Exceptional battery life and a compact design make the nc2400 a great option for those willing to sacrifice some performance.

It's rare to find a notebook as versatile as the LifeBook P1610. There are certainly compromises to be made for its tiny frame and convertible design, but if blistering performance isn't essential, the P1610 is well worth a look.

The Fujitsu P7230 ultra portable notebook doesn't offer stellar performance, but its impressive battery life will keep you up and running for long periods of time and its light-weight design with the 10in screen make it very easy to carry around.

An ultra-portable ideal for road warriors, the VAIO TX47 offers outstanding battery life, and a stylish design.

We truly wanted to love the Asus U1F (1P010E), but its lack of a built-in optical drive and poor graphics chip dampened our ardour. Nevertheless, it remains a handsome choice for business use and web browsing.

The ThinkPad X61 is well-built and very portable, which makes it suitable for the road warrior. However, it doesn't ship with an optical drive.

The Fujitsu Q2010 is an ideal mobile tool with a lightweight design and integrated 3G making it great for use on the road. It lacks grunt but should be more than enough for office applications and keeping intouch with colleagues.

Although the Panasonic Toughbook CF-W5 is not the most stylish or powerful machine, it does offer some good battery life and should take a few knocks without any trouble. However, for the premium price it is short on ports and other features, a disappointment despite the advantages of its rugged design.

As a multi-purpose business notebook, the Lenovo 3000 V200 performs admirably well in almost every area. However, those after a highly portable unit are likely to find themselves a little weighed down.

While Ferrari fans are going to want to splurge for the luxury of a true Ferrari sponsored notebook, unlike the cars we can't justify the cost for the performance. The feature-set isn't bad and will get you by if you've got to have the Ferrari name, but the rest of us have no sensible reason to buy this machine at this price.

The Vostro 1200 is a good choice at a smart price for the travelling business user with good processing power, Wi-Fi connectivity and battery life, despite being let-down by some design issues.

Its screen is hard to view properly, but apart from that, the R500 is a genuine lightweight. At under 1kg, and with battery life longer than four hours, it's perfect for users who work long ours while on the road.