The Lenovo 3000 N200 may not excel in anything specific, but it offers a good mix of features for the home or the small business environment. The best asset of this notebook is its ability to unplug at the end of the work day and go home with you.

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.

For its price there's little worth complaining about. The Dell Media Direct feature is handy and the 2 megapixel camera is a nice upgrade from the standard 1.3 megapixel option.

If you plan to use what HP has put into this machine then it's a good value choice. However, if you're after a power notebook, or don't plan to utilise all the added features then there are other paths you'll want to take.

We like the steps BenQ has taken with its new range, including the HDMI port and a solid component base. We do feel that more could have been added to enhance the media aspect of this powerful machine, but otherwise it's a pleasure to use.

There's not a whole lot more to the HP Pavilion Special Edition, but the small perks and unique design easily match, if not outweigh the slight price hike.

The BenQ Joybook S32 (BV13) offers a slight improvement over the previous S32 iteration. Its overall performance was predictably solid for a notebook in this price range. It will neither wow, nor disappoint.

A worthy alternative to Toshiba's flagship G40, the Qosmio F40 is a well built and useful entertainment machine.

While it might not quite resurrect a dying breed, the A9 (PTS52A-00V00F) proves that big old-fashioned business notebooks still have a worthy place in the ultra-mobile world. Worth investing in.

There's plenty of style to boast of here. The Verve, aptly named for its design, will turn heads, and it's a good performer too, if not at the top of the class.

Once again we are happy with Zepto's design and performance and are particularly impressed by the screen. There's nothing fancy to scream from the hills about, but the Znote 6625WD is a solid and powerful machine that will suit many needs.

Although it comes with a strong variety of connections and good screen performance, the Acer TravelMate 6592 (831G08Mn) is let down by a relatively small hard drive.