MSI's MegaBook L61OI lives up to its 'mega' moniker with a large 15.4-inch widescreen TFT, desktop CPU, excellent graphics and pumping audio. The model we looked at was a pre-production prototype notebook and as such was a little shaky and did not come with all the inclusions a final model will have. As a proof of concept, however, the notebook is quite good.

Taking first place overall, the MegaBook M510C had a bit of a mixed run to the final score tally, managing only fifth place in PCMark04 then unanimously taking out first place with a score nearly breaking 10,000 3DMarks, impressive for a notebook, let alone one under $2500.

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

Although heavily kitted out with an ATI Mobility RADEON 9700 featuring 128MB of dedicated video memory, 1.5GHz Pentium M and half a gigabyte of PC2700 DDR, the Zephyra XT finished in the lower half for overall placement.

Absolutely blitzing the field for performance, no other notebook this month could get anywhere near the PowerNote 258SA from Digital Star, despite many trying. Pushing out an absolutely massive 4216 marks, this powerhouse left a 640 mark gap between it and its closest contender, the Toshiba Satellite A30.

Coming in at the ridiculously low price of $1695, Apple offer a compelling unit for anyone wanting to shift away from the ubiquitousness of Microsoft and the Windows platform.

Good features, good quality and good value - it’s also the fastest ultraportable we’ve seen.

The sweet taste of AM2, in the form of an ultraportable powerhouse.

How much notebook will $2500 actually buy you? The PC Authority Labs team investigates.