Samsung Q45 Red

We've seen the Samsung Q45 several times before, but we couldn't have a round-up of light laptops without it. It's robust, beautifully designed - now with a stylish red lid - and comes at an affordable price. Only the Advent costs less this month, yet the Q45 is easily one of the most desirable of the ten.

The keyboard is a pleasure to use, as are the large mouse buttons. The lid is deceptively strong, making the 12.1in screen well protected, and the whole base feels solid and durable. Our only complaint is that the angled front edge means when closed there's an inviting little gap for pens and keys to get stuck - a latch would have been ideal.

The 4,800mAh battery sticks out of the back slightly, but with more than 5hrs 30mins' life in light use, this is forgivable. And performance-wise, the Q45 is solid: with a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5450 and just 1GB of RAM, it reached 0.71 in our benchmarks - not up with the quickest, but more than enough for day-to-day applications.

Samsung's instant-on jukebox app is always a welcome inclusion, although we were disappointed that the quality of the speakers leaves something to be desired. A 160GB hard disk is plenty for all your music and videos, and there's also draft-n wireless, a card reader and a 1.3-megapixel webcam.

At 1.9kg, it isn't as portable as the Rock, but it doesn't feel cumbersome to carry. There's only a single year of collect-and-return cover, but Samsung's recent success in the notebooks section of our Reliability & Service Awards 2007 suggests that shouldn't be a great concern.

It may not have the HSDPA adapters and fingerprint readers of the dearer models here, but the stunning price and its excellent style and build quality render that a moot point. As an all-round notebook, the dependable Acer can't be topped, but this Samsung costs £200 less and ticks all the boxes a light but capable laptop should. In a strong field of contenders, the Q45 gains a vital edge by offering wonderful value for money.

Author: David Bayon