Ever since the original netbook, the Asus Eee PC 701, debuted way back in 2007, netbooks have been flying off shelves at a rate of knots. Despite this success, however, the only notable hardware innovation has been nVidia's scarcely utilised ION chipset.

Entertainment seekers looking for a big-screen notebook without an accompanying big-ticket price will find a lot to like in the Toshiba Satellite P505-S8010, an 18.4-inch system featuring Intel’s new Core i3 processor, touch-sensitive controls, excellent audio, and enough graphics muscle to handle mainstream games.

Even from afar, you can see that the Z600 is a stylish machine. The purple-maroon cover has a soft touch finish, and is set off by angular chrome accents that bracket the battery. While it’s just 0.6 inches thin, it also has a very large footprint at 15.6 x 11.6 inches, similar to the Acer Aspire Timeline 5810T.

Over the years, Sony has established a reputation for creating laptops with style, but they haven’t exactly been known for great value. The $799 VAIO Y Series, Sony’s first 13-inch ULV notebook, delivers a sleek and sturdy magnesium design for an aggressive price.

Like other notebook manufacturers, Toshiba has updated its netbook to incorporate Intel’s new Pine Trail CPU, the Atom N450. In doing so, it also refreshed the design of its stylish netbook, now called the mini NB305, making the chassis sleeker and more refined.

When it comes to big-screen notebooks packing Intel’s blazing Core i7 processor, Sony is definitely playing catch-up with the rest of the field. But the VAIO F Series proves that there’s nothing wrong with being late to the party: this 16.4-incher sports a full HD display, Blu-ray player, and discrete graphics.

A smart option for road warriors and students, the HP Mini 5102 is more durable and secure than the typical netbook, and won’t need to see an outlet until the end of your work or school day.

Our configuration of the HP EliteBook 8440w includes a nine-cell battery; however, HP was unable to provide us one at the time of this review, so the battery life and LAPTOP Battery Efficiency Rating are based on the six-cell battery the company sent with the system.

The K42F that Intel provided for review is not identical to what will be available for consumers. The most significant difference is the processor.

In 2008, Lenovo launched its first small business line, the SL series, which offered a less conservative riff on the classic ThinkPad design.

Months before its actual release, the Samsung N510 sat at the center of the Nvidia Ion buzz, being only the second netbook announced that would incorporate the much-anticipated graphics chip.

After the resounding success of its Eee PC netbook range, the latest of which is represented by the sleek Seashell models, Asus extended the Eee name across a range of products.

Gaming laptops are all about compromise. Manufacturers have to carefully juggle size and weight with price and performance, and inevitably these mobile monsters end up being large, heavy, expensive and - compared to even mid-range desktop rigs – underpowered.

The N61VN is a new 16-inch gaming and multimedia notebook from ASUS designed to compete against systems like the HP Pavilion dv6t and Dell Studio XPS 16. It includes a built-in Blu-ray player and NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M graphics meaning it can handle the latest HD movies and newest games.

The 11-inch notebook category is heating up, with all the major manufacturers now offering netbook alternatives with bigger screens and keyboards. The sleek 11.6-inch Dell Inspiron 11z joins the party with a wide range of personalization options, along with a ULV processor that can handle HD video.

Until recently, affordable consumer laptops were a compromise: either you got a small laptop (i.e. with a screen of 13in or less) with good battery life, or a big one (15.6in and up) with merely decent battery life at best.

HP promises that the new ProBook 5310m is a "stylish" business notebook that packs performance, battery life, and value inside a thin-and-light 13-inch notebook. Is the ProBook 5310m truly a lust-worthy business laptop, or is it just another black box? Continue reading to find out.

In the past year or two, we’ve seen a number of vendors redouble their efforts to reach small businesses with low-cost, feature-filled notebooks. HP already made a huge splash earlier in the year with its ProBook 4510s and 5310m, the latter being our favorite small business system of 2009.

The Studio 17 is a 17-inch multimedia and gaming desktop-replacement notebook from Dell. This system can be configured with Intel Core i7 processors as well as high-end ATI Mobility Radeon graphics cards to compete against powerhouse systems like the Acer Aspire 8940G or Asus G51J.

The Samsung N130 is one of two new 10-inch netbooks from a company whose machines have consistently impressed us with solid keyboards, performance, and endurance. While the N140 sports a premium design, the N130 is all about value.