Dell Latitude D430

And in return, battery life from the standard six-cell battery is excellent. We managed to get 3hrs 46mins in our light-use test and 2hrs 5mins at full load. Dell also sells a range of upgrades, including a nine-cell battery (£88 exc VAT) that extends from the front of the case. Together, there's more than enough power to last you a full day's work.

It's a shame that Dell couldn't fit an optical drive into the chassis, but like its predecessor, the D420, the D430 is still a great business notebook. It's small, extremely well built and the MediaBase gives real flexibility. The use of a solid-state disk in this model is interesting, but poor value unless you really need it - opt for a mechanical disk instead - and it's this model that we recommend most people buy.

Author: David Ludlow