Microsoft has four key 'visions' for Pocket PC 2003 (PPC 2003): make it easier for manufacturers to innovate, improve the 'wireless experience', bring easy instant messaging to the PDA, and expand the 'media experience'.

Since the release of the Eee PC 701, the 'Notebook' has dominated. Easy to use, cheap and able to be left on the coffee table next to the remote, Notebooks are true appliance computing. The choice of which one to buy comes down to personal preference, but it's hard not to prefer those with the best usability. Our rundown of your options covers their performance, battery life, and design.

You really have to look to the 17-inch giants like the HP Pavilion zd8001AP to find machines that were designed as multimedia beasts from the ground up.

Awesome power and features at a Reasonable price – but keep it plugged in.

Announces new mobile computer aimed at the ultraportable crowd. Is it a mobile? Is it a laptop? You be the judge.

If you want a monstrously powerful laptop, look no further.

The format wars continue as Blu Ray comes to a monster laptop at a monster price.

A well priced portable that doesn't skimp on features, and packs a suprisingly powerful punch.

Apple and style are synonymous and the rounded lines and gloss white plastic chassis add to its durability and looks. Its slot-mounting combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW means there are no moving parts to break off in accidents, and serve to provide additional storage space should the comparatively small 30GB hard disk not be enough room for your files.

That presents a serious problem to the printing industry, which until now has not had to worry too much about the aesthetics of the devices it manufactures. Now the manufacturers are having to put a l

Dell’s new Inspirons are more about colour and value than performance and excitement.

The perennial kids’ favourite evolves into an exciting gateway to advanced engineering

After enjoying the Satellite 2800 (reviewed issue 42, p80) so much, the Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600 is a disappointment. This is surprising in that the general belief would be that the more powerful machine would be more appealing to the technically inclined than the Celeron-based Satellite 2800.

Last month we reviewed Microsoft's Bluetooth-enabled keyboard and mouse (January 2002, page 52), and at $399 we deemed it more worthy as a Bluetooth starter kit than a wireless keyboard and mouse kit.

If there was a PDA king, this would be it. HP includes everything in the iPAQ H5550 including 802.11b, Bluetooth and fingerprint recognition. Most importantly, this is the first PDA we've seen to run Pocket PC 2003

A decent machine with plenty of power, but it’s not earth shattering in terms of features and value.

Asus replace passwords with facial recognition and biometrics, demonstrate the Eee PC V1.1 and more.

For such a high specification machine with a large display, we didn’t have high expectations of battery life. We were wrong. Not only is this one of the best looking and functional notebooks we’ve played with in some time, but this notebook managed to stay operating at full load with a looping productivity test for well over three and a half hours – enough for students, road warriors and home users.

Ever wondered what a particular acronym stands for? Find the answer in our comprehensive reference guide to computer industry acronyms. RTFM!

It’s more tweaky and involved than most players, but it’s also got far more features