The U400 is a good size for travellers, has plenty of connectivity and good speed, and it's also well priced, but its battery life is short.

It runs Windows Vista, has a large hard drive and is basically a full-blown computer that's about twice the size of a smartphone. It's perfect for anyone who is after a small tablet PC for under $1800.

A strong, lightweight laptop, the Dell Inspiron 700m has a neat wide-aspect screen. All that mars the notebook is a slightly cramped keyboard, an annoying optical drive button and a short battery life.

The NEC Versa E6210 looks nice and is a good size for those on the road. The battery life didn't impress us, but will be fine for the casual user, as will the performance of this machine.