This budget buy looks good and includes some nice options (FireWire, TV-out, card reader) and free extras (mouse, carry bag), but you don't get a DVD writer and the processor doesn't help with battery life.

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

If a lightweight laptop with lots of connections and entertainment options galore is what you're after, the dv1000 is a great solution.

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.

For style and performance in a business machine, the LG E500 is a great option. It scored well in our benchmarks, including the battery test and includes some useful features.

If you can't fork out the extra $500 for the fully featured ASUS F8Va and still want decent performance in an attractive design then the BenQ Joybook S42-PE01 is worth looking at. It might not have all the bells and whistles, but for this price point it certainly has a lot.

The Compaq Presario M2000 is a well-rounded home laptop for users who don't care about sleek looks.

With its high performance, great battery life and extensive multimedia capabilities, the 8005LMi will undoubtedly please those looking for portable performance.

This is a value-priced power notebook that's well geared towards multimedia use.

Pioneer has definitely aimed for the performance market with its DreamBook Light 822 notebook, which is the most powerful notebook we looked at this month. Running an Intel Core Duo T2500 (2GHz) processor and 1GB (2x 512MB) of DDR2 533MHz RAM, the 14in DreamBook pulled off an impressive score of 97 in PC WorldBench 5 and 17,469 in 3DMark 2001 SE. These results place the DreamBook above other notebooks in its price range.

If you don't want to play lots of games and need a solid notebook for office tasks, the Z61t should fit the bill quite nicely.

The Pioneer Dreambook Light 822 is a great all-purpose notebook that will satisfy a wide variety of users.