Michael Browne

A great looking and affordable machine that offers superior sound quality

A large and stylish machine, but it's starting to look a little dated

Unfortunately too average against its rivals and likely to be a tough sell

Great build quality and value for money, but not the fastest of machines

A good-looking laptop with mixed build quality and performance

An outstandingly large laptop for this price point that sadly lacks performance

A stylish and usable multimedia laptop, but mixed mobility and performance

A simple but attractive design is let down by a lack of processing power

It lacks power, but the comfortable keyboard and great screen make up for it

A practical but understated machine that failed to shine in this group test

A large laptop with its own numeric keypad that offers good value for money

The Toshiba Portégé M800-106 has been designed for portable workers who want a stylish as well as powerful laptop. Weighing 2.1kg, this is a lightweight machine with a 13.3-inch Super-TFT screen.

A business-like machine that delivers on both performance and battery life

A good-looking machine that's ideal for playing games, but its keyboard is flawed

Compact, but it delivers both great performance and usable battery life

A good-looking machine at a great price, but lacks battery life and power

The extra screen size allows for the most comfortable Eee PC experience to date

With sturdy build quality, sombre dark grey styling, and a standard TFT screen, the HP Compaq nc8430 (£1291 inc. VAT) is aimed at the business user