The pencil-thin bezel around the 14-inch widescreen helps make the Gateway ID47H07u one of the most portable mainstream laptops around; it weighs only 4.4 pounds. It’s also well-equipped with everything from a USB 3.0 port to Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) technology for cloning the PC’s screen on an HDTV.

The ID47H07u flaunts a handsome aluminum alloy lid and keyboard deck, the latter setting off the metallic chiclet-style keys. You won’t find the backlit keyboard seen on our Editors’ Choice Dell Inspiron 14z (Core i5), but you’ll appreciate the smooth, precise typing feel. A plus-size touchpad has integrated—rather than dedicated—mouse buttons. They work well enough, but the pad’s plastic surface puts up a little more friction or resistance than I’m used to.

The laptop’s 14-inch display offers the 1,366-by-768 resolution that’s familiar in this size and price class; it’s not dazzlingly bright but delivers crisp text and vivid colors.

The optical drive on the ID47H07u’s right side is a dual-layer DVD burner, not the Blu-ray drive found in the pricier $780 Sony VAIO VPC-EG27FM/W or $870 Toshiba Satellite P745-S4320. In addition to the Wi twins (WiFi and WiDi), the ID47H07u offers Bluetooth, but not the Wi triplet WiM AX— as seen in the Toshiba P745-S4320, Sony VPC-EG27FM/W, and Asus U46E-BAL5— or other mobile broadband.

The ID47H07u’s times in our Handbrake video encoding (1 minute 50 seconds) and Adobe Photoshop image-editing (4:01) tests were each precisely one second slower than the Sony EG27FM/W, but it beat the Sony by a hundredth of a point with a Cinebench score of 2.70. Like its fellows, the ID47H07u will leave avid gamers searching for systems with something other than Intel integrated graphics.

At 7 hours 32 minutes, our ID47H07u fell short of the magic eight-hour mark but still showed impressive unplugged life for a compact laptop without a bulky battery pack.

Unless WiMAX is a must for you, the Gateway ID47H07u offers a ton of features in a handsome, highly portable chassis for a pleasingly low price. Its bid to topple the Dell Inspiron 14z (Core i5) for Editors’ Choice honors is thwarted only by its touchpad, plus Dell’s backlit keyboard and removable battery.

The latest TravelMate from Acer doesn’t just look good in its metallic matte-black exterior, it also has a thin bezel that allows for a 14-inch screen in a body that normally holds 13.3-inches of screen real-estate. It has the biggest screen among all the notebooks in this line-up, except its resolution is only 1366×768 pixels. Acer also managed to get the TravelMate 8481G into a nice and slim shell, with a thickness measuring only 22.3mm. This little black machine also features an Nvidia discrete graphics card for added gaming performance. The solid construction of the entire machine is only let down by the incredible amount of flex in its island-style keyboard.

Dell reckons the Alienware M18x is the most powerful gaming laptop on the planet. This 5.4kg beast runs Windows 7 Home Premium and has an I8.4in screen, 8GB of DDR3 RAM (although you get only 4GB with the base £1,699 model), an Intel Core i7-2630M processor, either a terabyte (TB) or 1.5TB of storage and an nVidia GeForce GTX 460M with 1.5GB of video RAM.

The M18x’s huge screen supports a top resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, while an HDMI port makes this laptop ideal for general entertainment duties such as DVD playback as well as frantic gaming sessions. There are two USB 3.0 ports, so you can very quickly archive off everything to a high-speed external drive and free up some space, should the need ever arise. The 1.3Mp webcam is one of few standard specifications on this extraordinary Alienware laptop.

Dell has created a following for its ultraportable Inspiron Z laptops. The 14z has a 1366×768-pixel screen, a choice of Core i3 and i5 processors and focuses on connectedness on the go. In a home Wi-Fi environment, Dell Stage kicks in to automatically synchronize music, photos and messages.

Content can be called up on any Dell Stage-supported device. Bluetooth, USB 3.0, a webcam and a multiformat card reader mark out the Dell as a high-quality home laptop.

