This notebook ticks pretty much every box: style, speed, connectivity (including Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth and 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi) and usability. It packs in plenty of business-friendly features, including a smartcard reader and a fingerprint scanner. It isn't cheap, but if you're after a business notebook and aren't in the market for an ultraportable the Latitude E6400 may well be worth it. Besides, Accounts will pay for it right?

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 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.

This is a powerful mid-range all-purpose notebook that is well worth looking at, as long as you can stand carting around a 3kg laptop.

The Toshiba Satellite Pro A300 is a unit that sits comfortably between the entry-level and mid-range notebook categories, featuring an excellent range of expansion ports and decent performance when balanced against its price tag. What lets it down is the dull design.

The Lenovo IdeaPad U330 is a device with lots going for it. Apart from the excellent keyboard, strong hardware and attractive design, the unit also has a great screen and a large variety of ports. Unfortunately, this quality is reflected in its high price tag.

The 6930P's size makes it both comfortable to use, as well as easy to transport, and users who require a lot of running time away from an outlet will appreciate the option for a larger second battery. We don't particularly like its latch system, nor the prolonged set up time, and we wish HP would also implement 'Sleep-and-Charge'-like USB 2.0 ports.

The ATG should satisfy users who are after a well-performing, semi-rugged notebook, but more demanding users who are looking for a unit to use in a very dusty area might want something that has dust-protected ports and slots as well.

This unit's build quality is excellent and its size and weight (2.3kg without the power supply) make it an easy unit to carry to and from the office or the classroom. It's well worth considering if you want a shiny and well-performing mid-sized laptop.

The Toshiba Tecra A10's excellent CPU is wasted thanks to a puny 1GB of RAM. If you want a decent machine with a sub-$1500 price tag, then this is a device worth considering — as long as you upgrade the memory.

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

This laptop is a good size and offers better performance than its predecessor. Its bronze style probably won't resonate with many users, and its glossy screen is prone to reflections, but we think it looks pretty good.