For anyone who wants more than just a typical, boring old home computer, the HP TouchSmart 520-1010a is there for you. It's an all-in-one computer that's easy to set up and use, and it features a built-in 23in LCD touchscreen that gives you one more way to interact with your programs and media — by using your hands to point, drag and tap. It can be a fun product to use, but only if you're willing to let go of the mouse and play around with some of the preinstalled software that HP has included.

Touchscreen functionality
HP supplies an application called TouchSmart Magic Canvas, and this can replace your typical desktop. It provides a handy dock at the bottom of the screen that you can swipe through to launch various applications, and you can even swipe on the desktop itself to see items that have been pinned to the desktop (such as photos and notes). You'll also find your regular desktop icons on this 'canvas'. The dock offers a quick way to launch many apps, including the webcam utility, as well as regular applications for music, videos and photos; there are also other bits and bobs that could come in handy in a domestic setting, such as the apps for documenting recipes and creating shopping lists. Even a Web browser specifically designed for touch is installed — HP calls it the TouchBrowser and it has a bigger address bar and buttons than a typical Web browser.

Touching the screen for all tasks is not practical though, especially while browsing the Web, but dragging your fingers across the screen to look through photos and play music files is a nice way to go. Users that are new to computers, from little kids to grown-ups, may find it to be an easier experience than pushing a mouse around all the time. However, it can get uncomfortable to use the screen for everything and it feels unnatural to keep your hand elevated and pointed at the screen while you sit at your desk; it's fine to perform this action in short spurts though.

The screen is 23 inches, has a Full HD resolution (1920x1080) and it uses optical technology (little cameras mounted around the screen) to triangulate whereabouts on the screen your fingers are pressing. It supports two finger inputs and its accuracy in our tests was spot on. We had no problems tapping on 'close' buttons or menus in applications, and drag-and-drop operations were a breeze — the screen felt very smooth. Because it uses optical technology, you can use pretty much anything you like to control the pointer, and this means you can control the touchscreen even while you are wearing gloves or holding a pointer.

We're not fans of the screen's glossy finish though. It's way too reflective and can be uncomfortable to view in a bright environment, especially while you are watching movies or viewing photos. That said, you can tilt the screen very easily (with one hand) thanks to the well-engineered base, which also holds the screen perfectly in place at the angle you desire.

Features
Because the TouchSmart 520-1010a is an all-in-one unit, its set up is very simple. Basically, all you have to do is plug in the power supply, make sure there are batteries in the supplied wireless keyboard and mouse and switch them on. The keyboard and mouse are of good quality and the keyboard especially feels quite comfortable to type with. It has dedicated volume buttons, which we think is more convenient than having those controls on the computer itself. We like the fact that the receivers for the keyboard and mouse are located within the unit — not only does it make setup a breeze, it also frees up some USB ports.

The majority of the TouchSmart's ports are located on the rear: four USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet (a Realtek chip), line in and sub-woofer ports and the power port. (The power supply is a power brick that has to reside outside the PC's body.) The left side has an SD card slot, two USB 3.0 ports, and headphone and microphone ports. The right side has the built-in DVD burner (HP CDDVDW TS-T633P) and the top has the power button and the webcam (it's not an adjustable cam though).

You also get an integrated 802.11n Wireless LAN card. However, it mostly provided a weak signal to our Linksys router and sometimes we weren't even able to browse the Web. Depending on where you end up placing this PC, you might need to consider an external Wi-Fi card or a wired networking solution.

Speakers built in to the front of the screen work in conjunction with Beats Audio technology to bring a better-than-usual sound quality from integrated PC speakers. We were very pleased with what we heard while watching movies and listening to music and they do a fine job of filling a small room with sound. You can plug in external speakers if you wish, but there is no optical audio port.

