Asus W1776Gc-LH

The responsive touchpad is augmented by some shortcut keys on the right. The keys on the keyboard are firm to the touch and have a decent amount of travel. They're a respectably full size and have been arranged logically too: the Delete key is at the top-right, for example.

It's hard to find faults with this latest incarnation of the W series. The Radeon 9700 isn't as cutting edge as the rest of the machine, but it's adequate if you can resist pushing it too far. The noticeable lag and poor vertical viewing angle of the screen is inevitable with the thin TFTs used in laptops. And then there are the impressive benchmark results. It's a powerful machine, almost as fast overall as the new A-Listed mid-range desktop PC (see p60). And in addition to the free delivery, Asus bundles a free 128MB flash drive, a carry case and optical mouse, making this machine even more of a bargain.

Author: CLIVE WEBSTER