Lab

Luxury laptops

Cancel the credit crunch and banish your budget - laptops that promise a little more class have never been better, or more affordable. Whether it's an ultraportable or desktop replacement you're after, we've rounded up 12 laptops that will have you gasping with admiration from the moment you take them out of the box.

If you're looking to pamper yourself, technologically speaking, you're in for a treat. Every laptop in this Labs is packed with luxury, inside and out. We have some surprisingly capable small systems - including the remarkable Lenovo X300 and the leather-clad Asus U6 - that pack decent performance as well as lovely screens and fantastic keyboards into slim, sub-2kg cases.

And there's plenty on offer at the larger end of the scale, too. Dell's XPS M1730 has not one but two powerful graphics chips inside, and the Rock Xtreme 770 includes one of the only Core 2 Duo Extreme mobile parts we've ever seen. There's also the largest laptop ever - the HP Pavilion HDX9320 - with a 20in screen and Blu-ray drive for high-definition movie playback.

It isn't the only machine with Blu-ray, either. Acer's widescreen Aspire 8920G and the Rock both come with high-definition readers and native resolutions that can cope with the glorious detail of HD video. Meanwhile, Sony's VAIO VGN-FW11ZU features a Blu-ray writer.

There's no point having a luxury laptop if you've nothing to carry it around in. So we've rounded up some of the best laptop bags around and put them through their paces.

In fact, there's little here not to like: formidable power and dozens of features packed into many a stylish chassis. If you've ever had a taste for luxury, then look no further.