The LG P1 Pro Express Dual notebook is a nice machine to work with. It feels good, has some useful features and performed as we expected it to from the hardware installed. It will provide a good user experience for everyday use.

A powerful desktop replacement notebook, which doubles as a media centre with a Blu-ray player. It needs some refinement, but as it stands, it's a functional unit for productivity applications and entertainment endeavours.

It might not be fast, but it sure is affordable. At under $700, this 15.4in notebook is ideal for students, workers, anyone really, who wants a basic machine for perusing the Web and typing up documents, or even for viewing and storing digital photos.

It's not the kind of notebook you want to carry around with you everywhere, but it's a powerful desktop replacement that will provide plenty of entertainment.

The VAIO VGN-CR13G is a reasonably solid, if unspectacular, notebook that features a lovely design and reasonable specifications. A decent choice if you are after an all-purpose machine.

This notebook isn't powerful, but it has many useful features and good build quality for its price. It's easy to use and well-suited to anyone who wants a portable computer for everyday tasks.

With an 18.4in high-definition screen, a 5.1 speaker configuration, a digital TV tuner and a Blu-ray player built-in, the Gemstone Blue is almost like a complete home theatre setup. It's fairly easy to use and it's a good performer, so it's a good choice for anyone after a desktop replacement.

Admittedly there's little to this Pavilion that we haven't seen from the range before, but as the saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it. The Blu-ray player is clearly a great bonus, as is the HDMI output. If you're after a notebook to handle your entertainment, this is a good option.

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.

Lenovo thrills us with many useful features on this IdeaPad Y710-200, but it fumbles the ball a little in its implementation of the 'Game Zone'. It's also let down by a lack of Gigabit networking and a digital TV tuner.

The Alienware m9750 is without a doubt one of the most powerful and feature packed notebooks we've laid our hands on, but it comes at a hefty price. Unless you're bent on portability you'd be much better off buying a desktop system for half the price and with considerably more power. That said, if you've got your mind set on a notebook, you need the power and have the cash, then you'll enjoy the broad functionality and classic Alienware style of this machine.

All up, the S430 is an inexpensive option for users who want to run simple tasks. Its performance was sluggish in our tests, and we found the keyboard to be a little hit-and-miss, but it's a suitable unit for browsing the Web and working on not-too-CPU-intensive office documents.