw at CES this year?” Now, keep in mind that I am only one person and I didn’t even see a fraction of the show floor, as there were plenty of meetings set up around Vegas, so this is just my perspective on the coolest technology trends at the show. You’ll also notice that there’s a common thread in what really impressed me, but this is a highly subjective topic so take it for what it’s worth: one man’s opinion. What three things impressed me most at CES this year? Read on to find out.

We say it every year, but the trends continue so we’ll keep repeating it: laptops and mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular, often at the cost of desktop sales. This year we saw a lot of people looking at smartphones and tablets along with laptops, and sales of those devices have skyrocketed. Still, if you need to do some serious work—writing a large document or email, working on a spreadsheet or presentation, etc.—you still need a real computer while you travel. Whether you want something for work, school, or play, we’ve got recommendations in our annual…

So pull up a chair, wrap up in a nice blanket, and get yourself a steaming cup of hot chocolate while we cover the laptop market from top to bottom. Netbooks, Chromebooks, ultrabooks, laptops and notebooks—we’ve got it all right here. Even better, you can do some of your Christmas shopping without even leaving the comforts of your own home. What better way to enjoy the season than by staying indoors?

The pricetag of Lenovo's ThinkPad X100e has come down a couple of hundred dollars from its lofty perch when it entered the market more than six months ago, but it still remains a pricy alternative to CULV and Atom-based ultraportables. The X100e is saddled with AMD's outdated Congo platform, but is there more to a notebook than just the hardware under the hood? We think so, and we took the ThinkPad X100e for a spin to prove that the platform isn't always what counts.

In the second half of our Mobile Buyer's Guide, we focus on portable machines with screens smaller than 14". The market as a whole is getting a thorough overhaul over the summer, both because of brand new chips coming from Intel, AMD, ATI, and NVIDIA (for those of you keeping score at home, that's...everyone) and because of the rapidly approaching back-to-school season, which always means newly refreshed notebook lineups. With so many new systems out there, who's going to put in the groundwork to figure out which ones can hold their own in the market and separate the contenders from the also-rans? We did, and our findings are in this article. Read on for more details!

Corporations like talking about being "green" these days, and there's no question that environmentally friendly devices and technologies are a major push. We recently spoke with Lenovo about their upcoming L-Series ThinkPad models, which are set to be the "greenest ThinkPads ever"—and we're not talking green in the same sense as the "heat wave red" ThinkPad Edge.

The new L-Series laptops take over from the previous ThinkPad R-Series (though they look more like the new SL-Series), targeting the "entry mainstream" market. Pricing begins at just $649 for the L412, with availability set for mid-May, but don't let the low price fool you: these are still ThinkPads with high durability and plenty of connectivity options... perfect for students, educators, and business users.

Lenovo announced their latest update to their IdeaPad S10 netbook line. It has a slightly slimmer profile, it supports the Atom N470 processor, but the bigger news is the optional 1280x720 LCD. And it fits that into a standard size 10.1" chassis.

Pricing is going to be higher than other netbooks, but Lenovo does tend to build more durable machines and we've preferred most of their keyboard implementations. Your best bet for a good price will be to shop around online, as Lenovo's store often charges significantly more; the catch is that Lenovo allows you to customize features (i.e. the LCD), which you may not get if you shop elsewhere. Keep an eye out for the S10-3s later this month.