Most of the time, a Fujitsu laptop means a no-nonsense portable computer that gets the job done no matter what. The glossy black Fujitsu SH761 is no different. It looks professional and its build is extremely solid, with no creaking parts whatsoever. It’s small and lightweight at a respectable 1.6Kg, and even then, has space for an optical drive. This slinky little machine also features an Nvidia 520M discrete graphics card for a slight improvement in gaming performance. Another feature which we really like is the touch-enabled scrolling pad that lets you scroll in all directions.

We’re not surprised to see the Lenovo IdeaPad G570 here – only a few issues ago; it earned a thoroughly deserved Best Value award. But whereas last time we reviewed a basic, no-frills model, this time Lenovo has sent us something tastier.

The familiar Core i3-2310M processor takes center-stage, but Lenovo has pushed up the price and added a few extras. There’s now a generous 6GB of memory, and the 640GB hard disk is a welcome sight for the more download-hungry user. Even more impressive, though, is the fact that Lenovo has squeezed in a Blu-ray reader and dedicated ATI graphics.

As well as these additions, all the best features remain intact. The keyboard remains one of the best you’ll find on any budget model: concave Scrabble-tile keys grip the fingers nicely, and the positive action makes for responsive typing. The touchpad is similarly fuss-free, with discrete, clicky buttons, and a wide multitouch surface that makes for accurate cursor control.

The display has been improved, too. Brightness hits a reasonable 225cd/nr, but instead of the previous model’s dreadful contrast, here we measured a solid 248:1 ratio. Colour accuracy is still a little wayward – we noted a bluish tinge creeping into skintones ֊ but there’s enough vibrancy to keep images punchy. The only disappointment is that the 1,366 x 768 resolution isn’t sufficient to make the most of Blu-ray movies.

In terms of performance, the Lenovo puts in a solid effort, with 0.58 in our application benchmarks showing there’s more than enough oomph. Gaming performance is disappointing, however. While the AMD chipset pushed the IdeaPad to 16fps in our Medium quality Crysis test, it isn’t dramatically faster than the GPU on the Core i3 processor. Its addition hampers battery life: the IdeaPad managed 5hrs 40mins in our light-use test.

Lenovo’s IdeaPad G570 is a capable budget laptop, but there’s so much competition. With Samsung’s RV520 delivering the essentials for less, and Acer’s Aspire Ethos 5943G proving a more capable entertainer, this solid and dependable Lenovo doesn’t do enough to stand out.

Given its specification, it’s a surprise that the Acer Aspire Ethos 5943G is so affordable. With a Core i5 processor, Blu-ray drive and dedicated graphics, it easily looks the best on paper of all the laptops here. The reason it’s so cheap is simple: unlike the competition, this one’s from Acer’s last-season range.

The first giveaway is the Core i5-460M, one of the first-generation Intel Core processors. Still, that’s no bad thing. While the latest Core i3 chips have come on leaps and bounds, this is still a more powerful chip than the lot of them – as a result of 0.63 in our Real World Benchmarks shows.

Gaming performance is well above average; too, with ATI’s Radeon HD 5650M dispatching our Medium quality Crysis test at a smooth 35fps. The Acer is a heavyweight in all senses of the word. It weighs 2.87kg – heavier even than Samsung’s 17.3in RV720-and that makes for a sturdy, solid-feeling build. The speakers deliver a warm, detailed sound, and that hefty chassis also gives the keyboard a firm base to go with the Scrabble-tile keys.

Being older than most there’s no USB 3, but with three USB 2 ports, eSATA, mini-FireWire and an optical digital output, the Aspire Ethos 5943G is geared up for serious use. The Acer stops short of greatness, however. The display delivers accurate colour reproduction, but it’s a little too dim – we measured it at only 203cd/m2. A far worse offender, however, is the touchpad. Getting clicks to register required us to press on the far edges of the buttons, and it often felt unwieldy and sluggish.

That aside, if you’ve ever wondered whether to keep last year’s models on your shortlist, Acer’s Aspire Ethos 5943G emphatically answers in the affirmative. It isn’t perfect, but at this price you’ll likely find the few faults easy to forgive.

The black-brushed, 1.35Kg-light, Duralumin-clad Samsung Series 9 definitely strikes us as thin, light and sexy from the moment we laid eyes on it. Duralumin is an alloy used primarily on fighter jets to keep them light and tough, just like on the Series 9. Out of all the Windows-powered notebooks tested, its trackpad is also the biggest and the most comfortable to use. Like the MacBook Air it is competing with, it also sports an SSD that supercharges performance. However it’s a pity it only comes in black. Ports are hidden and can easily be accessed on the side of the machine. The one odd addition to this machine: A Micro-SD card slot.

Binalone’s HomeSurf 705 costs only £99, but comers have been cut: the 7in, 800 x 480 resistive screen is unresponsive and pallid, and underneath is a processor that finished the SunSpider benchmark in 41,045ms-twiceas slow as the £160 Storage Options Scroll. Basics such as web browsing are this tablet’s limit, and there’s no sign of the Android Market – its replacement is void of recognizable names – and it’s also lumbered with the outdated Android 2.1. Given the lack of quality, the four-hour battery life feels like a mercy. If you have the opportunity to spend your money elsewhere, do so.

The very professional-looking HP Elitebook 2560p has everything you need (including DVD-drive) built into a relatively small body. Its metallic exterior and interior doesn’t just look pretty, but makes the machine feel extremely solid and rugged. Like previous generations of HP business notebooks, the Elitebook 2560p is built like a tank, both inside and out. Solid metal lines the palm rest, which also helps with dispersing heat. Our favorite part of the machine is the keyboard. The chiclet-style design not only features wide spacing in between buttons, but also a rigidity in the keys that appeals to us greatly, making this our favorite keyboard out of the whole bunch.

While Intel’s Sandy Bridge technology faced some obstacles right out of the blocks with faulty hardware that necessitated a recall, the problem’s now fixed, with numerous laptop makers all jumping in with offerings of their own. In this review, we take on Fujitsu’s S-series 13.3-inch LifeBook SH561.

Aesthetically, the SH561 is clad in “Urban White” for the most part, save for its base unit that’s adorned in black. The lid sports pin-striped etchings with Fujitsu’s infinity Mark brandished in silver. Generally, the SH561 offers a durable build with little flex on the wrist-rest. At 1.75kg, this baby is also highly portable considering it packs a DVD drive as well.

The SH561 lives up to its all-rounder reputation with a wholesome offering of ports, including a HDMI outlet and three USB 2.0 slots. While USB 3.0 is clearly absent, one of its USB ports does boast of a charging feature. In other words, you get to juice up USB devices without having to power on the notebook, provided of course that the laptop is plugged into a wall socket.

Looking at its interior, it is apparent Fujitsu isn’t influenced by the current chiclet craze. For input, the SH561 features a tightly packed keyboard with standard I9mm-pitched keys. They delivered a soft tactile feedback when tried. To add, we spotted a dimpled contraption on the wrist-rest that’s unique to Fujitsu. While it may appear gimmicky, the “scroll wheel”, as well as the Synaptics-driven touchpad, was both quite responsive when used.

Given its glossy (and annoying) treatment on the 1366×768 pixel screen, images are noticeably vivid despite the SH561′s conservative 200nits ratings. Susceptibility to contrast shifts on both axis is one drawback though.

Discrete GT520M graphics powers the SH561 with its internal Intel HD3000 GPU disabled. Not that we are complaining, for results on both 3DMark06 and Far Cry 2 trumped the Toshiba Satellite E300 (which was powered by integrated graphics) by a fair margin. The SH561 also produced 5,671 3DMarks and 59.6FPS respectively, compared to Toshiba’s 4,918 3DMarks and 25.3fps scores. Battery uptime was noteworthy too, lasting 4 hours and 20 minutes on our DVD loopback test.

Overall, we can safely sum up the SH561 as a dependable and portable machine with decent processing and graphics hardware to match. Although it is tough for us to fault the SH561 apart from its tight viewing angle, it would also be hard to justify the pricey $2,388 tag when more affordable alternatives are available.

These days, when people think laptops and notebooks, they want something they can literally put on their laps without causing any actual stress on their thigh bones. But of course there also exist users who are much more particular about the performance of their machine. When we talk about performance however, it usually isn’t about having multiple spreadsheets open at the same time, but rather, the ability of that machine to play games. Traveling gamer, introducing your new best friend, the 17.3-inch Toshiba Qosmio X770.

By relying on its high-end discrete graphics card, the Nvidia GTX560M, of course. 3DMark06 benchmark scores were a stunning 16,153 3DMarks. And if you’re wondering why it comes with a pair of Nvidia 3D glasses, that’s because the Qosmio X770 has stereoscopic 3D capabilities (even the webcam is 3D). Your favorite games that only come with 2D flavors will also be converted into 3D by the display card, and the same technique is applied to movies as well.

Now that you’ve got the visuals covered, how about sound? No problem, say the Harmon / Kardon speakers with built-in subwoofer. These speakers allow the machine to be loud and clear enough that you don’t need extra speakers to enjoy gaming or movies.

The downside is that having such a powerful graphics card, a big screen and powerful speakers, is that the X770 must be near a power socket most of the time. So gaming and movies off the grid is not a very wise choice, as it can only stay wall-free for about 82 minutes.

The question then, is it really worth spending $3,799 on the Qosmio X770? Seeing that this is easily one of our top performers in terms of specifications and performance, it would be too easy to say yes. Except the Qosmio X770 isn’t the holy grail of mobile gaming, because there are alternatives on the market that give you more performance for less money. And as the Grail Knight told Indy in the Last Crusade, “you must choose, but choose wisely”.

Wonderfully light and the least bulky of the 10-inchers, the Tab 750 has a clean, spartan design. It is fast and furious where row speed goes. Though purists will disagree, once you get used to it, Samsung’s proprietary TouchWIZ ser interface skin over Android can be quite agreeable and useful. The preinstalled apps—especially the office suite and the photo editor—propelled by TouchWIZ get you off the ground right away without shopping around. The 1,280×800 display is capable of sharp, vibrant imagery and provides superb viewing angles.

Light, yes but why does it have to border on the outright plastic? Other tablets outshine and outclass the Galaxy Tab’s 3MP rear camera if you rate the shooter important. The grouse about the ports—or the lack of them—is the same as with the iPad: no USB, no HDMI, no microSD. Besides it comes with a proprietary dock connector. Audio quality is overage. Battery, though substantial at over 8 hours, doesn’t last as long as the others.

With rivals sporting Blu-ray drives, dedicated graphics and other novelties, the Acer Aspire TimelineX 4830T seems rather ordinary. Spend some time actually using this Min laptop, however, and it’s clearly anything hut.

It’s very good-looking. The blue lid is infused with a hint of turquoise, and crisp lines are complimented by a smattering of silver and black on the inside. For a budget laptop, it’s gorgeous; by any other standards, it’s still smart.

It isn’t quite as light as the other I4in laptop in this group, HP’s Pavilion dm4, but at only 2.03kg we wouldn’t baulk at carrying it around regularly. We only wish it was sturdier. Pressure on the lid quickly shows through onto the LCD panel, and there’s the slightest hint of bounce in the wristrest. We’d invest in a padded laptop bag to keep it in good nick.

The Acer’s build quality might leave room for improvement, but there are no such qualms about its stamina. With a captive battery within, we weren’t sure what to expect, but we were stunned: with more than 10hrs 6mins in our light-use battery test, the Acer keeps on going long after the other laptops in this month’s group.

This stamina is allied with fine performance. Like many of its rivals, it has a Core i3-2310M processor thrumming away at its core. With a result of 0.58 in our Real World Benchmarks, the Acer is more than nippy enough.

There’s no dedicated graphics chipset here, though, so serious gaming is out of the question. Indeed, while the integrated Intel graphics managed a relatively smooth 31 fps in our Low quality Crysis test, pushing to the Medium test slowed the action to a jerky 13fps; it’s for light gaming only.

During everyday use, the Acer is a genuine pleasure. Despite the flex in the wristrest, there are no such problems with the keyboard, which feels great to type on. The keys have a crisp, responsive feel, and our only mild complaint is the left Shift key: Acer has placed it hard against the backslash key, which led to a fair few typos before our fingers adjusted.

The display is perhaps the Acer’s weakest hand. The 168:1 contrast ratio leads to poor detail in darker scenes, and the average Delta E of 12.8 indicates that colour reproduction is far from neutral. It isn’t as bad as those figures make it sound, however. There’s plenty of brightness – we measured the Acer’s display at a maximum of 232cd/m2 – and it’s perfectly usable for everyday tasks.

Acer has saved a few pennies by opting for only 3GB of memory, and the 320GB hard disk is a shade on the small side. There’s no Blu-ray drive, but Acer found room in the budget for a DVD writer, a USB 3 port and Gigabit Ethernet. Wireless networking stretches to single-band 802.1 In, accompanied by Bluetooth 3.

So other laptops here might outdo it when it comes to the bells and whistles, but the Aspire TimelineX 4830T remains a powerful, go-anywhere laptop that can last almost a whole day away from the mains. When you consider that performance comes for only £479 inc VAT, it isn’t hard to see why it’s this month’s winner.

This 13in screen Vaio Is very much the money-no-object suggestion in our round up of portables to which you might consider treating yourself this Yule, Far from a run-of-the-mill model, the Z is thinner and tighter than a MacBook Air. It’s also the first laptop to have its own dedicated multimedia dock that contains a dedicated graphics card. DVD drive and LightPeak optical connector. The Sony’s carbon-fiber frame is both incredibly strong and very light – a fact helped by the inclusion of a 256GB solid-state disk (SSD) rather than a plain old hard disk.

The laptop is powered by a Core i7 processor, paired with 4GB of RAM, Ergonomics and typing comfort are marginally compromised, but the Vaio bristles with ports and connectors. It also has a webcam and Skype support, plus a fingerprint reader to control access.

Finished in black and brown, Lenovo’s IdeaPad S205 is unlikely to set anyone’s heart aflutter. It has the same AMD E-350 processor as its 11,6in rivals, backed up by 4GB of memory and a 500GB hard disk.

At 1.42kg, it’s the lightest model in this month’s Labs, but that’s reflected in the build quality. The slender base flexes to and fro when tugged upon, and it lacks the more substantial feel of the others here. Given the excellent stamina – it boasts 6hrs 50mins of light-use battery life – we’d keep it in a padded sleeve when on the move.

While the keyboard is typically excellent, and the little touchpad works well, the display is disappointing. It’s dim, and images look pale and unnatural.

At this price, we’d usually suffer a few faults. As it stands, though, the HP isn’t just prettier; it’s the better all-round choice.

If you’re after an inexpensive laptop and are more interested in performance than a fancy name, the Packard Bell EasyNote TS1IHR039 is well worth a look. It ran away with the crown in our most recent group test of budget laptops, outshining every other contender in terms of speed. It achieves this by packing in an Intel Core i5 processor; although this is twinned with a modest 3GB of RAM, music and video plays well, although gaming isn’t great. Connections include 802.l1b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI and a trio of USB 2.0 ports. There’s a dual-layer DVD-R/RW drive and a media-card slot that takes Memory Stick and xD-Picture Cards as well as the more common SO Card format. Slight compromises in the form of integrated Intel graphics and a 500GB hard drive are our sole criticisms of this excellent and very well-priced I5.6in-screen laptop.

Toshiba’s Satellite L755D is the only laptop here powered by one of AMD’s Llano processors. In some respects, the Toshiba lags behind the Intel-powered opposition. A result of 0.45 in our Real World Benchmarks is a little off the pace, and battery life leaves the Toshiba bringing up the rear.

When it comes to gaming, however, AMD’s Llano takes on models with dedicated graphics. It wasn’t until we pushed up our Crysis test to Medium detail that the Toshiba slowed to an average of 25fps. It’s mightily impressive.

Elsewhere, the Toshiba puts in a solid effort. The keyboard and touchpad throw up no nasty surprises, and the display delivers lively colour reproduction. Connectivity is good, too, although USB 3 is entirely absent.

It isn’t perfect, but those looking for good gaming ability on the cheap won’t be disappointed.

As the largest laptop on test, Samsung’s RV720 cuts an imposing figure. But despite its huge 17.3in display and generous specification, it comes with a much more compact price: a very reasonable £464 inc VAT.

With exactly the same design as the smaller RV520, the RV720 is a lovely looking laptop. The textured black and silver lid is as sleek as ever, and the strip of glossy black pooling around the keyboard adds a flourish on the inside. There’s no getting away from the all-plastic construction, and the size means there’s a little more flex in the chassis, but it isn’t bad for the money.

One glance at the keyboard is all you need to see that Samsung has failed to capitalize on the extra space. It’s exactly the same as that of the RV520, which means the same slightly hollow feel to each tap of the finger, but the light key action and wide expanse of the wristrest more than make amends.

The 17.3in display certainly helps. With a 1,600 x 900 resolution and excellent image quality, it’s the making of the RV720. There’s ample brightness – we clocked the panel at 247cd/m’ – and the strong colour reproduction and solid contrast ratio make all the difference.

Of course, there’s no room in the budget for fancy additions such as Blu-ray or USB 3, but the core elements are all present and correct. The 750GB hard disk is capacious, and there’s no lack of connectivity. The basics are covered by three USB 2 ports, an SD card reader and Gigabit Ethernet. Bluetooth 3 makes the grade along with the usual single-band 802.1 In Wi-Fi.

Otherwise, the RV720 performs similarly to many of its rivals. Its overall result of 0.54 in our application benchmarks puts it only a whisker behind the Core i3 pack; we assume the hard disk is a little slow. The huge display drains the RV720’s battery more quickly than most, with the laptop retiring after 5hrs 37mins of light use.

Overall, though, we can’t help liking Samsung’s RV720. There’s no attempt to wow with fancy features, with Samsung instead concentrating on nailing the essentials first. It all adds up to a strong desktop replacement at an appealing price.

The Toshiba Portege Z835-P330 is the newest member of the Portege line, and it’s Toshiba’s first ultrabook. Available exclusively through Best Buy, the Portege Z835-P330 is currently the cheapest of the new slim-laptop category of ultrabooks, selling for just under $800. It also has a featherweight chassis, an unusually full feature set, and a long-lasting battery that will take you through an entire workday. Whether or not those highlights are enough to make you overlook its middling performance and mediocre graphics capability is up to you.

The Z835-P330’s solid feel is especially surprising given its size (0.6 by 12.4 by 8.9 inches, HWD) and weight—just 2.4 pounds.

The Z835-P330 sports a 13.3-inch widescreen display, with 1,366-by-768 resolution. The screen is backlit (400 nits) for visibility in environments with lots of ambient light. It also offers fairly wide viewing angles, providing clear visibility for yourself and anyone else you want to share the screen with.

There’s very little room for air flow in this slim chassis, and during testing, the Toshiba got very hot—up to 102-degrees Fahrenheit on the keyboard and 110-degrees on the underside. Granted, our testing process may push the components a bit harder than the average user would, but you still might want to watch out for a possible case of toasted leg syndrome.

The Z835-P330 has a 128GB solid-state dive (SSD), which is large enough to accommodate the operating system, a healthy number of programs, and a modest selection of media.

The Z835-P330 is equipped with a low-voltage dual-core Intel Core i3-2367M processor paired with 4GB of RAM. It’s a significant step up from the AMD and Intel Atom CPUs found in traditional netbooks, but it’s not as powerful as the Core i5s that have appeared in the Macbook Air 13-inch, the Asus UX31, or the Acer S3. The battery lasted 7 hours 35 minutes in our tests—a full hour longer than the 6:32 offered by the Asus UX31 (with a 50Wh battery), and an additional 2 hours longer than either the MacBook Air or Acer S3.

The Toshiba Portege Z835-P330 may not be the best ultrabook on the market, but it does stand out due to its light weight, exceptional feature set, and category-leading battery life. The Editors’ Choice Asus Zenbook UX31 still reigns supreme among ultrabooks because of its solid construction, stellar audio, and better performance, but it’s $300 more. If you favor portability over performance, the Z835-P330 is a solid choice.