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ViewSonic is best known for producing LCD screens and projectors, but has been increasing its laptop range of late with a variety of high-quality portables. The latest is the ViewBook 130, a stylish CULV machine that offers a stunning screen and great usability. While ViewSonic’s ViewBook Pro seemingly lifted its design from Toshiba, this model has a unique look of its own. The combination of matt-silver and glossy-black plastics looks great, adding a degree of high-end style without increasing the cost

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Acer is one of the world’s largest laptop manufacturers and offers a truly comprehensive range of consumer machines. The Aspire 5942G-524G64Bn is its latest high-end media centre and combines a feature-packed specification with stunning performance. Powered by one of Intel’s cutting-edge Core i5 processors, this is one of the most powerful laptops you can buy at this price. Designed for fast and effective multi-tasking, it made light work of our benchmark tests and effortlessly runs even the most demanding software tasks.

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Although the technology world’s obsession with 3D has waxed and waned over the past few decades, it’s now firmly back in fashion. Asus is one of the first to capitalise on this and the G51J (£1,699 inc. VAT) is a gaming laptop that provides hard evidence of 3D’s uses.

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The E525-901G16Mi from eMachines is suited to those after a no-nonsense portable solution. It boasts more power than the Elonex Sliver and Acer Aspire 1410-74G25n, and provides good competition for the Lenovo – which are other similarly specified rivals. The 15.6-inch screen isn’t as sharp as the Elonex’s, but still provides detailed images courtesy of the 1366 x 768-pixel resolution. As with all a lot of other laptops, a glossy Super-TFT screen coating is in place but it suppresses reflections in bright light well, and you won’t have a problem viewing it outdoors, for example. The laptop features a pleasantly inoffensive design that’s attractive enough in its own way, and build quality is good, meaning it will take a few light bumps and bashes on the road

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The Sliver is an ultraportable laptop that offers the great style, but compromises have been made to achieve its tiny size. This is a visually pleasing laptop and the machine looks fantastic from all angles. The small form factor also makes it a very portable machine, ideal for those needing to work on the move a lot. The portability of the machine however is slightly let down by the very average battery life, at only 143 minutes you’ll need to carry the charger around with you on long trips.

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Acer’s Aspire laptops represent the company’s consumer range, and the Aspire 1410-74G25n is a CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) laptop that offers fantastic value for money. Performance isn’t this laptop’s strong point, but it isn’t meant to be – the laptop offers superb portability instead. At only 1.4kg, it’s a pleasure to carry around. The small form factor makes it very easy to fit into almost any bag, but if you’re after the slimmest machine possible, go for the Elonex Sliver instead

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Toshiba’s Portégé laptops are built for the business user, and the R600-13Z is a fantastic laptop which cements the Holy Trinity of portability, performance and usability under one roof, with very few concessions made – despite its small and very light form factor. The laptop boasts the inclusion of a dual-core Intel processor and 3072MB of memory. Running word processors, internet browsers and email clients simultaneously won’t prove an issue for this laptop, making it more suited to intensive work than the Sony VAIO VPC X11Z1E/X .

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The MSI CR610-013UK is a widescreen media centre laptop which provides Blu-ray functionality. While Blu-ray laptops are becoming increasingly common, it is still rare to find them for less than £599. Letting you watch the latest high definition (HD) movie releases, the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive is the key selling point of this laptop.

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HP’s Pavilion range comprises the majority of its consumer laptops and combines high-end designs with stunning usability and features. Its Pavilion dm3-1020EA is a compact and smartly designed portable that makes a stylish and capable travel partner. At just 1.9kg, it is light and portable and its smooth, curved edges and sleek design let it slip easily into your hand luggage.

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Samsung has extended its P-Series of notebooks, with the 15.6 inch P580 notebook pitched squarely at the more serious pro market. The P-series boasts either Core i5 or i3 processors, can come with Nvidia GT 330M graphics and an LED backlit display. Samsung has also chucked in what it describes as the borderline oxymoronic ‘heightened industry-standard security’. “Trusted business partners” “Samsung’s new 15.6″ P580 notebook has been designed to be the perfect ‘trusted business partners’ for individuals who need the reassurance and performance of a powerful desktop PC, packaged in a highly durable, tactile, sleek and lightweight chassis that makes remote or mobile working easy and pleasurable,” says the company’s release

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