With 12 affordable laptops on offer, we've proved you don't have to spend a fortune to get a great machine. While lots of these systems impressed, two were strides ahead of their rivals, providing the ideal mix of power, features and usability.
Both of our award winners offer impressive performance, powerful graphics capabilities, excellent build quality and a truly outstanding set of features, making them two of the best laptops you can buy.
WINNER: Dell Studio 15
This machine is a staggeringly good all-round proposition, offering quality, strength, outstanding usability and great performance that all make it a joy to use.
The 15.4-inch screen is also the best in the group, and details such as the backlit keyboard place it head and shoulders above its rivals here.
Read more: Dell Studio 15 review
Buy from our affiliates: Dell UK
Runner-up: Acer Aspire 6930G-583G
When we gathered together the laptops for this group test, we weren't expecting to find features such as Blu-ray optical drives, but few machines offer as good value as the Aspire.
Along with the Blu-ray drive, the impressive screen and powerful graphics make it the ideal budget media centre.
Read more: Acer Aspire 6930G review
Buy from out affiliates: Laptops Direct | Amazon
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