Sony VAIO PCG-Z1SP

The other big advantage of Centrino technology - and the Pentium-M processor in particular - is enhanced battery life, and I was suitably impressed by the VAIO's performance in our light-use tests. It lasted for a superb four hours, six minutes, all on a 4,440mAH unit. It didn't fare so well under intensive use, though, lasting for just 90 minutes.

The Pentium-M again showed its quality in our real-world benchmarks. Its score of 1.26 proves that pure megahertz don't matter, with its 1.5GHz chip still ahead of the 2.4GHz Dell, which uses a Pentium 4-M processor.

Business buyers will have a rapidly growing number of Centrino notebooks to choose from in the coming months, but I doubt many will be as portable or as stylish as the Z1SP. It's also well priced at £1,550, but beware the added costs if you want to extend the warranty. As standard, it only comes with a one-year return-to-base warranty, extendable to three years on-site via Sony's VAIO Plus corporate pack.

Nevertheless, this notebook fully deserves its Recommended award. It's well built, it looks great and it boasts an amazing screen considering its slimline 2.11kg weight.

Author: Tim Danton