A decent laptop, but its poor portability means it lags behind the competition

A great laptop which manages to offer a solid mix of power and portability

A highly affordable machine, but despite decent usability it fails to impress

A laptop with excellent build quality, but limited portability

A compact and well-built laptop, but hampered by poor office performance

Great design is compromised by average performance and poor usability

Great performance for the price and some highly useful features

Ample performance and strong build quality from this desktop replacement

A stylish and powerful big-screen media laptop centre that is hard to beat at this price

A tough and capable 15.6-inch laptop, but its awkward keyboard disappoints

A laptop that's hard to fault - a fantastic choice for the first-time buyer

A stunningly well made and powerful ultraportable at a great price

A slim, sleek and affordable ultra-portable that thinks it's a netbook

Budget Intel Core i5 power, but does it have strings attached?

Stunning performance, but this 3D laptop is not without its flaws

There's no denying that over the last couple of years we've witnessed a shift in the tech landscape. There's been the rise of the iPhone, the birth of the netbook, introduction of Android and, most recently, the coming of the tablet.

MSI is a Taiwanese component manufacturer that also produce a broad variety of laptops, from award winning netbooks, such as the wind U160, right up to power-house gaming laptops, such as the GX660R on test here.

While Acer has yet to become a high-street name in the UK, the Taiwanese manufacturer currently sits atop the European PC market, fending off strong competition from the likes of Dell and HP. Offering a range of high-quality laptops at all price points, the Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G is its flagship high-end media centre and combines stunning design quality, cutting-edge performance and high-definition compatibility, making it ideal for the whole family.

HP has just refreshed its entire laptop range, with the Pavilion series receiving several updates and a new model in the Pavilion dm4-1050ea. At £649 inc. VAT, this is a mid-range laptop that packs a satisfying amount of power and some great features into a dependably solid ultraportable frame, although it's not quite perfect.

The Acer Aspire One 532 has just been updated, and the result is the Acer Aspire One 533. Quite a lot of the Aspire One 533 is borrowed from the 532, with a couple of additions or tweaks that build on a solid and likeable foundation.

Stunning mobility and great to use – a perfect choice for the frequent traveller

A great gaming platform that offers some truly unique audio performance

A great design and impressive quad-core power ideal for the whole family to enjoy

A great high-powered, big-screen media centre laptop ideal for the whole family

A laptop with great performance and a stunning screen at a low price, but lacking in quality