Specifications and performance
The gear that makes the TouchSmart tick includes an Intel Core i5-2400S CPU (2.7GHz, four cores), 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, a 1TB Seagate hard drive (ST31000524AS) and an AMD Radeon HD 6450A graphics adapter. At first, the PC seemed sluggish during regular operation; however, it got faster after we rebooted it a few times and all the installed applications were configured. Our performance tests showed that it's a decent configuration for running office and multimedia apps, and it's well-capable of heavy multitasking.

In the Blender 3D rendering test, it recorded a very respectable time of 30sec. It also went well in the iTunes MP3 encoding test, recording 47sec. In the DVD-to-Xvid file conversion test, it took only 43min. The hard drive recorded a transfer rate of 46 megabytes per second in our tests, which is a solid result, too. What wasn't so crash hot was its score of 4054 in 3DMark06. This is a very low mark for a PC with a discrete graphics card and it basically means that the TouchSmart can't be used to run many recent games. We'd prefer it if the TouchSmart came with a better graphics adapter for its $1599 price. As it stands, if you want better graphics performance, you have to opt for the more expensive TouchSmart 610 ($1999).

It's not a completely silent system. A fan sits high in the rear of the chassis near a vent and it makes a noticeable whirring noise, even while just Web browsing. The hard drive is also a bit of a noise maker when it's reading and writing data.

Conclusion
For $1599, the HP TouchSmart 520-1010a doesn't have the best configuration, but its speed is fine for Web browsing, editing photos, watching and creating videos and more. You just can't use it for gaming. Configuration aside, this isn't a typical computer. Its 23in touchscreen interface is the main drawcard and it offers an interesting, perhaps even easier way to interact with your PC in a home setting. We think that if you're after a space-saving all-in-one PC for casual use, then you should put the TouchSmart 520 under consideration. If you want something super-fast and capable of running the latest games, then look elsewhere.

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Acer, which debuted its first Ultrabook during Gitex, plans to launch the second generation of Aspire S3 early next year that is expected to help double its sales, Acer Middle East country manager Grigory Nizovsky said. The Aspire S3 is designed to meet notebook users’ needs, combining essential features of the smartphone and tablet PC, such as fast startup and Internet connectivity, with long battery life.

Matched with its slim form, the Aspire S3 provides a fresh experience and will set a major milestone in the history of Acer’s notebook development, according to the company. Acer ranks No.2 globally for total PCs and notebooks.

“The product was made available during Gitex and it is important to mention that the product was really appreciated by customers,” Nizovsky told reporters at a breakfast briefing.

The briefing was held along with Intel to provide latest update on the product after the launch. It resumes in only 1.5 seconds and delivers 50-day battery life via Acer Green Instant On, features large hard drive capacity, and connects to the Internet in 2.5 seconds, according to Nizovsky.

“In our portfolio Ultrabook accounts for 20 per cent of sales in the UAE,” he said, adding that it is expected to be double in 2012 after the launch of the second generation of Acer’s Ultrabook. “I think in April next year we are having a new slightly redesigned version of S3 with slight adjustment in outlook,” he said. It will also have a new platform from Intel, he added.

An Ultrabook is a computer in a category of thin and lightweight ultraportable laptops, defined by a specification from Intel. Khaldoun Aboul-saoud, regional manager for markets development for GCC and Middle East, said some vendors buy the whole platform and the platform is not everything. Then vendors develop on its infrastructure and this is the difference between the product from Acer and others, he added.

Citing the Ultrabook as an example, he said: “This is the only the beginning of a new transition period, which is going to excite all of us.” Its going to change look of future PC as its PC at the end of the day, he added.

“At Intel, we always keep on refreshing processor and this is our job since 40 years,” he said. Intel estimates that by the end of 2012, 40 per cent of the consumer laptop market segment will be Ultrabooks.

The Acer Aspire S3 integrates the best features of notebook and mobile devices, offering users powerful performance for digital creation, in addition to ultra-fast responsiveness and interaction for content consumption, enhancing the freedom and overall computing experiences of users on the go.

