Hi-Grade's Ultinote G9700 (£2585 inc. VAT) is a big laptop, and best suited to gaming.

It's unique among many rival laptops for a couple of reasons. It's uses ATi graphics, and it's also the first laptop we've seen to feature two high-end ATi cards.

Sensational performance

ATi's CrossFireX technology uses two Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs to offer astonishing performance that wouldn't look out of place on a desktop PC. Even running Crysis – one of the most graphics-intensive games available, the Hi-Grade remained composed and provided rapid and smooth gameplay.

Like the Toshiba, the G9700 features a 17-inch Super-TFT screen. However, at 1920 x 1200 pixels, the Hi-Grade's panel features a higher resolution, making it a great choice for those wanting to watch high-definition movies.

You'll also find buttons built-in for controlling your media content, and speakers on the front of the case add to the multimedia experience.

Good keys

The keyboard on this machine is excellent, with keys that move quietly and responsively. It's also comfortable to work on, thanks to a springy typing action. A numeric keypad sits to the right, aiding data entry.

The touchpad is wide and responsive, although looks a little lost in the expansive palm rests.
The chassis weighs 4.6kg, and is the least portable machine here. The dual graphics cards mean the fans come on quite rapidly for ventilation, but this machine remained cool to the touch.

Build quality is fine, but the plastics could have been sturdier. The screen could also be held more firmly in place.

Comprehensive storage

The high price is somewhat justified by the Intel Core 2 Quad processor – a desktop chip with four cores.

Running at 2.53GHz, it offers astonishing performance. Unfortunately, our MobileMark 2007 benchmark isn't configured to take advantage of desktop chips and doesn't reveal just how good the Ultinote is at carrying out multiple tasks.

Storage space, at 600GB, is also impressive, and great for storing large media collections. Other features include a fingerprint scanner, 2-megapixel camera and a full range of ports for connecting peripherals. OpenOffice is also pre-installed. Although it's a free program, it does offer you full office functionality straight out of the box.

You'll find the Hi-Grade Ultinote G9700 delivers the best in gaming power, comprehensive features and a comfortable interface, but casual gamers will struggle to justify the price.