The first-generation ultrabook war is getting bloody, with the 13.3-inch Acer Aspire S Series entering the fray of super-thin-yet-powerful laptops with its Intel Core i7 2637M processor and 19mm-thin body

The wait for the flurry of Intel ultrabooks is over, and the Lenovo IdeaPad U300S is among the latest super thin and light Windows laptops to come to the fore.

If you wanted a stylishly light and powerful Toshiba laptop, you would immediately look to the Portege R830. That is, until you came across the £999 Toshiba Satellite Z830-10U - Toshiba's shiny entry into the ultrabook market that will go up against the Acer Aspire S3, Asus Zenbook UX21 and MacBook Air.

A thin and light laptop offering decent performance, but what's going on with the price tag?

Samsung are one of the best laptop manufacturers around, but is this mid-range Core i5 laptop more style over substance?

This light and small 11.6-inch PC laptop comes at a time when tablets and ultrabooks are fast becoming the main rivals of standard compact laptops

This AMD-powered PC laptop uses less powerful components than older siblings the Samsung Series 7 and Series 9, but comes in at half the cost too, making it better suited to families and users with more basic needs

Decent performance and a good quality keyboard make this laptop a good budget buy

A mid-range laptop offering performance and value

An attractive laptop that gets almost everything right

Keeping up with Acer is some task. The Taiwanese company has come of age and is now one of the laptop manufacturers to be reckoned with. Its Aspire 5749 is another fine example of advanced features in a budget package.

Unimpressive battery life tarnishes a real looker of a netbook

Excellent features are the exception rather than the rule here

Does this budget gaming laptop compromise in too many areas?

The Asus Zenbook UX21 is the first 11-inch ultrabook to hit the shelves, joining the likes of the Acer Aspire S3 and its bigger brother, the Asus Zenbook UX31.

As well as releasing the new Retina display MacBook Pro, Apple has also updated its regular MacBook Pro notebooks for 2012.

Well made but ultimately disappointing business laptop

A virtually indestructible business laptop

Tough business laptop with vast storage capacity

Keenly priced and well made, but sadly underpowered

Great performance for a bargain price

Stunning portability, but it's no Ultrabook

Beats Audio and Envy savvy on a mid-range machine

An exciting name for a laptop, but can it compete with the new ultrabook herd?

Acer may seemingly release a new laptop model every eight seconds, but the majority offer excellent value for money, with strong specs for the asking price. We were therefore disappointed by the performance of the Aspire 5560G, despite its strong graphical abilities.