Lab

Big-brand notebooks

Fancy a new computer for Christmas? The holiday season is traditionally the peak retail period of the year, and it's a common time to invest in a new PC. But while in years gone by the lion's share of festive sales were desktop systems, modern notebooks have reached a level of power and versatility that makes a mobile a realistic alternative.

But along with the growth in popularity, the sheer range on offer can now be staggering, so we've brought together a good selection to ensure we cover all bases. We have tiny ultraportables alongside 17in desktop replacements; £550 budget offerings shoulder-to-shoulder with high-end £1,400 monsters. And all are from the biggest brand names in the industry, so even the least computer-savvy recipients can feel confident in their new machine.

Our choice offers you everything from the mundane, such as gigabit Ethernet and draft-n wireless, to the downright exciting - several have the latest top-end graphics accelerators that breeze through 3D games, and a few even offer HDMI connectors and HD DVD drives to turn your notebook into an ultra-modern, high-definition movie device.

We also look at a couple of other interesting technologies: ExpressCard slots are becoming the norm on notebooks, so turn to p100 to see just what you can buy to take advantage of them; and on p92 we take a look at whether it's economically viable to use a notebook's built-in 3G modem to replace your home broadband connection.

But it's the notebooks that matter the most, and we've gathered a whopping 14 for your perusal. So whether you're looking for a low-powered portable to cart around the office or a mighty gaming machine that will make mincemeat of all but the most powerful desktop rigs, you've come to the right place.