Asus Nova P20

The Nova P20 would also make a good workhorse office PC, although there are much more affordable options if you're buying more than one or two. That's assuming the Taiwanese pricing translates to the UK, though, and Asus is keen to stress that a decision has yet to be made on that. When you bear in mind the cost of a keyboard, mouse and monitor, it's hard not to look at a comparably priced laptop such as Hi-Grade's Ultinote A9800R (web ID: 128732), which is both faster and offers more in the way of features.

But with Windows now capable of running on Apple hardware, the PC market needs to do all it can to up the hardware stakes. In the face of the Mac mini, the small-form-factor arena needs all the PC competition it can get, and if the UK launch goes ahead, the Nova looks to be a worthy and attractive recruit to the cause - we just hope it's cheap enough.

Author: Matthew Sparkes