Although it wasn’t widely acclaimed, we rather liked the original Toshiba NB100 - a netbook sticking to the small and cheap ethos as the original netbooks. The NB200 represents a slight departure from this, falling more in line with its rivals.

Along with a great range of ultraportables, Sony’s VAIO range has also led the way when it comes to multimedia machines, being the first to bring Blu-ray to the laptop market. The VAIO FW41E/H is a mid-spec machine, offering impressive media capabilities...

With skinny designs and the promise of great battery life, Acer’s Timeline range is perfectly suited to corporate users. We were highly impressed with the 14-inch Aspire 4810T, but it’s the smaller 3810T that promises to be an even better portable partner....

Acer has impressed on several occasions with its cut-priced netbooks, but its Aspire One lags behind rivals when it comes to quality and usability. The Aspire One 531 looks set to change this, with a highly attractive design, decent mobility and good...

Toshiba’s Portégé A600-122 is the company’s mid-range ultraportable offering, targeting corporate users wanting a similar experience to the range-topping Portégé R600 at a cheaper price. It’s not quite as thin as it’s more expensive sibling, but it’s...

Sony’s VAIO range has offered some of the most impressive ultraportable laptops over the past few years, from the tiny VAIO TZ and TT, to the larger and more powerful VAIO SZ. The 13.1-inch VAIO Z21ZN/X is the latest, and sits at the top of the VAIO range.

Dell’s Studio 15 has been around for a little while now, impressing on a number of levels. The widespread adoption of 16:9 widescreen displays meant it was only a matter of time before a major update appeared, and the latest Studio 1555 has a lot to live...

The boom in netbooks over the past year has seen nearly every laptop manufacturer release at least one model, with Sony and Apple the two noteable exceptions. Instead, Sony has produced the P-series - a netbook-sized, Intel Atom powered, highly portable...

Samsung’s R-series targets those on a budget, offering impressive features and quality at decent prices. The R522 is a 15.6-inch laptop that offers comfort, style and decent office performance.

As with most laptops we’ve seen recently, the...

Over the past few years Samsung has released an impressive range of affordable laptops, mixing quality with features and usability. The Q320 continues this trend, and its portable nature makes it a great choice for business users.

The inside...

Dell's Inspiron Mini netbook range has done remarkably well, considering its late entry into the market, although neither the Mini 9 or Mini 12 have proved perfect. The Inspiron Mini 10 is an attempt to change this, taking the best features from both...

HP’s Pavilion dv2 strikes a balance between laptop and netbook - offering budget, low-powered components in order to keep the price below £500, combined with fantastic portability that rivals ultra-portable machines costing three times the price.

When it comes to multimedia laptops, Toshiba is best known for its high-end Qosmio range, although spending 2 grand on a laptop during a recession may not seem like the smartest idea. This is where the Toshiba Satellite A350 comes in - a budget media...

We thought HP’s original Mini-note 2133 netbook was a great machine, offering one of the best keyboards available on a netbook. The Compaq Mini 703EA looks to continue the trend, also bringing more up-to-date internals and a change of colours.

We were particularly impressed with Acer’s high-end Aspire 6920G when we tested it last year, but there’s no getting away from the fact it was a pricey laptop. The range has since been replaced by the 6930 and 6935, which proves to be an update rather...

Sitting between Dell’s entry-level Inspiron and high-end XPS ranges, the Studio range offers a great mix of style and quality at a reasonable price. Until it’s replaced by the cunningly titled Studio XPS, you’ll still be able to get a Studio 1525 and,...

The Asus Eee PC 1000HE looks like any other netbook, but has one big distinction - a claimed battery life of over 9 hours. This extra mobility, for some, makes it a proper rival for machines such as Sony’s VAIO TT, as long as you don’t mind the lower-res...

The Dell Studio XPS brand combines the company’s high-end XPS range with the more affordable Studio range. The Studio XPS 13 is the first model we’ve managed to get our hands on, and sports a 13.3-inch screen. Despite the compact display, however, it’s...

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X300 impressed us more than most, taking a similar design approach to the achingly desirable MacBook Air, but making the incredibly thin form factor more usable. The ThinkPad X301 is an update which Lenovo hopes will continue to steal...

HP’s Touchsmart TX2 is unusual among Tablet PCs in that it’s intended for home use rather than corporate use. You’ll find glossy patterned plastics more in-keeping with the company’s Palivion range than its Compaq machines. The only question is, is there...

Following the staggering amount of publicity Apple’s super-skinny MacBook Air received, with Mac fanatics waxing lyrical about how you can stick it in an envelope and risk accidentally posting it, South Korean manufacturer Samsung decided it could do...

HP’s Pavilion dv5-1110em is the ideal laptop for the recession, cramming in loads of features at a bargain basement price.

Billed as an Entertainment Notebook PC, the dv5 comes with an integrated Blu-ray optical drive - a surprise at this...

Toshiba’s Tecra range is aimed firmly at corporate users, with machines offering great usability and build quality. The Tecra M10-10H fits perfectly into the role of business workhorse, also offering useful performance and a great keyboard.

While the first netbooks featured 8.9-inch displays, with later models usually boasting larger 10.1-inch panels, Dell’s Inspiron Mini 12 is the first we’ve seen to use a 12.1-inch screen.

It’s bound to appeal to some users - the larger screen...

In the UK, Lenovo is known for its corporate ThinkPad range - which it bought the rights to from IBM a couple of years ago. As such, it’s easy to forget that the company also produces a range of consumer laptops. The latest to arrive is the IdeaPad S10...