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.

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.

With stacks of features and plenty of connectivity, the F8Va is the perfect choice for the home user who wants a mid-sized desktop replacement unit. Its battery life is poor, and we think its design could be better, but it's a solid unit overall.

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.

With a simple, but thoughtful feature set, a solid build and a classy design there's little to complain about. While the CR13G/B isn't the top of the game, it is a very nice notebook.

Acer's Aspire 4920G is a good all purpose notebook. It doesn't excel at any one thing, but for users wanting a little gaming, movie watching and general desktop PC activities, crammed into a stylish package, it is a strong contender.

While it's a fairly stylish notebook with a nice build, we can't help but think that you can get more for your money. If you like the design, but want a better performer, it might be worth waiting for Compaq's new Centrino models to come out.

As a stand alone machine, the Acer Aspire 5920G is a great machine with plenty of power for the average user, and enough for power users to get by. By comparison to Acer's previous models it's an excellent unit with plenty of good improvements.

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.

The addition of an HD-DVD-ROM puts this new P200 in a whole new class, and the implementation of the latest Centrino platform gives it a touch more power and battery life, too.