Sony VAIO VGN-S1XP

The left-hand side of the chassis is home to a similar flap covering the modem and 10/100 Ethernet ports, with a VGA out, mic and headphone jack completing the connectors. If these don't sound like enough for your needs, and you have another £159 to spare, consider the nifty optional port replicator, as this includes a DVI output together with all the usual suspects.

There's no infrared, but with Bluetooth, 802.11b and 802.11g built in we can't criticise Sony's wireless offering. We like the Wireless On/Off switch too, especially as it automatically offers you the choice of controlling Bluetooth, WLAN or both, plus a handy utility to help set up your Bluetooth partnerships.

You can even feel confident to use wireless on the move with this VAIO, as it lasted just one minute shy of six hours under light use in our battery rundown tests - a phenomenal score for such a small machine. Even under intense use, with the processor running at full pelt and the screen at its brightest setting, it lasted for more than two-and-a-half hours.

In fact, the only drawback we could find is that the fan tended to stay on during everyday use. Its low hum wasn't annoying, but we noticed it in quiet environments.

The thing is, that's about all that's bad to say about this VAIO. It looks gorgeous, the screen's fantastic, and it packs all the speed and features most people will need for the foreseeable future. Oh, and it weighs only1.9kg.

Author: Tim Danton