The wooden panels on the Bamboo actually look good, and its guts are also impressive. It's not a laptop for everyone; it's mostly for people who want to make an impression, and anyone who just really loves wood.

Although this device offers a wide variety of expansion options and features a modern and alluring design, the ineffective CPU is a major deterrent.

Finally, a fully featured ultraportable laptop that won't cost you more than $1500. It's easy to use, has plenty of ports and expansion options and it can last a long time away from an outlet. Sure it's a slow performer, but for sending e-mail, writing documents, viewing pictures and videos, it's ideal. It's almost the perfect laptop.

The NEC Versa E6510-2505DR is a very cost-effective and powerful machine that is difficult to fault. Although the faux leather looks and feels fake and the non-standard keyboard may occasionally cause typing errors, users who can look past these faults will find it to be an excellent device.

This is a device that suffers from a slow processor, low battery life and strong competition from the identically priced Fujitsu T1010 and HP tx2522. If you're interested in a portable device with good connectivity features then have a look — just don't expect brilliant performance.

For users who run engineering, design or animation programs, this mobile workstation is a worthwhile choice. It's very fast, and the best part is you won't be shackled to your desk and will be able to use the same machine either at home or in the office.

It's very difficult to criticise the Lenovo ThinkPad X301 without sounding like a nitpicker. This is a fantastic and well-engineered notebook that has plenty of features and looks very attractive. The only substantial issues are the high price tag, the lower than average battery life and the problematic latch.

This laptop is a good size and offers better performance than its predecessor. Its bronze style probably won't resonate with many users, and its glossy screen is prone to reflections, but we think it looks pretty good.

The Toshiba Tecra A10's excellent CPU is wasted thanks to a puny 1GB of RAM. If you want a decent machine with a sub-$1500 price tag, then this is a device worth considering — as long as you upgrade the memory.

This unit's build quality is excellent and its size and weight (2.3kg without the power supply) make it an easy unit to carry to and from the office or the classroom. It's well worth considering if you want a shiny and well-performing mid-sized laptop.

The Fujitsu LifeBook T1010 is a good tablet notebook that doesn't do enough to truly shine. A middling performance from the hardware and a few small nagging issues such as noticeable lag when using the pen on the screen detract from a versatile and attractive device.

The ATG should satisfy users who are after a well-performing, semi-rugged notebook, but more demanding users who are looking for a unit to use in a very dusty area might want something that has dust-protected ports and slots as well.