The Acer Green Instant On technology provides instant-resume functionality and ensures battery longevity, while Acer Instant Connect delivers faster Internet access. The Aspire S3 is encased in a thin, light metal design that’s sturdy and aerodynamic. The Aspire S3 measures 1.3 cm thin and weighs less than 1.4 kg. It is also equipped with a full-size Acer FineTip chiclet keyboard, designed for comfortable use. All-day usability is assured by a super-lightweight, high-density battery that delivers up to seven hours of power.

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Just one day ago we saw rumors that Ultrabooks will get price cuts of five to 10 percent early next year, for savings of about $100. But here's an even better (possible) deal: just $499 for these ultra-thin laptops. The only catch, of course, is that you'll have to make it through all of next year before you see sub-$500 prices.

Ultrabooks such as the Toshiba Portege Z835 and Acer Aspire S3 currently cost between $800 and $1500--a hard sell when you can get netbooks for under $200 and decent laptops for under $500 during holiday sales.

However, if you want to nab an Ultrabook for about half the price of current models, all you need is a little patience--at least according to Acer President Jim Wong, as quoted in the DigiTimes. According to the DigiTimes, Acer is aiming for their Ultrabooks to cost between $799 and $899 by the second quarter of 2012, and no more than $499 in 2013.

To get these premium laptops down to more affordable levels, the price of the components will have to fall, though. Perhaps Ultrabooks will use hybrid drives, a combination of traditional hard disk drives and solid state drives. Or maybe they'll have to switch to less expensive materials for the laptop chasses. And, of course, by 2013 there will probably be another hot, ultra-thin device on the market. But it's something to think about if you're a big plan-ahead kind of person.

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If there's a laptop that deserves the moniker "Ultrabook"--a term that Intel introduced (and trademarked) earlier this year for a class of very slim and light laptops--it's the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s. Not because it's faster or beefier than the competition (it's not), but because it actually looks like a thin coffee-table book when closed. It's also the Ultrabook that many in our labs gravitated toward due to its luxuriously minimalist styling and superior input ergonomics. At least they did until they heard it cost $1595, a price tag that reflects the expense of the U300s's large (256GB) solid-state drive, or SSD.

Despite an Intel Core i7-2677M CPU, 4GB of DDR3 system memory, and that aforementioned 256GB SSD on board, the U300s performance lagged behind the Asus Zenbook UX31e. Still, a WorldBench score of 114 indicates plenty of power for everyday chores. Gaming frame rates delivered by the integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 max out at 31 frames per second at 800 by 600 resolution--with the details turned way down low, which doesn’t cut the mustard for modern games.

On the other hand, battery life is 6 hours and 34 minutes, which compares nicely with the rest of the Ultrabook crowd. At 2.9 pounds it’s one of the lighter Ultrabooks, though you won’t notice much difference between the heft of the U300s and the Zenbook or the Acer Aspire S3, all of which weigh close to 3 pounds.

Video playback at any resolution is smooth as can be, though you get the usual down-converting issues with 1080p playback on the 13.3-inch, 1366 by 768 display. The colors rendered by the display are rich, but the shiny surface is prone to glare--one of the few questionable design decisions on the U300s. Audio is stellar through headphones, but sounds slightly muffled through the speakers. Tweaking the included SRS sound enhancement software helps tremendously.

The U300S's keyboard is "breathable" (to use Lenovo’s term), which is a friendly replacement word for "ventilated." This trick is now used on a number of laptops (notably Apple's) so that no ventilation holes are required on the bottom of the unit where they can be blocked while sitting on your lap. It also means that the unit feels quite cool on your thighs. A ventilation port is on the left edge of the laptop, though.

The keyboard itself has a very nice feel for having such a short stroke (a common problem with ultrathin laptops). That's partially a textural impression--the entire unit has a luxurious feel due to the fine grain on the aluminum case’s paint job (available in Clementine Orange and Graphite Gray). The glass, buttonless touchpad is equally satisfying--in lieu of scroll areas, it uses two-finger swiping. So there’s no inadvertent straying into the scroll area--nice.

Depending on your needs, you might find the port selection on the U300s lacking. It has a USB 3.0 port for quick data transfers and backup, an HDMI one for video output, plus an additional USB 2.0 port, but that's about it. There's no VGA for older displays, no SD/MMC card slot, no eSATA, and--probably most surprising--no ethernet. The lack of eSATA isn't remediable, but is ameliorated by the presence of USB 3.0. For VGA, SD, and ethernet you'll need USB adapters. Connectivity consists of 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0, as well as WiDi for wireless display.

The U300s is the first laptop I've handled that ships with Microsoft's free Security Essentials in lieu of a trial of pay security software. MSE is just as effective for most users, but stays out of your way unless there's an issue, unlike most pay options. There's no array of junk software either; just Cyberlink's YouCam utility for the 1280 by 720 webcam, a free subscription to Absolute Data Protect for encrypting data and remote disabling of the laptop, Google Chrome, and Cyberlink's OneKey recovery for backing up your system. The latter works in conjunction with a button on the left rear of the U300s that initiates recovery if the bundled Windows 7 Professional operating system stops booting correctly.

No matter which way you cut it, the U300s is a pricey laptop, though only moderately more so than the similarly configured competition. It's available in a slower, less capacious configuration with a Core i5-2457M CPU and a 128GB SSD for $1195, and Lenovo's U260 and its recently released U400 are only slightly thicker and heavier, with cheaper configurations. The missing ports are a bit of puzzler, but otherwise the U300s delivers a very satisfying Ultrabook experience.

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HP's Mobile Workstation notebooks are beasts worthy of the professionals that they target. Solid build quality, plenty of features and fast performance are the hallmarks of these machines, but they also carry a hefty price tag. The EliteBook 8560w Mobile Workstation, with its 15.6in screen, Intel Core i7-2820QM CPU, 8GB of RAM and NVIDIA Quadro graphics adapter is just shy of $5000. But as the saying goes, you've got to spend money to make money, and if you spend your money on a machine like this, chances are that the jobs you work on make you more than enough so that the EliteBook pays for itself sooner rather than later.

The EliteBook 8560w is the type of notebook that would suit anyone who works with computer aided design, engineering and animation programs. It's got a ton of power under its well built hood and the most important aspect of it is that it's mobile. You can use the same powerful computer at home, in the office and even out on a job site. It weighs 3.45kg and is approximately 40mm thick, 380mm wide and 255mm deep. It's also very solidly built and it has a battery that lasted 2hr 35min in our rundown test, in which we disable power management, enable Wi-Fi, maximise screen brightness and loop an Xvid-encoded video. This battery life is very good for a notebook that's so big and so powerful, and it's due to its large, 8-cell, 75 Watt-hour battery. The battery will last a little longer if you tone down the brightness and just use the notebook to take notes or undertake research on the Web.

Specifications and performance
In our performance benchmarks, the EliteBook proved its worth. It recorded a time of 20sec in the Blender 3D rendering test, 46sec in the iTunes MP3 encoding test and 39min in the DVD-to-Xvid conversion test. All these tests show that there is nothing wrong with the CPU and overall configuration of this unit. They are expected results. The 750GB, 7200rpm hard drive (a Seagate ST9750420as) proved to be very zippy; it recorded a massive 78.51 megabytes per second in our transfer tests, in which we copy data from one area of the drive to another.

Even in 3DMark06, its score of 11648 indicates plenty of power for 3D accelerated applications. The NVIDIA Quadro 2000 isn't designed for gaming though; instead it's a mid-range workstation card with 2GB of dedicated RAM that's optmised to run workloads in AutoCAD and other design programs.

Build quality and features
The screen on the EliteBook 8560w is a 15.6in LED-backlit panel with a native resolution of 1920x1080. As far as notebook screens are concerned, it's excellent. It produced vibrant colour and contrast, fine details were clearly displayed and its viewing vertical angles were not too fussy. Its brightness can be regulated by the installed ambient light sensor. Best of all, it has a matte finish. We found it to be a pleasure to work with when editing photos and viewing videos.

The screen can tilt all the way back and it has metal hinges that hold it at pretty much any angle you desire. A very hard, metal lid protects the screen from the outside and it has a circular pattern (similar to what can be found on the ASUS Zenbook, for example) that looks very classy. Bending this lid as much as we could, the screen didn't even puddle. This rugged construction is a theme throughout the EliteBook's chassis, which feels as strong as a tank. It's definitely one of the best built laptops on the market, but for the price you're paying, you'd want it to be. It's also put together with great attention to detail; the components in base are, at least.

However, we did have a problem with the keyboard when we first started using the EliteBook 8560w. The space bar would not produce a space no matter how much we pleaded with it. It looked and felt like it was busted — and unfortunately, it's not the first time we've had HP machines with dodgy keyboards. Upon taking off the space bar, we noticed that a tiny piece of the ribbon cable, presumably connecting the keyboard to its circuit board, was protruding through a hole near the space bar and not allowing the right side of the bar to travel enough when hit. For lack of a more elegant solution, we used a thin flat head screwdriver to tuck this cable back under the board. The space bar still wasn't perfect after this; it still didn't always work and we found that we had to press it harder than usual. We hope that we just ended up with a dodgy unit and that other units out there don't suffer from this same problem.

The other keys on the board were a delight to hit. They felt very soft and possessed just the right amount of travel. Their backlighting made typing in the dark a cinch as well as providing some very nice overall aesthetics. The lighting on this notebook is very classy, not only when it comes to the keyboard, but also the status lights. Instead of harsh, blue LEDs that can be found on mainstream notebooks, the EliteBook uses tiny white LEDs that give the notebook a rightful premium look. Most importantly, the white lights are not annoying.

We like the Synaptics touchpad, which is 109x50mm in size and very smooth and responsive. If you don't want to use the touchpad, you can take control of the Synatpics TouchStyk, which is similar to the TrackPoint that can be found on Lenovo ThinkPad notebooks, but with a much worse name. If you don't want to use either of these while working on your design programs, then you can just plug in external peripherals — there are plenty of ports for you to choose from.

The EliteBook has five USB ports along its edges, and two of these are USB 3.0-capable. You also get a mini-FireWire port, eSATA (shared with a USB port), VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, an ExpressCard/54 slot and DisplayPort. There is no HDMI port, which is more of a consumer feature. The DisplayPort allows monitors with resolutions far greater than Full HD to be run with ease. Other features of the EliteBook include a built-in DVD writer (BD-RE BT10N), a dial-up modem, an SD card slot and a docking station slot.

Wireless connectivity is handled by the Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 802.11n, dual-band Wi-Fi adapter. There is also a built-in mobile broadband module (HP hs2340 HSPA+) and a SIM card slot is located in the battery compartment. It also comes with a Bluetooth module. For security, you a cable lock facility, a fingerprint reader, a Smartcard reader and TPM 1.2. Intel Active Management is also supported.

Conclusion
As you can see, it's a packed notebook and one that should appeal to demanding users who require lots of processing power both in the office and while out on a job. It's a well built machine that feels sturdy and it has a wide array of useful features. We had a problem with the space bar on our test model, but we're hoping that's an anomaly. If we had the money and did the type of work that required a lot of mobile power, we'd definitely consider this notebook.

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The TouchSmart series, in our view, has been a laggard for a few generations now; it's an opportunity that continues to be missed. Still, it holds interest for a specialised group of people, and HP continues to beaver away at its all-in-one touch product.

The 23-inch, 1920x1080 TouchSmart 520 does away with the ability to lean almost entirely flat in table mode, and instead instigates a base with a huge footprint. The first thought is that it's entirely too huge, but then you notice that you'd take up the same space by adjusting the monitor tilt anyway, proving that a smaller stand would just be an illusion.

The included keyboard isn't great and the mouse is only passable, but this is de rigueur for bundled kits, it seems. HP's Magic Canvas software, which replaces the Windows Desktop with a touchable, swipe-able home screen, now appears as a continuous desktop rather than distinct screens to swipe between. We've criticised HP in the past for having a laggy interface, something that's simply not acceptable in a post-iPhone world, and the same is true here again.

What's different, though, is that we've discovered that the lag is entirely touch-induced, and not related to hardware acceleration as previously thought. Navigate Magic Canvas by mouse, and it's as smooth as churned milk. Start using your finger, and things begin stuttering and lagging all about the place. We're unsure if this is a problem with HP's software, or if it's the infrared technology used to detect touch that's causing the skittishness.

Speaking of said technology, its multi-touch is, as always, not very responsive, and slightly unpredictable — such is the price you pay for a cheap touchscreen.

Connectivity is good, with an SD card reader, 2x USB 3.0 ports, 4x USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks and a gigabit Ethernet port. Unlike the trend in laptops, the TouchSmart very much still has an optical drive, opting for a DVD+-RW this time around. A small point of interest: the 420 includes a subwoofer-out in addition to its 3.5mm-out jack, allowing you to hook into more bass if required.

As with many of its products, HP has managed to cram in Beats Audio technology, making Dr Dre's bank account that little bit fatter. Here it does make a difference, though, rather than simply pumping up the bass at the cost of fidelity. Trebles became clearer, and mid range and bass are decently defined. In our test track, Karnivool's Umbra, some complex drumming disappeared, but by and large this is good audio for an all in one. Well done, HP.

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If you're after a slim and light laptop for some work on the go but don't quite want to stretch your wallet for the Asus Zenbook UX31, then the Asus U46SV may be a suitable alternative. It's a portable machine, packing powerful components that are just itching to tackle all your office work. With a dedicated graphics card, it will happily take a stab at 3D gaming too. The U46SV-WX044X model we reviewed is available now for around £700.

Design and build quality
Those who crave the lightest, slimmest laptop for working on the go will no doubt be seriously eyeing up an ultrabook like the Asus Zenbook UX21. If you're on a more modest budget and you want a machine that will sit firmly at a desk throughout the working day, the Asus U46SV is a great compromise.

At just over 2kg, it's sat at the top end of the ultra-portable scale, but it's easily light enough to carry around for a while without feeling too much strain on your shoulders. At around 25mm in thickness, it's nowhere near as slim as the razor-sharp Zenbook, but you'll have no problem sliding it into most cases and bags and carting it off to your exciting destination.

On the underside of the machine, the battery sticks out by about 10mm. Some people might find this annoying but it helps to raise the back end, providing a slight slope to the keyboard that makes typing particularly satisfying.

cThis means that the U46SV is perhaps best suited to business tasks at an office desk rather than sitting on a stylish knee in a fancy coffee house. This makes more sense as it's been bundled with Windows 7 Professional, rather than the Home edition.

The lid is encased in aluminium that's been given a rough circlular texture that we're keen on. We can't agree on whether we like textures normally, but the general consensus was that this one was rather attractive. Our model had a yellowy-grey colour (Asus calls it 'Champagne'). It's a very welcome change from the usual black or dull grey colours on most laptops.

The metal shell makes the whole body feel very secure. We prodded and poked like it was going out of style and were pleased to find very little flex in either the shell or the hinge when we opened the lid. Rest assured then that when you take this thing off on your adventures, it will put up with a whole heap of abuse.

The lid's hinge is set slightly forward from the rear of the machine. This means that there's extra body space at the back. It feels more sturdy when you're opening it and it provides a secure footing when sat on a desk.

Keyboard and trackpad
The keyboard uses square, isolated keys that are very easy to press, without feeling flimsy. They're spaced well apart. Together with the minimal flex offered by the metal keyboard tray, this provides a very comfortable typing experience. If you're lumbered with a late night working at your desk typing out those long reports everyone hates, at least your fingers won't suffer too much -- even if you did miss the office drinks at the pub.

The keys sadly aren't backlit so if you're wanting to work at night -- or simply stalk your friends on Facebook -- you're going to have to make the ultimate effort to get up and turn a light on. The trackpad is a decent size and it's very responsive. Fast clicking around a web page is no hassle. The buttons beneath feel a little too flimsy for our liking but at least they're big and easy to press.

Screen
The U46SV packs a 14-inch screen with a resolution of 1,366x768 pixels. We're disappointed that Asus hasn't squeezed in a few more pixels. Asus' own Zenbook UX31 packs 1,600x900 pixels into a 13.3-inch screen so a similar effort here would have been welcome.

The screen is very bright although colours are sometimes a little washed out due to the strong backlighting. Small text and icons are sharp and it's not at all uncomfortable to stare at for long periods of time. Its glossy coating does result in reflections -- especially under bright light -- so consider wearing a mask if you can't stand looking at your own face all day.

Performance
Under that metal shell you'll find an Intel Core i5-2410M processor running at 2.3GHz, teamed up with 4GB of RAM. Those are pretty decent -- albeit not mind-blowing -- specs for a portable machine so we had our hopes set on a decent performance.

We booted up the PCMark05 benchmark test and were given a score of 7,629, which we were very pleased with. It easily beat the performance of the Asus U36JC -- another slim and sturdy machine that we were rather fond of. It didn't quite match the feats of the Acer Aspire Ethos 5951G, which returned 8,103 on the same test, although the latter packs double the RAM.

We were very happy with the swift performance of the U46SV; boot-up times were quick and programs were able to load without much delay. Although it has only 4GB of RAM -- which is very average for machines of this price -- it handled multi-tasking well. It didn't show any signs of slowing down when we opened up numerous video streaming tabs in our web browser.

If you've got a whole pile of work to get through then the U46SV will happily let you run various programs at once without arguing. It won't complain too much if you load Photoshop for editing some holiday snaps -- just don't expect it to to be your friend if you try and open up raw files outputted from the Canon EOS-1D X.

Gaming performance
You also get an Nvidia GeForce GT 540M with 1GB of VRAM to tackle the polygons in fancy 3D games. We ran the 3DMark06 benchmark test and were given a score of 8,807, which is extremely good for an ultra-portable machine. The Asus U36JC only managed to achieve 3,466 on the same test.

We booted up the slightly twisted game Bioshock 2 and went for a walk around the under-water city. At full screen, the U46SV could maintain 40 frames per second on average but this number climbed up to around 50fps in certain areas. Even in intense moments -- such as when we rammed our massive drill arm through someone's face -- the frame rate only dropped to around 30fps, which was still very playable.

We're very impressed with the U46SV's gaming ability, especially considering it isn't a dedicated gaming machine. Bioshock 2 may not be the most processor-intensive game available but it's far from lightweight; it shows that this machine will tackle most mid-range games well. If you're wanting to run the latest triple-A titles such as Battlefield 3 then you'll definitely need to reduce the settings, but you should be able to get a few headshots in, at least.

To see how long the U46SV will survive away from a plug socket, we threw our battery test at it. The Asus kept running for around 2 hours and 15 minutes, which is pretty good. Our battery test is very demanding of a poor laptop so you'll find that you can get a much, much better time with cautious usage.

If you don't make heavy use of wireless networks and video playback, you should be able to get most of a working day out of it. If you only have to do a spot of word processing, you won't need to worry much about plugs and cables.

Conclusion
The Asus U46SV may not be as slim and light as the Asus Zenbook UX31 ultrabook, but it's far from bulky and its design will be as welcome in the office as it is in the cafe.

It has enough power to rip through that pile of work you've got to do and will tackle all but the most high-end games when you need to relax. If you need a laptop for work that's both portable and powerful, the Asus U46SV is an excellent choice.

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If you pocket is not that deep and you want a reasonable laptop with decent specs, then the Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5302 laptop under the sub-$300 category might be right up your street. The Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5302 laptop has a 15.6-inch Display, black in colour, and an AMD E-Series processor. Best Buy is selling this laptop for only $279.99 and in the box you will get the laptop obviously, 6-cell lithium-ion battery, Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Acrobat Reader and a few more, 45W AC adapter, and the owner’s manual.

Laptop’s main feature include: AMD VISION Technology, AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics, AMD E-300 Processor, 2GB DDR3 memory, Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive with double-layer support, 15.6-inch LED-backlit TFT-LCD high-definition widescreen display (1366 x 768 resolution), Records up to 8.5GB of data, 320GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm), Multiformat media reader, 2 high-speed USB 2.0 ports, Built-in webcam with microphone, Built-in 10/100 Ethernet LAN, Built-in high-speed wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n), Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit operating system, and much more. Head on over to Best Buy above and bag yourself this Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5302 laptop, low price making it perfect as a Christmas gift.

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Asus Technology, an information technology company has claimed of creating a new laptop called "ZENBOOK UX31". The laptop would be available in two versions, one with 11.6 inch screen and other with 13.3 inch screen.

The laptops will have thickness of 0.11 inch and 0.67 inch at the rear. The laptop is being perceived as the slimmest laptop across the global markets.

For those who are interested in buying it, would have to make a payment of Rs 89,999. The laptop is easy to carry as it weighs 1.4kg alone and is powered by a core i7 processor. Besides, it also has 4GB RAM, 256GB hard disk and a chiclet style keyboard.

The ZENBOOK UX31 has already been introduced in India. However, those who don’t wish to buy the costly product can wait little longer as the manufacturer is planning to launch its low price version in 2012.

The ZENBOOK UX31 as compared to Acer Aspire S3 and Lenovo IdeaPad U300S has an advantage of its high-end specs. The laptop has all the magnificent features like a thin and light frame, solid state storage, quick boot and powerful battery backup.

Besides, the gadget runs on Intel’s latest mobile processor, a Huron River Intel Core i7-2677M at 1.7GHz. Its battery backup is quite strong as it can run for 7 hours without charging. Moreover, it can stand by for about 10 days.

The gadget has all the advanced features like audio from Bang & Olufsen ICEpower and Asus SonicMaster Tech, a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, Bluetooth 4.0, 3MP webcam and microphone, SD card reader, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and microHDMI and miniVGA ports. The laptop is a must purchase gadget for techies. Although its price is quite high, its lowers price version model is expected to be out in 2012.

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The Qosmio X500 is one BIG laptop! It’s huge, it’s monstrous, it’s colossal but it just doesn’t pack any punch. This brute without any bite also happens to a bit of an ugly duckling. The red and black colour scheme is reminiscent of a crazy gaming laptop styling and the in your face with inconspicuous speakers to help that cause. However, that is where the gaming “feel” comes to an end.

The keyboard, as far as I can tell, is directly off the Portege and Satellite laptops. This just comes across as lazy manufacturing. The screen, even though it is massive, is ridiculously dim. It lacks the depth of colour and brightness of competitors. To round it off it appears that Toshiba has filled the Qosmio with nothing but air, as it just does not feel solid.

The dull, massive 18.4” screen wobbles with slightest bump to the table the laptop rests on and it has a power supply box that rivals the actual laptop in weight and size. So to be quite honest, this is not a laptop, it is a desktop replacement. It lacks mobility and that for me is or was the whole point. The Qosmio fails at mobility and good-looks but it is somewhat powerful. Somewhat is the key word, it is fast, no doubt, but for its size I expected more.

Even with a selection of i7 second generation processors, [which are now obsolete] DDR3 ram, a NVIDIA GTX 460M graphics card, a 500gb 7200rpm HDD and the massive screen it does not feel like a performer. Add a Solid State HDD and more ram then the Qosmio could possibly perform with the best. Not to forget that the Qosmio is a quite a bit cheaper than its competition. Yet without that flash or rather the cabaret that other gaming laptops possess the Qosmio just feels rather sensible.

If you want a gaming laptop that is powerful, flashy, mobile and well, awesome, dig a little deeper into your pocket and get an Alienware M17x or M19x or an Asus G51. If you are ok with paying less and getting less than look no further than the Qosmio X500.

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