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.

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

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

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

A notebook fortress to equip your workforce with confidence, but sub-par performance.

Dell's 6400 is a great value mid-range notebook with very few weaknesses. The support is the icing on the cake.

Good features for the price. It’s just not very exciting.

The screen isn't great, but everything else about this notebook is very good indeed.

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

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

A solid but unremarkable notebook offering a good set of features and excellent warranty.

The Inspiron 630m is Dell’s first 14-inch widescreen notebook.

Small but packed with features, this Lifebook is a stunner.

An excellent mid-range laptop for work, but not fun.

Everybody, who hasn’t already got one, wants a decent laptop.

Not all multimedia notebooks have to weigh in around the $5000 mark. Digital Star’s 15.4in widescreen PowerNote Z71V offers very good value for money for a laptop sporting a 2GHz Pentium M, 1GB of RAM and a 128MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 6600 graphics chip.

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.

The Aspire is a very good unit with several features which enhance its usability. It will suit on-the-go entertainment and productivity, at a price that won't burn your wallet.

The 9300 is reminiscent of its predecessor, the Inspiron 9100, which was pitched squarely at power users and gamers looking for plenty of grunt. This product refresh takes it one step further by using a mobile processor rather than the desktop CPU found in the 9100.

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.