Lab

Mid-range laptops

Laptops are everywhere these days. Pop into any electrical store, or flick through the magazine ads, and the sheer amount of choice is enough to turn even the canniest consumer into a dithering mess incapable of answering the simple question: which one?

You could save your hard-earned cash and go for a bargain-basement machine, and you needn't be disappointed: we rate some of the latest, starting from well under £500. But if you feel the need for more than the basics, and you're prepared to stump up a little more cash to get it, there's an even wider range to choose from. And yes, that's a good thing.

The first decision to make is roughly how much you're prepared to spend. At the low end of the scale, you can get a laptop that will handle everyday Windows applications without keeping you waiting too much, and maybe even has a modicum of style, but it may keep you waiting in Windows and it's very unlikely to cope with modern games. For £600 you could get something like the Zoostorm 4-4703 (search for 139632 at www.computerbuyer.co.uk), which couples good all-round performance with a huge 17 inch screen - but you wouldn't really want to carry it around. A bigger display may seem like a bargain, but by enlarging the case it allows makers to get away with less miniaturised and thus less expensive internals - and it definitely makes the resulting machine better suited to home use than mobile working.

This month we went looking for something a little more compact: the perfect do-it-all laptop, whether for work, play or a little bit of both. Between £740 and £999 including VAT, we found six models that combine power and portability. All have 15.4 inch screens, providing a spacious Windows desktop without taking up too much physical space; some have 1280x800 pixels, while others squeeze in 1440x900, but all are of the widescreen persuasion, which we think is the only kind of display you should consider these days.

If you want a computer that can do just about everything you'd ask of a desktop PC, yet is easily trugged around, you'll find something for you among the selection here. Most weigh well under 3kg, and all are ready to play your DVDs, CDs and downloaded media as well as running applications, though the Toshiba alone comes with the rather staid Windows Vista Business instead of the media-friendly Vista Home Premium.

My definition

Three models here even boast new optical drives which, as well as reading and writing the usual CD and DVD formats, can play the latest high definition movies. Two have HD DVD drives, while the Sony supports its maker's rival technology, Blu-ray. Even though the built-in displays might not have quite enough pixels to show off HD movies in their full splendour, they still make movies look stunning, and all three units are equipped with an HDMI output for hooking up to bigger HDTVs.

As ever, the specifications only tell part of the story. The only way to find out if a laptop really does justice to its price tag is to get your hands on it and try it. That's exactly what we've done, and on the following pages we'll tell you how each of these machines performs and how it feels in use. Whatever your tastes and priorities, there'll be one that's right for you.