While this notebook hasn't excelled in anything particular, it shows enough aptitude in the key area's of business usage to do the job well.

For the modern user on the move the Fujitsu LifeBook S6520 offers surprisingly good processing power and a brilliant battery life in a lightweight package that is easy to use. The only downside is the high price, for which we’d normally expect a better variety of expansion options.

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 Hewlett-Packard Compaq Nx6320 is a good choice for business users due to its great performance and impressive battery life. It is also rather lightweight as well, so it won't become a hassle to carry around.

Acer's Extensa 3302WLM is suitable for budget buyers looking for a good-looking notebook with a wide screen and DVD burning.

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.

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 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.

The Dell Latitude D620 performs well, looks great and has a long battery life that will suit demanding business users.

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.