Toshiba Portege M400

Beside the slightly wobbly screen, the M400 is blessed with decent ergonomics. The keyboard is a little rattly during typing but has a solid base, making long periods of typing comfortable. Frustratingly, though, the keys follow Toshiba's non-standard layout - the Windows key is on the top row of keys, while the delete key has migrated to the bottom of the board.

All told, the M400 is a good laptop. It's more than fast enough for practically any task, and the tablet mode is a useful addition for those whose work takes them away from the world of desks and chairs. But battery life isn't quite good enough and there's also the fact that the HP Compaq tc4200, which admittedly has just a single-cored 1.86MHz Pentium M processor and no built-in optical drive, will save you £211 and is a few grams lighter at 2.12kg. Although the M400 is a decent machine, the HP continues as our tablet of choice.

Author: Dave Stevenson