Along with the opportunity to dribble over cars costing more than our houses, this morning's Asus Lamborghini launch also gave us the chance to play with the Taiwanese company's latest Eee PC netbook – the Eee PC Seashell 1101HA.

This 11.6-inch machine features copycat styling that mimics the ultra-suave and skinny Eee PC Seashell 1008HA, but offering a slightly larger screen, keyboard and user interface. The bigger screen also offers a higher resolution, at 1366 x 768 pixels, promising to make this an ideal tool for browsing the web.

Unlike the Eee PC Seashell 1008HA, the battery on the 1101HA is removable, making it easy to upgrade in future or swap should you need longer battery life. The downside of this is a slightly chunkier chassis – although it's still thinner than many of its rivals.

The components within the Seashell 1101HA are standard netbook fare – with an Intel Atom processor (albeit one running at 1.33GHz, rather than the more regular 1.6GHz), 1024MB of memory and a 160GB hard drive.

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Until Intel and Nokia re-invent the mobile computer, we're stuck with the humble netbook for browsing and working on the go. Saying that, if they come with as much style as the newly-launched HP Mini 5101 netbook, we're not complaining.

It's the netbook for a grown-up audience, referred to by HP as 'mobile professionals' and occupying the middle ground between the typical Atom-powered netbook and the designer end of the notebook market. Whether that's a space that actually needs filling will become clear when the Mini 5101 hits the shelves in July.

For your money, you still get an Atom-powered machine, but one that comes in a rather stylish aluminium and magnesium case plus a very touchy set of raised keys and a clutch of features and options that you would ordinarily expect on a standard notebook.

That includes a 7200 RPM hard drive, Bluetooth 2.0, a 2-megapixel webcam, the option of WSVGA or HD for your 10.1-inch LED screen and a battery that offers up to eight hours of life per charge. There's also the option of 80GB or 128GB SSD drives if you want something a little nippier.

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The Aspire 3810T is the second laptop we've seen from Acer's Timeline series. As with the Aspire 4810T, this machine features a compact and slim design, and aims to offer all day battery life.

The Aspire 3810T is smaller than it's sibling, featuring a 13.3-inch screen, and is a good compromise between size and usability. It offers sharp image quality, and is one of the brighter screens we've seen. It uses LED backlighting to good effect, with good colours and contrast, while also conserving power.

Power efficiency is a theme that runs throughout the 3810T. It uses an integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics card, helping with battery life, although compromising on 3D capabilities. That said, it'll still run office applications without trouble, and play back movies or browse the internet smoothly. Just don't plan on gaming in your spare time.

It's the 1.4GHz ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) Intel Core 2 Duo processor that really makes a difference to power consumption, however. We managed to run office applications for a staggering 682 minutes when out and about. It comes at a cost, however, as office performance suffers, and there's noticeable lag when running a few applications at the same time.

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In its most prominent release since being acquired by Dellback in 2006, gaminglaptop manufacturer Alienware has unveiled what it calls the most powerful 17-inch gaming laptop in the world - the M17x. While this may seem like a bold claim, it may well prove to be the gamer to beat.

Using an entirely new design scheme, the large chassis of the M17x is built from anodised aluminium and is available in a choice of metallic silver or black finishes. Buyers can configure their systems from a range of Intel Core 2 Duo, Quad and Extreme processors, andup to 8GB of DDR3 memory.

Up to 1TB of hard disk space or 256GB of Solid State Drive storage can also be configured, and a Blu-ray drive can be added for full HD compatibility. A choice of nVidia GeForce GTX 260M or 280M GPUs running alone or in an SLI configuration can be chosen for maximum performance.

You can also switch between dedicated and integrated graphics to save power when required and extra features include facial recognition software, a backlit keyboard, a dual CCFL backlit LCD screen and a 2-megapixel webcam. Available now, the M17x starts at £1699 (inc. VAT).

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Netto, the discount supermarket chain, is now selling the 8.9-inch Hercules eCafé across its range of stores. The netbook comes in at an entry level price, but packs an impressive specification.

The 8.9-inch screen boasts a surprisingly high 1024 x 600 pixel resolution, and includes an integrated webcam set into the casing.

The Hercules eCafe is powered by an Intel Atom processor and includes 1024MB of memory meaning it should have no problem running Microsoft's Windows XP operating system.

A 60GB hard drive should provide ample room for office work but will struggle to hold music, photo and film libraries. Nevertheless, the three USB ports provides plenty of room for peripherals, such as an external hard drive, and a VGA out port means you can hook the netbook up to an external monitor.

Connectivity is good, with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi on offer, and also 10/100 for wired connections to the internet.

Available now, the Hercules eCafé is available from £200.

Via What Laptop