In a world first, we've managed to get our hands on a review unit of Sony's stunningly thin ultraportable. Most surprisingly, it sports the newest Atom chip from Intel - the Z550 2.0GHz and GMA 500 graphics.

See our side-by-side comparison of the three big guns in the sub-$1,000 mini notebook race, the ASUS N10, S101 and the Eee PC 1000H.

From budget laptops to ultra-tiny netbooks, ultraportables and high performance, we explain the tricks to finding out the ultimate laptop at the right price.

A stunning piece of design matched with excellent battery life, but with an Atom inside the price is surely too high

An improvement over the Eee PC 900, with longer battery life and sleeker looks – but its rivals are catching up

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.

So, the last big name has fallen. HP gave out in April 2008, and both Dell and Toshiba's resistance crumbled by the autumn. But it's taken Sony until the middle of 2009 to produce what it confesses to be a netbook, the VAIO Mini W Series.

Asus' new Eee PC 1004dn steps up in style and features, boasting a DVD-writer, expresscard slot and scrabble-tile keyboard

Can a new Intel chip put make the sub $1,000 portable even more attractive? We cast our eyes over the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE's tasty looking specifications.

Can’t decide between an Eee and a Wind? A Mini note or an Aspire One? Believe it or not, there’s a bunch of old school smaller laptops that may do the job for less money. We took a look at 7 old school ultraportables.

If you're wondering if a netbook is the perfect laptop for you, ask yourself this: will you want to work or play on your new laptop for hours at a time whilst viewing a screen 10 inches in size?

Not quite the consumer/business crossover it aims to be, but there’s a lot to like in this clever mix of old-style business laptop and feature-packed modern machine

The 1000HE could be our new favourite if ASUS’ claims of 9.5 hour battery life stack up.

There's no annoyingly quirky keyboard. Finger's crossed, but Toshiba's pint-sized mini NB100 notebook looks like it will be a class act when it arrives.

Yes, it’s bigger and dearer than ever, but it’s also the most usable and well-made Eee PC yet.

Our full guide to saving cash-saving secrets is here, from how to get discounts on PCs, to SIM only phone contracts, the best DSLR cameras deals, and discount licensing from Adobe, Microsoft and others.

Play your video, photo and music files on your TV from a networked PC. We put five network players to the test