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.

Great design and build quality are coupled with a stunning nine-hour battery life, and it’s affordable too

Great for executives on the move thanks to size and decent battery life, but the missing optical drive disappoints

Great for executives on the move thanks to size and decent battery life, but the missing optical drive disappoints.

A decent notebook but too expensive for the features on offer.

A good first stab at the semi-ruggedised laptop market. It isn’t up to the tough standards of others, though.

A good laptop for business, with superb design touches but some unfortunate omissions.

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

A good-looking, ergonomically excellent laptop with a wealth of multimedia capabilities for home users.

An adequate Media Centre PC, but Asus’ competitor blows it out of the water.

Despite some welcome additions and good components, this Acer notebook is left wanting.

Fast and good value. Gamers and power users will like it.

It's the return of the twin graphics chip powered laptop, but this time Core2 Duo power is under the hood.

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

Very fast, but the top-end components offer poor value in the face of competition.

An impressive attempt at a good-value portable PC, but the ergonomics let it down.

Small but perfectly formed, the D420 has hours of battery life and loads of features and great ergonomics.

A powerful and feature-packed notebook. But it can’t match the quality of Dell’s XPS M1710.

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

We’ve had some great competitors knocking on the mid-range A-Listed door, but TI’s all-rounder wins through.