There are certain variables that always have to be weighed up when purchasing a laptop. It's almost like getting a rescue cat.

You could go for the feisty looking one, with shining eyes and claws to match, knowing you'll never be able to let it out of your house because it'll bring countless bleeding rodents indoors. This is the desktop replacement cat, if you hadn't quite caught our metaphor.

Just as appealing an option, if you're after an easier but less exciting life, is a tiny kitten, easily pocketable for transportation but without the skill set of a full-sized cat.

Fujitsu Siemens' latest machine fits the kitten metaphor quite well. It's undeniably small, it's easy to carry around, and the Core Solo inside means its muscularity, as it were, is limited. Heck, the P7230 even has an inexplicable furry underside, so you can stroke it if you're feeling lonely.

Size matters

But animal comparisons don't quite show the whole beauty of this little machine. For a start, and we know there are those that will argue, this is simply the correct size, and the weight is spot-on too. A notebook PC is meant for movement, despite what desktop replacement sales may be telling you.

A notebook should have enough resilience to be flung into a bag with reckless abandon, and enough juice to work for an hour when pulled out in an emergency. And, ideally, a notebook will have heart-stopping style to go with it.

The Lifebook has ticked most of the above boxes. It's relatively sturdy, although there's some definite give when pressing the case firmly with thumbs. It's definitely diminutive, although the optical drive crammed into the machine's right side has no doubt pushed the thickness up by a couple of millimetres. And it's competent at handling battery power, too, charging quickly and lasting well over three hours in our tests.

But as for style, well, it's a personal thing, but we were always of the opinion that the quicker companies stop aping IBM's impersonal Thinkpad design, the better.

The angular appearance of this Lifebook doesn't exactly redress the balance - it's like a Thinkpad Lite - but it does raise certain stylistic points. Number one is that black has swiped away all that silvery competition, and regained its place as 'most stylish PC colour'.