It's well-suited to road warriors thanks to its light weight and built-in 3G module, but it's still not the perfect laptop. If you're going to go for the R500, opt for a solid-state drive instead of a conventional hard drive.

If you’re looking for a desktop replacement with processing power, plenty of storage, an excellent screen and great connectivity options then the Dell Studio 17 (1735) is a hard product to beat.

If you can fork out the cash and don’t mind the design, then the Sony Vaio VGN-FW17GU is a well-performing unit that features a Blu-ray burner.

If you don’t mind your laptop attracting more attention than you, the HP DV5-1010TX_01 is a fast but heavy unit that comes with a built-in TV tuner and Blu-ray player for a reasonable price.

It’s good to see that Toshiba has improved this notebook and rectified some of the small performance flaws we noticed in the earlier M800. Overall the upgrade has seen small performance gains primarily in the graphics department. It's a great ultraportable notebook that offers strong performance despite its small size, and it is a joy to use on the go.

Toshiba’s Qosmio F50 is ideal for multimedia, but it is also well suited as an all-purpose notebook. If you can live with the glossy display, there is plenty to like about this unit and it has performance to match its looks.

The Toshiba Satellite A200 is a solid workhorse of a machine with plenty of processing power under its hood. Without question, it's the best A200 we have tested to date.

Despite lacking the latest and fastest networking options, the Dell Inspiron 1525's chic design and HDMI output make this a good choice for the home user.

With its great screen, notable multimedia features, and robust configuration, this LifeBook can help you achieve a nice balance between work and fun.

The MSI MegaBook EX600 is a solid, but far from outstanding unit. It will handle most basic tasks with ease, but will struggle with more demanding applications.

A capable and solidly built ultraportable that's worth considering. It could use some refinement, but its strong case, built-in DVD burner and long battery life are major positives.