Classy looks and light weight make for a fine ultraportable, but it’s got some tough competition.

A great set of features and plenty of power, but the price is very high for this ultraportable.

Blu-Ray notebooks are the next battleground, and the good news is they're slowly getting cheaper. ASUS is staking a claim with this monstrously powerful behemoth.

While we wait with bated breath for the imminent (or was that eventual?) release of Microsoft Media Centre into Australia, the number of companies cashing in on the media functionality of next generation consumer electronics is growing quickly.

If you’re looking for a well-featured, great-value desktop replacement, the A7S fits the bill. Plenty of grunt, a 200GB drive and great features - Asus is looking better and better.

There's substance beneath the hood of this fully-featured, stylish laptop. Plus, it’s the cheapest lamborgini you can buy.

The most fully-featured notebook we’ve seen, but price will determine just how desirable this stylish notebook really is.

An incredibly light and practical notebook for frequent travellers, but not without its quirks.

Windows SideShow is a fascinating distraction, but even without the supplementary screen the W5fe is impressive.

A flexible and powerful livingroom PC that ticks almost all the right boxes, as well as being great value.

Very powerful and, with few features missing, it’s good value at the price.

A laptop of luxury, but practicality suffers and you pay a hefty premium.

The branding reflects the exclusivity, but not necessarily the capability.

We quite liked ASUS' charcoal grey styling but it was more of an understated cool than a head turner.

We dubbed the ASUS ‘The Black Box’ because, like its aeronautical namesake, it records everything.

Stylish and packed with features, it is not the cheapest 12 inch notebook available. This said, if you simply must have the features on offer inside this 'book, then this notebook does it all with style.

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.

The ASUS is one tough little cookie. Its cover and palmrest are encased in brushed aluminium lending the unit a reassuring sense of rigidity and roadworthiness. The 15.4" screen is bright, and its default resolution of 1680x1050 makes text sharp but a little small to read unless up close. The unit also comes with a built in TV-tuner, and also sports a TV-antenna output.

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.

This pre-production notebook was shipped to us in a professional looking silver lockable briefcase. We were expecting to see top secret government papers rather than a slimline ultra low voltage (ULV) notebook.