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.

Not built for those constantly on the road, the Pro P100 is nonetheless a great desktop replacement. The big screen combined with impressive graphics capabilities make it a great all purpose unit for business users who also want some entertainment options.

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'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.

A decent, but not particularly inspiring machine, the Tecra A6 will suit those who need an affordable business notebook.

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

The Toshiba Satellite A200 is a solid workhorse of a machine with plenty of processing power under its hood. Without question, it's the best A200 we have tested to date.

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.

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.

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.