While the $2500 price ceiling means you're usually picking up larger form factored notebooks with an average 15in display, some manufacturers like Apple and Twinhead have put together smaller ultra portable 12 inch models for those who value size over all else.

A fantastic specification notebook with all the trimmings you'd expect to find on more expensive notebooks, the Joybook 8100-V13 has a 15.4in widescreen WXGA with native 1280 x 800 resolution. With ATI's Mobility RADEON 9600 graphics, boasting 64MB dedicated video memory, it's great for DVD playback or gaming -- the unit returned 9,502 marks under 3DMark01SE Pro, more than enough to provide comfortable gameplay with a decent number of fps even in recent games. BenQ has gone as far as to include not just a DVD-ROM for DVD movie playback, but an optical DVD writer, capable of 2-speed DVD+R media writing, ideal for both business archiving or for personal backup.

The Todaytech M120W, even though it's based on an OEM housing, is all style with its glossy royal blue top, and the silver surrounds on the palm rest and screen.

Coming in under our stringent pricing scheme, ASUS bettered it by $50 and managed to include some great hardware and features unavailable in some of the more expensive units.

Sixteen notebooks under $2500, we've separated the winners with the goods from the less impressive performers.

Powered by a 1.6GHz mobile Pentium processor, featuring dual-band 802.11a/g wireless capability and sporting a 15.4in wide-screen display, the Dell D800 represents the best of the Latitude series of notebooks. At around 3.3kg, it is not light, nor is it thin – but is complemented by an exceptional finish and a solid set of technology.

Almost five months on from our last notebook roundup, where we were slightly unsettled and amazed that it was possible to call the latest notebooks 'desktop replacements' and actually mean it, the PC Authority team is back with another comprehensive round up of mobile monsters.

Toshiba’s resident portable computer visionary speaks about hardware design, Vista, and the future of notebook tech.