A solidly built thin client with a good hardware specification and features, including a classy remote management act

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.

A stylish and rugged business-class smartphone with a huge choice of push-email clients available.

Featuring a very high neck, a very deep stand and a thin bezel, the LG L1710B evoked the iMac screen’s ability to ‘float’ in front of you. What’s more, the LG panel could be rotated to portrait mode if required, a feature that made it perfect for lots of document use or for graphic artists.

Eye-catching, but the meagre specification and lack of features harm the Air’s prospects.

Powered by a 1.6GHz mobile Pentium processor, featuring dual-band 802.11a/g wireless capability and sporting a 15.4in wide-screen display, the Dell D800 represents the best of the Latitude series of notebooks. At around 3.3kg, it is not light, nor is it thin – but is complemented by an exceptional finish and a solid set of technology.

The Sony CRX85U external USB 2.0 is even smaller than the Plextor and the Iomega Predator models, and given its square shape and thin profile, as well as the top loading pop-up lid for the CD, you could be forgiven for thinking that this CD-RW drive was just a DiskMan.

Being enterprise software, one usually needs considerable expertise and time to obtain optimal performance and functionality. This is especially true for a product as comprehensive and feature rich as Lotus Domino 6.5 which is fully programmable and can provide workflow, knowledge management, document management, archiving, database and collaboration services via a client-server or browser based thin client model.

Auriga has been a regular participant in our Labs, and has submitted solid monitors for the budget-conscious end of the buyers spectrum.

ACER TravelMate 630

This impressive ultraportable fills a narrow but significant niche between the MacBook Air and Lenovo X300

A 22in monitor is obviously a very large unit. The ColorPro 22D that came into PC Authority was also an engineering sample, which goes some way toward explaining the lack of embellishment.

Thin, but short on features and not particularly cheap either.

A thin and versatile media PC case, with enough space for almost any piece of high end componentry.

It's very, very thin, and very light. MSI’s X340 somehow manages to be sleek, sexy and undesirable all at the same time.

NEC’s contribution to the ultraportable market is tougher than most, but it still struggles against the competition

It may look thin, petite and understated; however the sound it produces is anything but.

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

An expensive and unusually poor Sony product.

Why does newer and better have to mean ugly too?