Previously answered questions here said that this was the fastest way:
//nl is a NodeList var arr = Array.prototype.slice.call(nl);
In benc
The results will completely depend on the browser, to give an objective verdict, we have to make some performance tests, here are some results, you can run them here:
Chrome 6:
Firefox 3.6:
Firefox 4.0b2:
Safari 5:
IE9 Platform Preview 3: