Perhaps reflecting our new era of austerity, the Portégé R700 has a mainstream price: £629 exc VAT for the base model with a Core i3 processor. Not that this has stopped Toshiba from investing in new features.

Top of the list is its “Airflow Cooling Technology”, which Toshiba developed in tandem with Intel. This involves a miniaturised motherboard that positions the processor and all the other components that require cooling near the edge of the chassis, allowing a single fan to constantly cool them. And, rather than wait for the processor to become hot, it blows air all the time.

According to Toshiba, this is what allows it to include a Core i3, i5 or i7 processor in such a slim machine. While we do have some criticisms – which we’ll come to later – this shouldn’t undermine what is a notable achievement. If you wanted a 13in ultraportable measuring under 30mm thick before, your options (think the Lenovo ThinkPad X301) were limited to ultra-low-voltage processors. Indeed, while the X301 is impressively thin at 24mm, the R700 measures 17mm at its thinnest point.

The R700 is staggeringly quick too. Our test sample used a 2.4GHz Core i5-520M with a healthy 4GB of DDR3 memory for company, and it sliced through all the apps we threw at it without any hint of a delay.

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a silent laptop, however. In our tests, the fan was audible despite its relatively low spin rate, and when we pushed the Core i5 sample in our test machine the fan audibly revved up. That said, this was a pre-production unit so we’ll wait to see how the final machines cope with hard graft.

Another change in the R700 compared to the R600 is the lid. We criticised the R600’s for having a little too much flex for comfort, and the addition of magnesium alloy has certainly stiffened it in the R700’s incarnation. It’s not ruggedised by any means, but should withstand daily bashes.

While the bottom of the chassis is again magnesium alloy, the palmrest area (despite its brushed metal appearance) is plastic. That could be an issue if ham-fisted users lean down on the left-hand side, as the hard disk sits directly beneath.

The isolated keyboard is unexceptional but usable, but we’re fans of the responsive touchpad – and Toshiba has added a nice touch by including a switch above it to turn it off. That can be incredibly useful when typing, as it prevents the annoyance of accidentally tapping the touchpad and moving the cursor to a different part of your document.

We also enjoyed using the 13.3in screen. It may not have the highest resolution in the world – 1,366 x 768 – but this ensures system text is easy to read without fussing about with dots per inch.

And it’s this size of screen (combined with the Core i3, i5 and i7 processors) that helps turn the R700 into a very usable everyday laptop, as opposed to an ultraportable you turn to when portability is your priority. Note that some models include an optical drive as well.

We were using a pre-production sample for testing, so we’ll hold off a full verdict until a finished unit arrives in our Labs for benchmarking. It’s only then that we’ll be able to verify Toshiba’s claims of up to nine hours’ battery life as well.

But in terms of outright power in a highly portable form, we’ve been blown away by the latest Portégé. if it lives up to its promise, the R700 could well be vying for a place atop our Executive Laptops A List.

Samsung’s trio of new laptops may not be quite as slim as Sony’s latest crowd-pleaser, but they still have some pretty enticing vital statistics: the 15in X520, for instance, is 24mm thick and weighs 2.09kg. And even though that’s more than three times as heavy as the Sony, it still feels incredibly light for a 15in notebook. The X120 is even more lightweight at 1.36kg.

These machines may not be able to lay claim to the title of “world’s lightest laptop”, then, but they’re still light enough to barely feel noticeable in the average backpack.

Such size results in inevitable compromise. The X120’s screen – itself mere millimetres thick – felt flimsy when we tugged and teased it, and prodding the back of the panel caused noticeable distortion across the 1,366 x 768 display. The X520’s screen, meanwhile, was even more flexible – chiefly because of its larger size – and the desktop distorted just as much.

Thankfully, build quality wasn’t as suspect elsewhere. The base of the machine may be thin but it felt rock-solid, and the wristrest hardly depressed when pressured, either. It may need a decent padded bag, but we’d have few qualms about carrying one of Samsung’s X-Series machines on our daily commute.

The larger dimensions, at least when compared to Sony’s X-Series, also allow for a better keyboard. While we felt the Sony VAIO X-Series offered hardly any travel and would prove uncomfortable, Samsung’s offering seemed more responsive and with more than enough travel for long typing sessions. Our only complaint was that the keyboard action felt a little clicky and clinical, but it’s a minor issue.

Inside, all three of Samsung’s X-Series laptops have broadly similar specifications. The Intel low-voltage CPU is currently shrouded in mystery – we’ve been told it’s dual core and is Intel’s most powerful low-voltage part yet – but, aside from that, there’s plenty else to like.

Up to four gigabytes of RAM, half a terabyte of hard disk space and draft-n wireless should ensure Windows Vista and Windows 7 run smoothly.

The final feather in Samsung’s cap is the supposedly superb battery life. Samsung has told us that the 5,900mAh battery will last for nine hours under light use, with this figure dropping to around six hours when performing more intensive tasks. Sony’s representative, on the other hand, confirmed that the VAIO X-Series’ battery lasts for only five hours.

If that wasn’t enough, Samsung also has Sony beaten on price: the three X-Series laptops will cost around €700, with the VAIO machines costing at least €1,500.

Of course, the Sony’s higher price does pay for one of the finest feats of notebook engineering that we’ve ever seen – but we may find that, for all of its slimline design, the Samsung machines are more versatile and practical machines for everyday use. Suffice to say, we’ll be giving both machines our full attention when they arrive in the PC Pro Labs.

I found myself thinking that, well, maybe this isn’t actually a bad thing – in our day-to-day lives, who uses their optical drive on a regular basis any more?

My laptop is used on the train or on the sofa, for example, and I’m normally playing a game or working. The game doesn’t use a disc, and neither does Microsoft Word. Listening to music doesn’t need a CD anymore, as I have my mp3 player, and the vast majority of applications that I have on my laptop don’t require the CD in the drive to boot.

Of course, Samsung has included a USB DVD drive if you need to use a CD, but the excellent battery life means that this, surely, can be left at home more often than not – it’ll usually be wheeled out for an occasional product install, for instance.

I suppose that the optical drive could now be considered virtually redundant for the majority of users most of the time. It also appears that the Macbook Air may have actually done something right. What do you think?

Picture the scene – before netbooks were even a distant, cheeky glint in Asus’ eye, Sony furnished us with a ground-breaking business ultraportable that weighed in at a frankly, unbelievable 1.2kg. Its svelte figure was hitherto unmatched by the opposition, and its looks were married with 7+ hour battery life and surprisingly capable performance, courtesy of its low-voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor. 

Since then we’ve seen the incremental TZ21 and TZ31 refreshes come and go, but now Sony has completely revamped the series. The TZ has evolved into the TT.

It shares much of its predecessors vital statistics, boasting an 11.1in display with a 1,366 x 768 native resolution, and an overall weight of just 1.3kg. But, although it’s not shed enough pounds to rival Toshiba’s 1.1kg Portege R500, it’s an altogether sturdier breed. Sony’s previous TZ-series laptops may have been gorgeous, but with their lightweight and astoundingly slim figures came worryingly flexible lids and slightly plasticky build quality. Not so the TT. 

In our brief time with the laptop, one thing was abundantly clear: thanks to its carbon fibre construction, this is an ultraportable designed to withstand the rigours of regular travel. The supremely bright LED-backlit display is as vibrant as ever, but this time its astoundingly thin profile doesn’t come at the expense of rigidity. The same can be said of the rest of the chassis. Where tugging and twisting the original TZ laptops elicited flex and creak in equal measure, the TT’s chassis feels much stiffer. It still doesn’t quite match Apple’s Macbook Air for sturdiness, but it looks to be a much better balanced portable all round.

Specification wise, the TT comes replete with Intel’s latest Centrino 2 platform, a low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor and integrated Intel GMA X4500 graphics. Sony claim around eight hours battery life for the TT, which given our experience of the recent Z-series sounds entirely believable. And, once the battery has been drained, Sony’s new quick-charge function allows the battery to charge to 50% after only one hour of charging. 

Elsewhere, there’s little to complain about. Embedded 3G is a welcome sight, along with Draft-n and Bluetooth, and casting a keen eye around the chassis reveals plentiful connectivity. A multi-format memory card reader goes hand in hand with VGA and HDMI outputs, two USB ports and a Gigabit Ethernet socket. Security doesn’t go amiss either, as there’s a TPM 1.2 chip and a fingerprint reader nestling between the mouse buttons. 

That familiar scrabble-tile keyboard is  a pleasant a sight as ever, and although its keys are slightly harder and boast shorter travel than the Z-series, they felt perfectly comfortable under the fingers. 

Despite the TT’s business focus, Sony hasn’t neglected its entertainment credentials. A row of media-playback buttons along the TT’s front edge make it easy to skip through or pause music tracks, and unlike some ultraportables the TT doesn’t reach its target weight by doing away with the optical drive, so its easy to kick back with a CD or DVD at the end (or in the middle!) of the working day. Perfect.

With a price tag of roughly £1,500 inc VAT, the TT isn’t going to be rivalling netbooks for value for money, but with a review unit winging its way to us by the end of the week, we’ll make sure to have the definitive verdict before anyone else. And, lest not forget, should the standard specification not match up to your exacting standards, don’t worry – you’ll soon be able to customise your own Sony TT just the way you want it. 

It was only last week that we took a good, hard look at Sony’s latest business-focussed ultraportable, the VGN-Z11WN/B, and now hot on its lightweight heels is Samsung’s newly refreshed X-series.

We managed to get a closer look at two models from the range, the 13.3” X360 and the 14.1” model, the X460.

The X360 is a thoroughbred rival to any of the current crop of ultraportables. Weighing in at just 1.29kg and with a feature list to embarrass Cupertino’s fruitiest of rivals, the X360 is a show-stopper. And, with prices starting at just £1299 inc VAT, it’s actually one of the more affordable models too.

The X460 might not boast the ultra-light weight of its more diminutive cousin, but that’s not to say it doesn’t impress. Unlike the X360, it manages to squeeze a DVD writer into its 32mm high, 1.85kg frame, and with an estimated asking price of just £999, it’s very reasonably priced indeed.

Even before you tilt back their impossibly slimline lids, these are two laptops which look uncommonly attractive. A glossy black strip covers one third of the lid, and is adorned with a neat Samsung logo, while the bottom two-thirds are finished in brushed aluminium. Tilt back the dainty but sturdy feeling lids and the interior continues to impress. Both the keyboard and the screen are framed by a gloss black surround which, although sure to get a little smudgy over time, looks simply fantastic.

The other thing you’ll notice is that Samsung, just like Apple, have copied Sony’s scrabble-tile keyboard. It’s a design which excites rabid dislike by some members of PC Pro’s staff, but at least in my opinion, unreasonably so. The key action is very light, but there’s a fine, positive action and, just as with the Macbook Air’s example, adopting a lighter, more delicate cadence allows for rapid, comfortable touchtyping.

Some might be a little disappointed that both the X360 and X460 displays have a mere 1,280 x 800 native resolution, but the quality on offer goes a long way towards making amends. The LED-backlit panels are supremely bright, astoundingly so in fact, and while there isn’t the desktop space afforded by the likes of Lenovo’s superb Thinkpad X300, the larger pixels help keep text nice and legible. Try tapping out a document on the bumpy confines of a packed commuter train, and you might just be rather glad that you aren’t squinting at a higher resolution display.

Both models boast the latest Intel Centrino 2 hardware, but the X360 opts for Intel’s ultra low voltage platform to help eke out its claimed 6 to 10 hours of battery life. Intel’s GS45 Express chipset is partnered with an SU9300 processor running at 1.2GHz and backed up by a suitably generous 3GB of DDR3 memory, while Intel’s GMA X4500MHD chipset deals with graphics duties. Plump for the pricier £1499 specification, and you’ll also find a generous 128GB SSD heading up proceedings, but save £200 and you can go for a mechanical 1.8” 120GB drive instead.

Samsung’s X460 also has the full Centrino 2 certification, but forgoes the low-voltage parts for a more powerful specification. The Intel GM45 chipset is partnered with a 2.26Ghz P8400 processor, 3GB DDR3 memory and a standard 250GB hard drive. And for more graphical poke than Intel’s integrated solutions can offer, Samsung have opted for an Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS chipset. For just £999, that’s a pretty impressive core specification.

And, crucially, both the X360 and X460 boast a comprehensive array of features. 802.11abgn and Bluetooth 2.0 cover the wireless side of things (there’s no sign of integrated HSDPA as yet), and there’s Gigabit Ethernet too. Security is beyond reproach thanks to fingerprint readers and TPM 1.2 hardware, but there’s also room for HDMI, VGA, 3 USB ports, ExpressCard/34, a 7-in-1 card reader and support for Samsung’s P-Dock docking stations. And, while the X460 squeezes in an internal DVD writer, the X360 comes with an external slimline USB DVD writer.

If you’ve got £1500 burning a hole in your wallet then head on over to www.laptopsdirect.co.uk and you can put in your pre-order for both the standard and the SSD-equipped X360 models. If it’s the X460 that’s whet your appetite, then you’ll just have to be a little more patient as it’s not available from retailers quite yet. Samsung have assured us that production models will be available in the next couple of weeks, so we’ll be bringing you our definitive verdict just as soon as they land in PC Pro’s labs.

My motivation is that while I’d like to work on the train, getting anything done at the moment requires more effort than I’d like. Which, ideally, is no effort at all. At the moment, hammering out a review on the journey home involves lugging a (relatively) heavy laptop in an extra bag, with the respective power cables in case I decide to use it when I get home, too. I’d like to condense this down somewhat, and some sort of smaller, lighter laptop stands out, as I’d be able to slip it into my backpack with everything else.

Given its runaway success, the Eee PC stands out, but there’s already two models to choose from – the original 701, and the newer, slightly bloated 900. However, both, while being undoubtedly brilliant little machines, come with caveats. The original Eee, for instance, has a screen that could be generously described as cramped and, while I use FireFox and OpenOffice at home, they’re both on Windows XP. The Eee’s custom Linux distribution doesn’t sound like it’ll co-operate with Football Manager, and Windows XP costs a bit more. The keyboard also looks a little cramp for my sausage-sized fingers – my colleague Sasha Muller has warned me away from the 701, as I’ll probably spend most of my time on the train deleting letters that I’ve inadvertently hit.

It’s fair to say that the 901 does address many of these problems. The screen, thankfully, is larger, supporting a resolution of 1,024 x 600. The hard disk can be up to 16GB in size – far better for Football Manager, as well as all that work I’ll be doing – and the Celeron processor now uses all of its 900MHz, as opposed to being clocked down to 630MHz, as it was in the 701. It runs XP comfortably thanks to the doubling of RAM – 512MB to 1GB – and weighs not far over a kilogram. It sounds like the ideal train companion, and one that I can slip into my bag with ease. It’s also a better performer than the original Eee.

However, these improvements come at a price – £280 excluding VAT, to be exact. Which is another sticking point – for not much more than that, I could invest in a genuine laptop with a 13in screen. Back in Issue 161’s Light Laptops Labs, nothing stretched beyond 2kg in weight, with 12 and 13in screens the norm. Almost all of these, though, were far more expensive than the little Eee that could, and benchmark scores indicate that virtually all of them are far more capable performers than the Eee.

And then there’s the raft of pretenders to the Eee’s ultra-cheap, ultraportable crown. MSI’s forthcoming Wind should be arriving in the PC Pro Labs pretty soon, and that is promising to be another contender for my cash. However, the top specifications of that model could cost up to £700 which, again, would buy me a very tasty laptop with a 13in screen and, no doubt, a better specification.

The battlelines have been drawn for my wallet’s affection – the Eee 900 will sate my train-working needs, sure, but the price could be a sticking point when better-specified laptops – I’m thinking larger screens, better processors, hard disks and optical drives – could almost as easily fill a niche in my bag, and be far more versatile and powerful for it.

So, any ideas or clues as to where my cash should go? What’s the best small, light and cheap laptop you’ve seen? I’m open to suggestions.