Laptops from HP's Compaq range are known for their robustness and usability, making them ideal tools for the business user. True to form, the Compaq 6710b (£1040 inc. VAT) offers a sturdy chassis, comfortable interface and impressive performance.

The 15.4-inch TFT screen is great for working on trains, proving unhampered by bright sunshine or reflections. It also hides fingerprints well, so you can work without needing to clean the screen every time you take it out of your bag.

Colours lack the vibrancy found on Super-TFT panels, but it's a good compromise. Images were bright, and we found the large size ideal for working with spreadsheets and documents.

Graphics are rendered by an integrated GPU, cutting down on costs and power consumption. It also cuts down on multimedia performance, but we had little trouble running office applications, presentations or watching DVDs.

There's plenty of space for a good-sized keyboard, with large and comfortable keys in place. Directional and peripheral keys are set well away from the main board, making it easy to use them at speed. All of the keys moved with a precise and firmly attached action, and we found it a pleasing board to use.

The rest of the chassis is built to an equally high standard. It felt sturdy to the touch, with thick plastics used throughout. The screen surround is robust, offering plenty of protection for the panel.

Impressive performance

As well as offering strength, the Compaq is also speedy in day-to-day use. Tasks were performed smoothly, and there was minimal lag, however intensive the program.

This is mainly due to the use of a high-end Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2048MB of memory. The 160GB hard drive is bigger than average, and offers plenty of space for all of your documents or media files.

3G services come courtesy of Vodafone, and the SIM card is easily accessed by removing the battery. However, in place of the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi adapters found on some of its rivals, the HP makes do with an older 802.11a/b/g adapter, so connection speeds to wireless networks may be slightly slower.

Other features include an integrated fingerprint scanner, allowing you to log in without the hassle of using passwords.

It's not the most portable machine around, but if you're after a larger machine the HP is a good choice. It has plenty of performance, and build quality is impressive.