Toshiba Portégé 4010

The Portege 4010 is Toshiba's update to the 4000 (see Labs, issue 91). Not content with upgrading the processor from 750MHz to 933MHz, Toshiba has doubled the memory from 128Mb to 256Mb and increased the hard disk size from 20Gb to 30Gb.

One immediate improvement due to the greater specification is DVD playback. Providing you switch to Toshiba's DVD playback settings, you'll get a sharp picture with no dropped frames, even if running on the battery. Thankfully, the battery lasted the duration of a two-hour movie when we tested, and you can always replace the DVD drive with a second battery. When we allowed the processor to drop into low-power status, keeping the screen at maximum power, the battery still lasted for two hours and two minutes.

However, the Portege falls behind some of its rivals in sheer horsepower. Although the 933MHz processor and 256Mb of RAM mean Windows XP runs smoothly, when faced with our demanding tests the 4010 could only rustle up a score of 0.62.

That said, ultra portables are more about portability than performance. Despite weighing just 2.06kg with the DVD drive, the 4010 packs in a quality 12.1in TFT, comfortable keyboard, integrated SD/MMC card slot, integrated Bluetooth and Wireless LAN, plus 10/100 Ethernet and a V.90 modem.

The £1,659 price tag is a a hefty one to pay for portability. When it comes to features, though, the Portege 4010 can't be beaten by any other ultra portable and so earns a place on the A List.