Although the Toshiba Satellite Pro P300 (PSPCDA-00L00D) is a fast system with Toshiba's noteworthy Sleep and Charge USB ports and plenty of hard drive space, the unattractive design and lack of features when compared to similarly priced units mean that you're better off looking elsewhere.

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.

It looks good, has good processing power, and it's well-suited as a notebook for everyday tasks. However, it's not really a great unit for high-definition video endeavours, as it lacks a Full HD screen and a Blu-ray drive.

A notebook that any multimedia buff would love.

Although it didn't score as well as we'd hoped in WorldBench 6, the gaming results were good and the inclusion of an HD-DVD-R drive is an excellent bonus.

They've finally done it — the Sony VAIO VGN-Z16GN/B is a great mix of power and style for those who can swallow the $2999 price tag. Users will just have to make sure they treat it carefully, especially when dealing with the screen.

The LG W1 Pro Express Dual was let down by its speakers, encoding abilities and battery life, but the TV-tuner, number pad and the excellent screen are draw cards worth noting. Overall it's a strong machine, both structurally and component-wise.

This mid-sized widescreen has plenty of power and a sizable, speedy hard disk, and it's backed by a three-year warranty.

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 worthy alternative to Toshiba's flagship G40, the Qosmio F40 is a well built and useful entertainment machine.

The ASUS M51VA-AS045G is mid-range laptop with a fantastic array of connections and strong processing performance. Unfortunately the screen’s default dimness may prove annoying for novice users and the lack of Gigabit Ethernet at this price point is disappointing.

Lack of warranty and the other cons make this one not worth the price point.